How to engage disenfranchised parents with their child’s education
Reading time: 4 minutesParents are a child’s first and most important teachers. When parents...
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Alternative Provision
How to keep the curriculum engaging for those learning online
Reading time: 2 minutes
Online learning has become increasingly popular in recent years, and for good reason. It offers several advantages over traditional face-to-face learning, such as flexibility, convenience, and affordability. However, one of the challenges of online learning is keeping students engaged.
Ofsted has highlighted how high-quality education should be provided if children are to fulfil their true potential. The school inspection handbook states:
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How to create an alternative provision curriculum that engages all learners
Reading time: 4 minutes
Alternative provisions can be beneficial when the right support is in place. An engaging curriculum is imperative to encourage reluctant learners to reignite their enthusiasm for education.
What does an engaging curriculum entail? Following guidance, the curriculum should encompass a broad and balanced with sequenced lessons for students. Ofsted’s school inspection handbook outlines how inspectors will consider:
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Alternative Provision: the current landscape
Reading time: 4 minutes
Alternative Provision (AP) is a type of education that is delivered to students outside of a traditional school setting. It plays a crucial role in the UK education system, providing support and tailored learning opportunities for students who may struggle to thrive in mainstream schools, who have been excluded from school, or who are unable to attend school for other reasons.
There are many benefits to Alternative Provision for both schools and learners. For schools, it can provide a cost-effective way to provide education to pupils who would otherwise be excluded from mainstream education. It can also help to reduce the number of pupils who are permanently excluded from school, which can have a negative impact on their future prospects.
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Low on school budget? Here’s why an online alternative provision can help
Reading time: 3 minutes
Budgeting of schools has always been an issue in the country. Recently, more and more schools are facing individual school budget exclusions. Schools have had to juggle their resource allocation impacting the quality of education delivered to students. With the quality being compromised, the students, as well as the teachers, suffer in the long run. These budget exclusions impact the future of the children. Hence, schools and concerned authorities need to decide on an alternative solution to make up for the compromised levels of education.
All of these school budgets result from cost savings and efficiencies. There are constant budget pressures, and over seventy per cent of the school expenses go to staffing and instruction. However, some creative solutions need to be devised so that these school budget reductions don’t negatively affect the student’s education and the school’s atmosphere.
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5 Strategies to Reduce Exclusion
Reading time: 3 minutes
It is possible that protecting children from being expelled from school might safeguard them in several ways. A substantial body of data suggests that children barred from attending school are more likely to have negative life experiences.
Greater educational achievements and more chances for the future may be achieved by providing children with the resources they need to remain in school. This also helps to guarantee that children are kept in a secure setting. Concerns relating to a larger scale of disproportionality within the criminal justice system are equally pertinent to school exclusion.
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What challenges do we face in alternative provisions?
Reading time: 4 minutes
One of the greatest issues facing all areas of education is funding and the stretch that is being placed on school budgets at all levels.
Many alternative provisions do not receive direct funding from the DfE and rely on daily rates paid directly by schools as their primary source of funding.
School budgets are being stretched more than they have been for years and we are faced with a situation where school leaders will be forced to make some difficult decisions. We may see that referrals to alternative provisions may be reprioritised within existing budgets.
As we move to a post-pandemic world we are all facing challenges across all areas of education. For many students, remote learning has worked well and they have engaged in education within a calm, purposeful environment with adequate IT access which does not have to be shared. But, this has not been the experience for many students within alternative provisions and those at risk of being referred.
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Impact on alternative approaches for alternative provisions
Reading time: 3 minutes
The potential harm exclusions may do to a school’s finances and image should only be used as a last option. This exemplifies the need for alternate provisions to prevent the exclusion of children from educational programmes.
The employment of critical workers to provide kids with assistance for their personal development and to communicate with their parents or other caretakers about the student’s academic progress and how well they are doing.
Parents welcome this assistance and gain from being able to praise and understand how to help with their children’s behaviour, which is a win-win situation for everyone involved.
Impact of alternative approaches for alternative provisions
The provision of alternative schools is an integral component of our education system that is constantly being expanded. It is estimated that around 45,000 students are taught in alternative provision schools annually; this number does not seem to be decreasing, even though there is generally an underlying logic of inclusion
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Coronavirus: UK opts to keep schools open
Reading time: 3 minutes
The UK has made the decision for schools to remain open in the face of the Covid-19 coronavirus, despite widespread school closures in other countries affected by the virus.
The decision came as a shock to some, following the Republic of Ireland’s decision to close all schools and colleges until 29 March, earlier in the day.
But why has the Prime Minister made this decision, and are some school closures in the UK still likely?
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