Our Hammersmith & Fulham Alternative Provision Strategy 2023 to 2028 sets out:
- our local area vision and priorities for supporting children and young people attending alternative provision and their families
- how we will work together to deliver these over the next 5 years
The strategy applies to all children and young people attending alternative provision (AP) including those children with SEND who have an Education, Health and Care Plan or receive SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) support. It is set within the context outlined in the Department for Education’s (DfE) SEND review: right support, right place, right time published in March 2022 following a national SEND review.
We are committed to supporting all of our children and young people to have the best possible outcomes so that they go on to have fulfilling lives, living healthily and as independently as possible.
We recognise that many of the young people that use alternative provisions will have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) which is why we have unified our approach in this strategy to key SEND policies.
This strategy will sit alongside our:
- SEND Strategy
- SEND Sufficiency Review
- Early Intervention Strategy
- Medical Needs Guidance
- ACE Reference Manual
It will also align with other key documents outlining our approach to supporting children and young people within the borough.
This strategy involves all partner agencies, in Hammersmith and Fulham, who have responsibilities for commissioning and providing services for children and young people in alternative provisions including education settings and council services.
Vision
The local area partnership is committed to ensuring children and young people lead happy, healthy, and fulfilling lives and achieve their life goals.
Shared principles
Underpinning our vision is a set of jointly agreed principles. We want all children and young people attending alternative provision to:
- feel welcomed, included and valued
- have a voice, are listened to, have choice and control and are equal partners in decision-making about their own lives
- have their needs identified early and accurately, with effective support put in place quickly
- benefit from joined up support from staff who have the right knowledge and skill
- have access to high-quality education locally
- are clear about what they can ordinarily expect from their local services and education setting
- have high aspirations for their future with a clear focus on life outcomes across education, health and care
- have access to the right information at the right time
What is alternative provision
Local authorities are responsible for arranging suitable fulltime education for permanently excluded pupils, and for other pupils who because of illness or other reasons would not receive suitable education without such provision. This applies to all children of compulsory school age resident in the borough, whether or not they are on the roll of a school, and whatever type of school they attend. (The Education Act 1996 Section 19).
Alternative provision (AP) is where children and young people of compulsory school age can receive their education if they are unable to remain in their school some, or all of the time. This can be for health reasons, exclusion, or because they need some additional support beyond that which can reasonably be offered by their school.
For the Section 19 duty to be satisfied, it is important to ensure that the council, families, health, community groups and education settings work together in the best interests of all children within an inclusive education system.
Alternative provision commissioning arrangements
The council commissions Ormiston Academies Trust (OAT) on behalf of its school community via a Service Level Agreement (SLA). The OAT Courtyard caters for primary aged pupils and OAT Bridge caters for secondary aged pupils up to Key Stage Four.
The use of Alternative Provision in Hammersmith and Fulham is underpinned by several key principles.
It must:
- involve access to full-time education and entitlements
- be integrated within the core offer
- be cost-effective and offer value for money
- be accessed through transparent referral systems
- children, young people and their families are involved in decision making and their plan
- offer personalised learning opportunities which are tailored to meet a young person’s individual needs, abilities, and interests
- include access to a range of appropriate vocational and accreditation opportunities
- include positive links and liaison between provider
- be alert to gaps in provision
- be delivered through clear and formal contracting arrangements
- incorporate stringent safeguarding principles and practice
- result in clearly defined, positive outcomes
Throughout the provision is a wraparound support offer, including therapeutic input from speech and language and occupational therapists, providing a holistic approach to meeting needs. Increasing demand for mental health support is particularly true in alternative provision schools. In H&F there is a range of provision to meet needs of children to meet social, emotional and health needs commissioned by the council and Integrated Care Board delivered by the voluntary sector and NHS provider network.
Arrangements for the oversight of the SLA with Ormiston includes half termly monitoring meetings, school visits, reviews of destinations and performance progress data and the evaluation of the outreach services received by schools.
The role of alternative provision in Hammersmith & Fulham
The Local Area Partnership is committed to early identification and intervention and Alternative Provision forms a fundamental element of the council’s whole system approach to meeting needs.
Our high-quality alternative provision, including for social, emotional, and mental health needs, creates additional capacity for mainstream school leaders and staff to identify and support a child’s needs earlier, re-engaging pupils in education and empowering them to be a success. In Hammersmith and Fulham, Alternative Provision is an intervention, not a destination.
The support for children and young people operates on a three-tier model of universal, targeted and specialist support.
Tier 1 – universal provision
Universal behaviour outreach support available to mainstream setting to help at risk pupils stay in mainstream school.
Includes both whole school approaches that encourage trauma-informed practice in responding to behaviour as well as individual support for pupils who are at risk of exclusion through use of relational approaches to support the emotional development of children and young people.
Tier 2 – targeted provision
Short term time limited placements in AP to assess and address pupils needs before returning to mainstream provision.
Tier 3 – specialist provision
Longer term placements for pupils who need support to move onto new mainstream setting or progress to a sustainable post-16 destination.
Transition planning
It is expected that all children attending OAT Alternative Provision will be supported to return to mainstream provision where it is reasonable to do so.
Once a pupil is placed at OAT a reintegration plan will be established. The plan will indicate the half-term that the pupil is expected to transition back to mainstream or Post 16 provision.
The reintegration is a supported process whereby pupil’s move from a period of support and intervention or a permanent exclusion in an alternative provision, back into mainstream education. The process is coordinated by the alternative provision and the receiving school. The Local Area Fair Access Panel will support and moderate this process.
When the pupil is ready to return to mainstream education, the provider must:
- demonstrate to the receiving school pupil progression from their base line assessment
- have had a discussion with the pupil and their parent
- arrange the planning meeting for the 6-week reintegration process to begin
School commissioned alternative provision - quality assurance
Schools often commission their own alternation provision. Responsibility for the alternative provision used rests with the education setting commissioning the placement.
All commissioners should carefully consider what providers are available that can meet the needs of their pupils, including the quality and safety of the provision, costs, and value for money. Commissioners should maintain ongoing contact with the provider and pupil, with clear procedures in place to exchange information, monitor progress and provide pastoral support.
Schools and other commissioners should ensure appropriate quality assurance is undertaken of all Off Site and/or alternative provision accessed by pupils. The school commissioning the placement should maintain a full record of all placements they make, including a pupil’s progress, achievements and destination following the placement. This should also include the pupil’s own assessment of their placement.
Unregistered alternative provision
The council commissions alternative provision via the OAT Academies, free schools, registered independent schools and general hospital schools, all of which are regulated as schools.
Children’s Services oversee the implementation of the Unregistered Schools Strategy, working alongside other key council departments. Unregistered schools present a safeguarding risk because they are not regulated. Any information about a premise that appears to be an educational establishment is passed to the Education Safeguarding in Schools Officer and ACE team. If the establishment is not known, the relevant Council officer will report it to Ofsted for their investigation.
All education settings are strongly encouraged to use registered alternative provision. The council has implemented processes across the EHC Planning Team and Virtual School to monitor any children or young people who are using unregistered provision.
Key priorities
Priority 1 – sustainable transitions into post 16 and preparation for adulthood
What we plan to do:
- strengthen the young person’s voice in their own transition planning
- appoint a transition coach/mentor to work with students while in year 11 and support them to make appropriate post 16 applications and then to support these students once they have transferred in the autumn term to their post 16 destinations through mentoring support etc
- build employability skills – employing career organisations to deliver intensive employability programmes in year 10 and year 11 using strategies to build employability skills including teamwork, creativity, business encounters, personal responsibility, and work experience
- raise aspirations by including alternative activities that inspire, stretch and challenge via the use of speakers, sports, and visits
- to provide family support by employing a counselling group to help parent(s) support their children more effectively through AP and into post 16
How we will know we are making progress:
- pathways for children and young people attending AP will be clear and show the different options and access arrangements
- children, young people and their families will experience greater choice and control over decisions and their journey will be in line with their aspirations
- young people will have been actively involved in their holistic plan
- with greater parental confidence in mainstream schools, more children transfer to mainstream secondary and further education colleges
Priority 2 – excellent attendance for all children and young people attending alternative provision
What we plan to do:
- ensure robust use of part time timetables
- continue to embed our recently developed quality assurance framework for monitoring and evaluating the quality and suitability of alternative education provision
- embed School Attendance Support Officers (SASOs) practice alongside commissioned AP to ensure compliance with regulations and raise the attendance profile across Children and Young People Services (CYP)
- implement research-based strategies to remove the barriers to attendance including attendance displays and rewards, attendance meetings with contracts in place and fortnightly reviews as well as home visits undertaken for targeted pupils
- produce a policy and practice documents to support children and young people identified with Emotional Based School Avoidance (EBSA)
How we will know we are making progress:
- attendance for children and young people attending AP is above national comparators
- attainment of children who have been supported through AP is improved to ensure they leave school with the best possible results
- suspensions and exclusions are reduced
Priority 3 – a high quality behaviour outreach service
What we plan to do:
- review in partnership with schools and Ormiston Academy Trust the social, emotional, and mental health (SEMH) outreach provision
- develop a remodelled early intervention traded model that has a well-defined graduated approach to supporting children to be successful in their mainstream setting for implementation from April 2024
How we will know we are making progress:
- attendance of pupils is in line with or better than national averages during and up to 6 months post support
- baseline assessments evidence improvement in pupil SEMH at completion of service intervention
- baseline assessments evidence improvement in pupil access of the curriculum at completion of service intervention
- 85% of pupils receive zero suspensions and 95% of pupils receive zero permanent exclusions in the subsequent twelve months post interventions
- 85% of pupils receive zero fixed term exclusions and 95% of pupils receive zero permanent exclusions in the subsequent twelve months post interventions
- all schools are in line with or better than national average for both suspensions and permanent exclusions
Measuring success
As part of this five-year strategy, we have identified performance areas against each priority for which SMART targets will be set and reviewed at least annually. We are co-producing our SEND Outcomes Framework with key stakeholders.
SEND and AP systems can be complex and make it difficult to see whether the changes in the system are making a difference for children and young people. We will be using a range of information including audit, data, and stakeholder feedback to tell us how well we are performing, what’s working well and where we need to act to achieve change.
We will refine our baseline data which is made up of information from: our Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, our local area SEND self-evaluation (SEF); stakeholder feedback; coproduction activities; relevant H&F datasets; and regional and national benchmarking and work is underway across the partnership to build on our existing datasets and develop a set of agreed success measures for incorporating within our SEND Data Dashboard.
Governance
Day-to-day oversight of Alternative Provision, is overseen by the Education and SEND Leadership Team within the council. Any queries regarding Alternative Provision should be directed to them in the first instance.
Oversight
Oversight is provided by the Children’s Health, Education, and Social Care Partnership Board which spans the range of local area partners involved in working with children and young people.