For general services, training, communication and resources for schools please go to the Kirklees Business Solutions website.
What is Alternative Provision?
Alternative Provision refers to education that a student receives away from their school, arranged by local authorities or by the schools themselves.
The Department for education (DfE) have issued some guidance about Alternative Provision (DFE Guidance), (opens new page)
Local Authorities must provide education for children and young people who have been permanently excluded or who are too ill to attend school for some time. Schools have a duty to provide education for children and young people from the sixth day of a fixed term exclusion (this is known as Day Six Provision). Sometimes schools also need off-site education to help children and young people improve their behaviour or deal with their anxiety. Alternative provision may be used for the education of these children and young people.
In Kirklees, Day Six Provision is provided by The Elland Academy (Which is part of the Delta group of academies).
The Elland Academy website (opens link in new window)
After this Day Six provision, a more permanent placement is sought, this could be another school or a longer term placement at an AP setting or provider.
Alternative provision offers comprise a curriculum and approaches that re-engage learners with education and which meet their needs, as well as helping them to prepare to go back to school or prepare them for adulthood. For young people with an EHCP, a permanent move to alternative provision should be done with a review of the EHCP to name the new provision.
Schools and the local authority may also use alternative provisions in neighbouring areas if appropriate: details of these will be found in the Local Offers for those areas.
The DFE Vision for Alternative Provision explains the governments vision for how they would like AP's to work.
In Kirklees, AP is provided by the following:
The Elland Academy are the provider of Day 6 Provision in Kirklees, with space for 55 children in Key Stages 1,2,3&4.
Medical Provision is provided by Great Heights Academy Trust which will have 45 places available.
Employability Solutions (Huddersfield) are providing 16 Assessment Places for young people in KS 3 & 4 who are experiencing significant social, emotional and mental health difficulties which is affecting their learning and ability to attend a setting. These places run for up to 12 weeks and provide a chance for assessment to take place about the young persons needs, some short term interventions. This is also a chance for the young people to be educated in a more relaxed environment, which can help them to feel better about education and themselves.
At the end of the placement, there will be clear recommendations of the support required for them to access education as well as clear next steps for the young person.
Kirklees are working to create 16 more Assessment Places in the North of Kirklees, with the aim of these being available from January 2024.
Kirklees has 40 AP places for young people in years 9-11, these are from:
- Employability Solutions: 16 places
- Brian Jackson Huddersfield: 12 places
- Brian Jackson Heckmondwike: 12 places
These offer unique education for young people who are not able to access mainstream education. They offer time spent doing vocational work (ie job based) as well as time spent doing more traditional work, such as English and Maths but taught by AP staff within a setting designed for young people with SEMH needs. These places are NOT for young people with EHCP’s.
These places are more flexible than traditional teaching and are unique to each young person.
Specialist long term places for pupils with EHCPs and SEMH needs.
For Key Stage 1&2 Engage Academy will provide 14 specialist places for children and young people with an EHCP and SEMH as their main area of need. Reach Academy will provide 26 places for KS 3 children and Ethos College will provide 20 places for KS 4 young people.
These are not AP placements but specialist placements and are the same as if a child or young person attended a special school such as Ravenshall or Southgate, the way to access a place here is to request it at an EHCP review.
As well as the above placements, Kirklees has a number of smaller other offers:
TAO Activities provide therapeutic outdoor education through a 12 week programme (this can be extended or reduced if needed) with highly skilled and experienced staff with a focus on supporting young people to re-engage with education. TAO focuses intensively on social skills, resilience, independence and increasing mental health and well-being.
This will provide an alternative online approach to learning for children & young people who are experiencing difficulties learning in a traditional classroom setting by providing the following:
en-GBLast updated: 22/06/2021
