Relational supervision as a tool to prevent early school leaving (ESL): Collaborative working to promote reflection and learning about oneself-in-role

In 2017, 66,000 people aged 16-17 years in the UK were not in education, employment or training (NEET). This was 5% of all 16-17 year olds. Studies that have explored preventing young people from becoming NEET emphasise the importance of consistent and positive relationships in programmes led by accessible, approachable and relatable adults. Many young people who leave school early or who are at risk of doing so are particularly vulnerable. This may be because of physical health problems, caring responsibilities, difficult family circumstances, mental health needs and/or special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). These young people’s lived experience is often very painful for the staff working with them to bear. Supportive and reflective spaces for these adults to acknowledge and process distressing feelings that are stirred up when doing this work are required. However, the current turbulent social-political and professional context in the UK, along with the historical place of supervision for teachers, often means such spaces are rare. This workshop is an attempt to explore some of the challenges facing teachers, and to offer one potential approach to facilitate practitioners reflecting on their practice, to learn about themselves and the work they do and ultimately to be sufficiently supported to provide the kinds of relationships with young people that enable educational access, participation and achievement

Ethical conduct and competence – experiences of teaching and assessing ethical sensitivity and reasoning on an initial school psychology training programme

The ethical competence of school psychology trainees and graduates is of key importance to students, training providers, regulatory bodies, employers and most importantly the public for whom we provide psychological services. In the UK, a broader national context of systemic failures, and the tragic consequences of such failures, to adhere to ethical standards across the private and public (e.g. residential care homes) sector informs approaches to and judgements of ethical competence. In this part of the symposium Dr. Emma-Kate Kennedy focuses on the experiences of one initial training provider in England following the implementation of new guidance from the British Psychological Society [BPS] on the teaching and assessment of ethics. The learning approaches highlighted in the guidance – becoming acculturated to the ethics of psychology, meeting the developmental needs of trainees and considering both the philosophical and the practical and experiential – have been applied with the most recent cohort of first year trainees across all aspects of their training (tutorial, supervision, placement, teaching seminars and workshops). Institutional perspectives on taking up the role of teachers and assessors of ethical competence are explored further in the workshop, and a critical review of strengths and areas to further enhance is provided

Consultation training in the UK: An exploratory qualitative analysis of current pre-service teaching and learning for trainee educational & child psychologists (ECPs)

INTRODUCTION: Competent consultation practice is critical to taking up the professional role of applied psychology practitioner in diverse contexts. This first paper reports a qualitative survey of 10 university staff delivering consultation training to doctoral students in the UK. MATERIAL & METHODS: Telephone interviews were conducted to explore i) theoretical models, course content and teaching practices ii) structure of consultation training iii) supervision of consultation (including tutor observation and use of resources e.g. video) and (iv) assessment approaches used v) evaluation in terms of student, consultee and client outcomes. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed and thematic analysis used to analyse findings. RESULTS: Emerging themes relating to consultation process skills, content in the context of theoretical models, challenges and opportunities in relation to assessment and evaluation are presented. The place of supervision, ethics and equities are critically appraised. CONCLUSION: The role of professional associations in promoting frameworks to support best practice are discussed

Followback Clusters, Satellite Audiences, and Bridge Nodes: Coengagement Networks for the 2020 US Election

The 2020 United States presidential election was, and has continued to be, the focus of pervasive and persistent mis- and disinformation spreading through our media ecosystems, including social media. This event has driven the collection and analysis of large, directed social network datasets, but such datasets can resist intuitive understanding. In such large datasets, the overwhelming number of nodes and edges present in typical representations create visual artifacts, such as densely overlapping edges and tightly-packed formations of low-degree nodes, which obscure many features of more practical interest. We apply a method, coengagement transformations, to convert such networks of social data into tractable images. Intuitively, this approach allows for parameterized network visualizations that make shared audiences of engaged viewers salient to viewers. Using the interpretative capabilities of this method, we perform an extensive case study of the 2020 United States presidential election on Twitter, contributing an empirical analysis of coengagement. By creating and contrasting different networks at different parameter sets, we define and characterize several structures in this discourse network, including bridging accounts, satellite audiences, and followback communities. We discuss the importance and implications of these empirical network features in this context. In addition, we release open-source code for creating coengagement networks from Twitter and other structured interaction data.Comment: Accepted for publication at ICWSM '2

A Qualitative Study Exploring Access to Mental Health and Substance Use Support among Individuals Experiencing Homelessness during COVID-19

People experiencing homelessness have higher rates of mental ill-health and substance use and lower access to health services compared to the general population. The COVID-19 pandemic led to changes in service delivery across health and social care services, with many adopting virtual or telephone support for service users. This paper explores the experiences of access to community-based mental health and substance use support for people experiencing homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Qualitative telephone interviews were conducted with 10 women and 16 men (ages 25 to 71) who self-identified as experiencing homelessness in North East England between February and May 2021. With five individuals with lived experience, results were analysed using inductive reflexive thematic analysis. Reactive changes to support provision often led to inadvertent exclusion. Barriers to access included: physical locations, repetition of recovery stories, individual readiness, and limited availability. Participants suggested creating services reflective of need and opportunities for choice and empowerment. Community mental health and substance use support for people experiencing homelessness should ensure the support is personalised, responsive to need, inclusive, and trauma-informed. The findings of this research have important implications for mental health and substance use policy and practice for individuals who experience homelessness during a public health crisis

Therapeutic gene editing of T cells to correct CTLA-4 insufficiency

Heterozygous mutations in CTLA-4 result in an inborn error of immunity with an autoimmune and frequently severe clinical phenotype. Autologous T cell gene therapy may offer a cure without the immunological complications of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Here, we designed a homology-directed repair (HDR) gene editing strategy that inserts the CTLA-4 cDNA into the first intron of the CTLA-4 genomic locus in primary human T cells. This resulted in regulated expression of CTLA-4 in CD4+ T cells, and functional studies demonstrated CD80 and CD86 transendocytosis. Gene editing of T cells isolated from three patients with CTLA-4 insufficiency also restored CTLA-4 protein expression and rescued transendocytosis of CD80 and CD86 in vitro. Last, gene-corrected T cells from CTLA-4-/- mice engrafted and prevented lymphoproliferation in an in vivo murine model of CTLA-4 insufficiency. These results demonstrate the feasibility of a therapeutic approach using T cell gene therapy for CTLA-4 insufficiency

Early blood stream infection after BMT is associated with cytokine dysregulation and poor overall survival

The key complications of allogeneic bone marrow transplant (BMT) remain graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and opportunistic infection. We have analyzed the blood stream infections (BSI) occurring between day -7 and day 100 in a cohort of 184 adult patients undergoing allogeneic BMT in our center. 167 of the 184 patients (91%) had blood cultures collected, and 69 (38%) patients had a confirmed BSI. Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus spp. and viridans Streptococcus spp. were the most commonly isolated organisms. Gender, conditioning (myeloablative vs. reduced intensity) and donor type (sibling vs. unrelated) did not differ significantly between those with and without confirmed BSI. Elevated temperature (>38°C) at the time of culture collection was associated with an almost 2-fold increased likelihood of returning a positive blood culture. The absence of a BSI was associated with a significant improvement in overall survival at 2 years, due to a significant reduction in non-relapse mortality predominantly unrelated to the primary BSI. The presence of a BSI prior to engraftment was associated with the dysregulation of IL-6 and IL-8. Our findings suggest that BSI early after BMT defines a group of high-risk patients with enhanced cytokine dysregulation and poor transplant outcome

Subject Benchmark Statement Forensic Science

This document is a QAA Subject Benchmark Statement for Forensic Science that defines what can be expected of a graduate in the subject, in terms of what they might know, do and understand at the end of their studies. Subject Benchmark Statements also describe the nature and characteristics of awards in a particular subject or area. Subject Benchmark Statements are published in QAA's capacity as a membership organisation on behalf of the higher education sector. A summary of the Statement is also available on the QAA website