Behaviour is a key factor for schools when it comes to retaining both staff and students. Technology and online tutoring can reduce some of the tensions in classrooms and corridors. They can provide wellbeing support for troubled learners, tuition at a time and place which works better for adolescent time clocks and a more personalised approach.
Some learners need to be in a smaller setting than the average school. This is especially true in secondary education. Teachers in mainstream are under continual pressure and there are many competing demands on their time. Unfortunately, individual children can slip through the net and need specialist help to re-engage with 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 reported that they had seen more students fighting, and more incidents of aggression compared to 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.
A lifeline for students at risk
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 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.