The government’s educational vision clearly rests on delivering more inclusive mainstream schools. This is a positive step, but transformation takes time and we can’t afford to leave young people behind as we await reform. We must start learning lessons from alternative provision (AP) now.
Much of the focus on ‘inclusive mainstream’ has been specifically on SEND, but there is a growing cohort of pupils in AP schools who don’t necessarily come under this broadly used banner. With permanent exclusions and suspensions at an all-time high, it is evident that the mainstream system is not yet built for their needs.
So what can we do to better support pupils who are persistently disruptive, struggle to engage academically or rarely attend irrespective of the settings they are currently registered with?
A policy voice
We are supporting young people who face mental health challenges, have experienced childhood trauma and deal with turmoil in their home lives.
Inspection frameworks for the sector must be reflective of these challenges. Progress measures must account their starting points in a much broader way.
The recent announcement of a new SEND taskforce is welcome, but where are the voices from AP? The sector should have its own taskforce to reflect its own challenges.
Equal partners
On a practical level, there is clear opportunity for AP and mainstream schools to work more closely, particularly when AP is used as a stepping stone back into mainstream.
Mainstream school teams are highly skilled, but a close working relationship with an AP school can provide a useful sounding board when responding to issues AP practitioners deal with every day.
There is huge potential for this peer-to-peer approach to be implemented more widely.
Respite, not response
With more than 10,000 permanent exclusions a year, we need to shift the focus from reactive to preventative action. Sadly, AP is often seen as a last resort and even as a final threat for pupils who persistently fall short of mainstream expectations.
Instead, AP should be more commonly used as respite from an environment that these pupils find challenging. Earlier intervention to help a young person get back on track makes a return to mainstream more viable for those who want it.
A change of mindset
Many of those who are permanently excluded do want to work towards a return to mainstream, but find they can’t because places aren’t available to them. Others find they thrive better with smaller classes and an alternative approach.
None deserve to feel they are in a second-class setting, or marginalised as a form of punishment. And those who can make the move back often need ongoing support to make the transition a success.
Key here is for mainstream teams to see and to talk about AP as expert settings and the right place to support pupils with specific needs.
Reaching the ‘unreachable’
Some 39,000 children were missing education this academic year, and the number of pupils not registered at a school or receiving suitable education elsewhere is increasing. This includes many who have been referred to AP but do not attend.
To be truly inclusive, we need to reach these young people too. Schools make welfare checks but often lack the resources to address the barriers to attendance.
Last year, we trialled a community learning initiative with a local authority that focused on reaching these lost pupils. A specially trained community teacher was assigned up to five pupils. They did home visits, assessed the barriers and developed tailored plans that included sessions on emotional wellbeing, resilience or academic subjects, depending on need.
This work provided the first stepping stone for many on their return journey to mainstream education. Its success means we’re now rolling the approach out in other areas, and there’s no reason it shouldn’t happen in every local authority.
In short, AP is key to delivering the more inclusive mainstream schools and rising standards the government envisions.
To do that, the sector must be seen as the willing partner that it is, its specific context recognised and its experience valued so that an early, flexible response to need becomes the norm.
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