Setting up an internal provision.
What makes a good internal provision?
It seems a simple and positive choice for a school to develop an internal provision for pupils it would otherwise send to external providers. It increases the schools awareness of their progress; it can reduce costs and it can be tailored closely to the pupils academic needs.
In reality, it is really hard to pull off a strong internal provision. As I’m in the process of supporting several schools in developing their provision it has given me chance to pull my thoughts together about what works and doesn’t.
Culture:
Whole school culture
Before you get to the culture of an internal provision it is important to address the whole school culture. It’s worth unpicking how the students have ended up needing an AP, what have been the key factors in this? If it is mostly students with anxiety then it raises challenges around building a greater sense of safety in school. If it’s mostly students after confrontations with staff then how do you train teachers to de-escalate situations?
It’s worth thinking about how can the need for an internal provision can be reduced. Are vulnerable pupils being identified early and being supported in a proactive way whilst still in mainstream? What are the common factors for your students who end up struggling to access mainstream? Can you use your knowledge of these for early identification of students at risk and put in pre-emptive interventions?
Are all staff across pastoral and teaching teams trauma aware? Trauma informed practice is key for understanding the root of behaviours and where staff have the skills to recognise signs of de-regulation and the skills to help students regulate it can stop so many situations before they develop into a crisis or confrontation that ends in suspension or exclusion. Do all staff understand how to de-escalate situations, improve self-regulation, and manage classroom culture well? At Close the Gaps we train staff in trauma informed practice, non-confrontational behaviour management and creating a greater sense of safety for pupils - we think these elements are crucial knowledge for any schools with vulnerable pupils.
IAP Culture
Does your provision increase the sense of belonging to school or increase a sense of rejection? This makes all the difference in terms of outcomes and engagement. Do your pupils feel like your AP is somewhere they are cared for, appreciated and that gives them support? Or, do they feel like they’ve been excluded from friends and mainstream and it’s more like a prison sentence? One potential benefit of an internal provision rather than external is that they can support a culture where young people don’t feel a sense of rejection or exclusion from the school body. Reintegration will be easier if the provision is a bridge towards mainstream rather than a place to which you are removed from it.
Unconditional positive regard is so important too. These are vulnerable students who will arrive with you with a sense having failed in education. For whatever reason they have not managed to cope in mainstream. They will sometimes present with behaviours that are unpalatable, they will being with them issues, they will be experts in all the tools of avoiding learning. It’s so important to be able to change mindsets around learning, to rewire the brain with positive associations around their subjects and to give an understanding they can succeed. They need to know that whatever happens, even when sanctions have had to be given, a positive relationship with staff is a constant, they will always be liked and respected even when things are difficult. They will always be greeted warmly each morning. Effort and steps forward, however small will always be recognised.
Does your provision change pupils view of themselves and education? – When pupils are moved out of mainstream education it is normally on the back of a history of poor engagement, behaviour and missed learning. A strong provision helps them to find success in learning and changes their mindset. A strong provision will assess learning gaps and work to address them. For a pupil to be ready for reintegration it needs work on social and emotional factors but, also academic factors so that missed learning or unidentified learning needs don’t immediately lead to failure back in a mainstream classroom.
Learning about those gaps in learning or unidentified learning needs is a really important early step. It’s worth investing some structure and processes around really understanding individuals as they join the unit. We have heard of examples where it wasn’t until AP that staff discovered poor reading ages or conditions like dyslexia because the students had been so good at masking - mostly through turning to poor behaviour which became the focus rather than issues with learning.
Are you clear about your objectives? – The weakest provisions are somewhere to ‘hold’ pupils to remove a problem from the main body of school. The strongest provisions are clear about the objectives each pupil have; they have an end transition point in mind for every pupil that all stakeholders are clear about. They track the objectives during the placement and react if they aren’t being reached. Their support is directly engaged with meeting the individual objectives of each pupil.
A strong provision is, first and foremost, about supporting the pupils who attend, giving them the best education you can. It’s easy to see it as a solution for the 29 other students left in the mainstream classroom rather than a way to offer excellent education to those who attend.
If the aim is long-term change and re-integration back into mainstream or transition to a post-16 place of learning then how are you working to improve behaviours, resilience, and self-regulation? This needs to be a planned, supported part of the curriculum. A therapeutic approach is one of the consistent threads within great provisions, with an awareness of the causes of behaviour and childhood trauma and response through lessons, counselling and bespoke SEMH support. Staff training is an important part of this. The DfE commissioned research reinforces that a ‘boot camp’ type behaviour structure has no evidence of success and whilst it may reduce immediate incidents doesn’t provoke long-term change. Once again, this comes back to staffing and getting the right people in post.
Pupils:
Do all pupils have a clear plan for transition, long-term objectives, and targets? AP placements should generally be seen as temporary measures that help to support students back to be able to access mainstream. My argument would be that, if pupils are seen as never being able to access mainstream, then the school should be looking for more specialist provision for them. Each pupil should have an agreed plan with all stakeholders understanding the reasons for them accessing the provision, targets, and review points along the way.
Are students learning needs fully understood? It’s important for staff to understand the learning needs of the pupils. As I mentioned above I regularly I hear of pupils where their behaviour in large mainstream classes has been something that has masked their learning needs leading to a cycle of missed lessons, truancy or suspension increasing learning gaps and making education even harder to access. Are staff and SENCO’s involved in assessing pupils reaching the AP stage for learning needs?
Do you regularly check pupil progress? - Weekly review points are useful. Both to track how well students are performing and to look at early intervention for those students still in mainstream who are in danger of moving towards needing the provision.
Staffing:
Without doubt, the most important factor in the success of an internal provision is positive relationships between staff and pupils. Whilst the structure and approach can support this it needs the right staff members. I have seen the very best classroom teachers be totally ineffective in an AP setting and I’ve seen unqualified teachers with a limited experience of pedagogy succeed with the most challenging pupils. It takes a particular character and skill set to have the patience for AP and the ability to form positive relationships with students. If there is one thing that will make or break the provision it is whether you have the right staff in place.
Staff that can build relationships with pupils are far more valuable than subject experts or excellent classroom practitioners. Pupils need positive consistent relationships.
Do you support staff well-being? Working in an AP setting is potentially hugely rewarding but it is also a very tough job. It needs staff that can maintain their self-regulation and approach in the face of an un-regulated pupil. Are staff supported with regular supervision? Do they understand the importance of self-regulation themselves? Are they given the space and support to keep their stores of calm, patience, and compassion high?
Do you work to build relationship with parents and carers? - It is important to try and foster strong relationships with families and carers. Regular contact with home around positive as well as negative communications helps to do this. Many families of those pupils of the fringes of mainstream face challenges which can lead to increased safeguarding risks or barriers to engagement. Building trust with home can lead to opportunities to break some of these barriers down. Do you have a regular call with parents and carers timetabled in, at least weekly? Have they been a part of the induction and are they aware of the objectives of the placement?
How can the design and set-up of the provision reduce potential points of conflict and create more chances of success for the pupils? Think about the structures of the day, access to toilets, break areas, uniform requirements etc. What are your red lines the pupils must follow? What things can you engineer about the environment or structures to reduce conflict points? For example, is there a toilet nearby that can be used easily? Does the time of the day match with buses, sibling pickups etc. Is there somewhere safe for pupils to store coats and phones?
One other consistent thread in successful provisions is small groups with a high staff to pupil ratio. Research suggests that one of the most important factors is the small group instruction, individual attention and supportive approach that can be engendered in these circumstances.
As a pupil begins in a provision there is a balance to be struck. The feeling of a ‘fresh start’ is important but so is a real understanding of the pupils learning needs and strengths and weaknesses. There are behaviour assessments that can be done with the support of teachers parents and pupils to help support targets, interventions, and specific work on behaviours for different pupils.
It is important to change the feeling of educational failure for pupils in provisions into a belief that they can succeed in learning. Some of this is gained from well targeted tasks that help them to fill learning gaps in the basics. Some is gained from celebrating all successes, attendance, behaviour, learning, all can be rewarded and celebrated both in the centre and with home.
There are a couple of pitfalls that I’ve seen across several schools that, in my experience lead to problems:
1. Staffing the AP last. I believe that a successful AP can improve outcomes for the pupils involved, will reduce exclusions, will improve whole-school culture, and will save money on external provisions. If it runs successfully, it will also save hours of pastoral time normally spent on dealing with trying to keep the students involved in mainstream lessons. If the staffing of an internal provision isn’t prioritised to be strong consistent positive staff, then the provision will fail.
2. Dumping grounds. It’s tempting to use internal provisions to house short-term problems. The most disruptive times for students and staff are transitions into and out of a provision. If you want the provision to be successful students should only be admitted with a clear plan, objectives, and process.
3. Not enough support for re-integration. No matter how well a student has done in a provision they can return to old behaviours very quickly if they go back to mainstream and the original issues remain. Re-integrate students slowly in a progressive way, make sure links are maintained with the AP staff and communication is strong between mainstream teachers and AP.
At Close the Gaps we support schools with consultancy and training around AP. Get in touch via our contact page and see how we could help you to develop a thriving internal provision for your school.
Several of these things I’ve had to learn the hard way through experience, others are gathered through seeing good practice in my visits to schools and through documents like the DfE’s report into effective practice: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/585550/Alternative_provision_effective_practice_and_post-16_transition.pdf
The EEF are also currently evaluating lessons from a project on internal provisions but are yet to publish any findings, it’ll be interesting to see any lessons that come from this: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/projects-and-evaluation/projects/understanding-the-use-of-internal-alternative-provision-for-students-at-risk-of-persistent-absence-or-exclusion
