Beyond the QA framework……what makes a great alternative provision?

Having worked in AP I’m a massive advocate for AP. I have seen the incredible potential great AP has to literally, change lives. I’ve seen life trajectories turned around. The ‘unteachable’ excludee who ended up coming back and teaching themselves. I’ve seen attendance move from 0-100 pupils who perceived themselves as failures step up take a raft of qualifications and I’ve seen children and young people learn to understand themselves enough to settle, learn and fulfil otherwise impossible ambitions. I’ve seen these things in APs that were and weren’t registered with Ofsted and every week I see new types of specialism and creativity to re-engage, educate and support struggling young people.

 I’m hugely fortunate, I get to visit, speak to and often work in depth with a lot of alternative provisions. I worked out that in the couple of years I’ve been doing this that I’ve probably visited, on average a new AP every week. I’ve had the privilege of working with commissioners, young people and APs. Unregistered and registered, from Go-karting tracks, riding stables, forest schools, outdoor activity centres, hospital schools, internal provisions, to large, more traditional maintained AP schools.

 That also means I regularly work with the frameworks I’m sure you all know and love. I’ve spoken in depth to people about the recent DfE consultations about unregistered provision, I’ve helped schools through independent school registration, through Ofsted inspections and applications to LA frameworks. I know the checklists and lists of compliance put in place for each of these. But, I realised that when I visit a provision I don’t judge their quality on how many points are ticked on the checklist. Yes, robust safeguarding and a strong health and safety policy are important and yes, independent school standards, we do want a tap temperature below 43 degrees and British values flowing through our curriculum. I’m not decrying any of the value of the checklists. It’s just I realised I was looking for other things. The kinds of things that, could potentially have changed the outcomes for my ones that got away. The things that I’d want in place if my child were to need an AP.

 I want to share these themes for what I think makes a great AP with you. If you’re a commissioner maybe these are things you could try and look for, if you’re an AP hopefully you’ll just get some reassurance from the session that you’re concentrating on the right things, maybe you’ll pick up a couple of thoughts around areas you could build on. My list isn’t exhaustive, you’ll probably have thoughts around this that are different from mine but, as I’ve tried to draw together the themes and patterns from the great places I’ve visited this would be my alternative framework – I’ve got four points.

The four points on my alternative framework all have a P. I had a pretty religious upbringing and a lot of my Sunday mornings as a child were sat listening to sermons where the Pastor used to seem to delight in 3 points all with the same letter, I think it’s rubbed off on me. I’ve been sucked into points with the same letter - Maybe it’ll help you remember them after I’ve finished speaking. Maybe it’s just so I can sneak in a joke about needing a P.

 My four P’s are: A defined purpose, A clear plan, A focus on the process and a wide perspective.

Firstly then – a defined purpose.

 The very best APs have a strong and defined purpose. They are really clear about who they help, the outcomes they aim for and how they deliver that help. My question is whether what the AP you’re commissioning does, what your AP or IAP does can be pinned down into a simple sentence.

We help…….to…..by…….

We help ….who is it you are designing your provision for? What age range? What needs?

to…… what outcomes are you aiming to achieve for these children?

By…… .how are you different from your mainstream offer? What’s going to make the difference? What approach will you take?

I guess it’s the who? The why? And the how?

Are you trying to solve persistent absence, the number of suspensions, the number of exclusions, poor external provisions? Do you work with anxious school refusers, KS2, KS3, etc etc. There is a huge range of needs for young people accessing AP and the best APs are focussed on what needs they are specialised to meet. They work around their strengths. They are brave enough to say no to young people who don’t fit their who and they build everything, their staffing, their structure, the environment of the provision around answering the needs of that group of young people. Widen that group, try and answer every need and it doesn’t work, it's a recipe for disaster. The child on the edge of CCE and the criminal justice system needs a different approach to the child with ASD or anxiety.

The best APs know where their skills lie. They have staff who work well with certain types of pupils. They have premises, resources or experience that links well for that particular type of provision.

As schools or commissioners it’s really important to understand for each of the provisions you use what kind of need they work best with. Too often I see schools picking destinations for pupils based on available space or price rather than any thoughts around who has the skills to work well with that young person.

The to… section is about what the AP want the outcomes to be. There’s some overlap here in our clear plan but, some provisions are for year 11’s nursing through their exams, getting them as many qualifications as possible and helping them transition to a successful post-16. Some are around teaching coping mechanisms to allow re-integration into mainstream, some are primarily about helping pupils re-engage with mainstream. The aims and objectives for your pupils leads to direction around the curriculum plans and shape, your staffing expertise and informs your planning.

Too often I hear Headteachers, CEO’s or LA commissioners bemoaning the fact that their local AP offers are mostly around offering a safe alternative to school. Somewhere to place challenging students. The best APs have a clear focus on the outcomes they want for their learners. They are set up to aim for that outcome.

The by….  section is about a focus on the approach. Mainstream hasn’t worked so what does the AP do differently? Will pupils be taught a social and emotional curriculum; will it be a therapeutic approach? Small groups, Nurture, Thrive, relational model? Something needs to be different to help them access schooling. Are you as an AP, or the AP you are visiting clear about how they bring success for their learners, not just removing the triggers of mainstream but the positive structures and practices for building the young people up as well.

 Examples of this in practice for settings I’ve seen recently could be:

 “We help KS4 young people with severe trauma to access qualifications and move successfully to their next place of learning by a therapeutic approach with teaching staff joint trained as therapeutic practitioners.”

“We help young people disengaged from education to re-engage, increase their attendance and develop a love of learning through a nuturing environment, a bespoke tailored curriculum and access to outdoor learning.”

We help…..to….by…..

·      Great AP is designed around specific needs.

·      Great AP has a clear focus on achieving specific outcomes.

·      Great AP has a specialist approach by which it works

This purpose, the preparation done as it’s developed then a resolute focus on delivering it makes sure APs aren’t set up to fail. They engineer pupils, groupings, staff, curricula and structure around it.

The second point on my framework is a clear plan. Great APs work to understand accurate starting points for children and young people. They know where they start and where they want to get too. The definition of the starting and end points lead to a clear plan between the two.

In terms of a starting point we know that most young people arrive in AP after reaching a crisis point. They’ve almost certainly missed some schooling and normally behavioural habits have meant, even when they’ve been in the building they have key learning gaps that then contribute to increased struggles with learning. Lots of young people in AP have low reading ages, and gaps with some of the building blocks of Maths and English. Assessing and responding these learning gaps is a dynamic on-going process but knowing as much as possible to start with is key. Great APs move past induction stages with pupils until they have built the picture and laid the relationships for a solid, informed starting point. This includes safeguarding knowledge, behavioural knowledge and academic knowledge. It includes using every source of information to build a picture as early as possible of what that pupil needs. Even in the later stages of KS4 pupils often turn up at APs with undiagnosed learning needs or with failed EHCPs in the background. Knowing the picture and then how to respond from the beginning gives you A. Pupils normally arrive in AP at crisis point with a history of broken relationships in education behind them. The great AP understands this and works to replace that sense of exclusion with one of inclusion. The brain has been wired with repeated lessons of failure in learning and the great AP needs to address these. Using dis-confirming experiences to create new pathways and helping pupils to learn that they can be successful in Maths or English. That they can problem solve or deal with conflict or learn successfully.

B is about building on the purpose and making sure that the plans for that pupil lead towards a defined outcome. It’s about creating plans with the end in mind. Great AP’s keep their focus on that outcome and make sure that everything around their design is aimed to make it succeed. If the outcome is employability then they’ve got a good picture of the local jobs market, they know the skills that are in demand, they’ve got established relationships with big local employers and make sure that their input in built throughout the placement.

·      Great AP works to build a strong understanding of young people on entry.

·      Great AP has a continual clear focus on ambitious outcomes

Our third P is a focus on the Process. Though they have a clear outcome in mind they don’t spend all their time fixed on whether or not that outcome is going to be achieved. They just focus on the process, what can be done, each day to optimise the chances of reaching that outcome. We all know that working with children and young people is never an easy straight route between A and B whatever our plans, it looks more like this. A focus on the process is making sure that everyday, every experience a pupil has is focussed on what can be done, that day to move towards the outcomes. It means staff, activities, timetables and curriculum are aimed towards those outcomes. At any point in the day someone could ask why and staff would know how to answer. Even if it’s an Uno game at lunchtime – why? – it teaches socialisation skills, helps develop coping strategies around rule following and conflict. We have a relaxed check-in time at the start of the day. Why? So we can debrief the previous evening, pick up any big issues and make sure pupils are regulated and fed before we start learning. A child is sitting on a desk rather than at it as a teacher speaks – they’re dysregulated and the teacher is keeping the main thing the main thing and adapting their delivery to help the student stay learning.

A focus on process. What we can do to get to B runs through staffing, training, lesson content, everything around the structure of the delivery and through the content of the conversations. Intentional relationship building, mentoring, professional curiosity etc, all built into the framework of what happens during the day.

AP is hard work. Progress ebbs and flows. Some days are chaotic and disrupted, it often feels like one step forward two steps back but great APs keep their focus on the process.

Consistently the successful APs I have seen, whatever their specialisms invest in building a sense of safety and belonging and developing positive relationships. They understand the importance of this for struggling young people and they build these with real intention.

·      The structure of the day, the environment of the provision and staffing is planned with strategic intention for maximising learning and support

My last point I see in great APs, the last on my internal framework is a sense of a wider perspective. A sense that APs are making sure that the lower levels of Maslows hierarchy are in place, pupils are fed, safe, well-slept, and regulated before they are asked to learn.

Great APs understand that only a certain level of success can be driven in a classroom and that home environment has a huge impact on outcomes. They build positive relationships with families and carers but also attempt a wider input than just in the school day. I have seen great examples where family support workers have helped family members with CVs or settings where young people are engaged in sports after hours so that parents can engage with adult education classes or job clubs. Where settings are embedded in community resources so that families and carers are easily signposted to early help or health support.

I’ve seen APs which take their pupils to volunteer and help at local foodbanks, making sure as part of this practice that they pick a box of food to take home for their families too.

Great APs also see that the answer to change in pupils isn’t just academic and based in learning but they are also sourcing the therapeutic or counselling support that the pupils need.

·      Great APs address holistic development of pupils

·      Great APs develop communication and support for families and carers

·      Great APs partner well with other organisations to increase the level of support for young people

This isn’t an exhaustive list. I haven’t mentioned staff support, supervision, lived experience and a whole load of other things that can be really impactful – What I have done I hope is distill some key themes and given you some thinking points you can then go on to ask questions and apply to your contexts. Just some common aspects of good practice that I’ve seen across my visits. I hope its helped you reflect but also to be thinking about what you internal framework for great AP is. For the elements you’ve seen you think are key to encouraging positive change in those who struggle most in mainstream education.

If you’d like help developing your practice then do get in touch. You can see the support we offer to alternative provisions here. You can also download a copy of our AP QA tool here.