College Students Contribute to Giant Patchwork Blanket Representing Excluded Children

A giant patchwork blanket representing excluded children has recently been on display at Sunderland College.

Directions and Foundations students and staff from Sunderland and Northumberland College contributed to the blanket by knitting small patches. The crocheted blanket was made from 2,999 pieces of fabric in total, representing the number of children who were excluded, on average, each school day in 2021/22.

The project started in October 2023 and tiles were crocheted and donated from people across the UK and Europe.

The completed blanket has now been on a year-long tour of schools and community groups in England to raise awareness of the issue.

Dr Sarah Martin-Denham Associate Professor of Care and Education at the University of Sunderland from the University of Sunderland, who led the project, said: “We think the completed blanket is at least 14 metres by eight metres – huge, like the challenge of reducing preventable exclusion from school.”

She added: “Project 2,999 has brought together a community in a way that is wholesome and empathetic. It shows how much of a difference you can make with very little funding but a collective of people who hope for change.”

The blanket is currently touring England, going to 16 different organisations, some are using it as part of staff training, some are using it within conferences and others just displaying it as a talking point, but all bringing local areas together to improve schools and reduce exclusions.

4191 is the number of crocheted squares that will make up the next blanket, a significantly higher amount than the current blanket, launching in June 2025.

Peter Monaghan, Strategic Lead for SEND and High Needs at Education Partnership North East said: “The blanket was put together by parents and pupils who’ve been excluded from primary and secondary schools. The pupils that have been excluded have had adverse childhood experiences, including having special educational needs, a learning disability or who’ve been in the care system.

“Our directions and foundations learners contributed to the crocheted patches, providing an opportunity for people to see the impact of those 2999 individuals who were excluded.”

Across the colleges, trauma-informed practice training is being delivered to support staff and curriculum to better understand the behaviours and needs of learners that may cause exclusions, which in turn will proactively help to reduce exclusions from school.