Alternative Provision is under scrutiny as we start the new academic year. Behaviour is a major problem: and there is a concomitant rise in children who are turning their back on school. Good online Alternative Provision means that they do not have to miss out on education.
More than 9,000 children were excluded in the 2022/23 school year. Anxiety and mental health issues have led to a combative atmosphere in many schools. Teacher Tapp conducted a survey on behalf of the BBC. Secondary teachers said that they had seen more students fighting, and incidents of aggression compared with two years ago. Teachers have witnessed students ransacking rooms, vaping in the toilets and large scale bullying. This behaviour poses two problems: the school has responsibility to ensure an education for learners they exclude, while other students will become school refusers because they find life there intolerable.
EDClass is an online alternative provision (AP) provider that has recently been accredited by the Department for Education. They are currently working with 352 schools and and 110 Multi Academy Trusts, supporting 1100 learners. The success of EDClass is very timely. The Department for Education has announced its intention to reform unregistered Alternative Provision settings. This is because children as young as five are attending unregulated institutions. These are the ones which are not inspected by Ofsted or under the control of local authorities.
A lifeline for students at risk
Glen Allott is principal at Wayland Academy in Norfolk. They turn to EDClass to help young people at risk of permanent exclusion or who need a different curriculum. 'We also use EDClass to support students who are joining us with English as an Additional Language,' he said. 'We have a number of students who have come from Afghanistan and Ukraine as refugees with no English as a first language. EDClass gives them an opportunity to pick up some English and support their integration into our community.'
He finds it an effective stepping stone back into school. 'EDClass has had a significant impact on attendance. Students that we’ve put on there have been students who are school refusers and they’ve got many barriers for coming into the actual building. On EDClass we can register them we can monitor them and we can see that they’re taking part in the sessions and they can do that from the comfort of their own home.'