Prospectus

10/06/2014

Proposed Reintegration Readiness Procedures and Protocols Preamble The Oswaldtwistle School has rapidly moved from being a static intermediary institution for permanently excluded students to a centre within which the majority of the student population is, in essence, transient. This situation has been arrived at through a mutually supportive relationship with our partner mainstream schools. However, whilst legislation and local authority initiatives were the initial driving force behind the desired reduction in exclusions, it has essentially been left to the short stay school and mainstream colleagues to create an effective, but reactive, operating protocol.

Now that the opportunity for the strategic use of respite places and/or assessment places has been created, there is therefore a developmental need to open dialogue with our partner mainstream colleagues in order to create a formal structure to our procedures and protocols. This draft document seeks to address away forward through a consultative exercise which is informed by currently recognised good practice and the advice of our senior educational psychologist.

There are background considerations to bear in mind throughout this process in relation to DfE guidance to short stay schools nationally and developments in Lancashire specifically. Many issues require addressing through the ACES also as preventative approaches become more successful and the strategic development of reintegration is reviewed. Management, evaluation, barriers, expectations and desired outcomes will, of course, be part of that reviewing process. However, none of this should interfere with the development of good practice in our districts within East Lancashire. I therefore commend this document for initial consultation, in the first instance,to area headteachers in Hyndburn and Ribble Valley, and Rossendale.

Expectations and capacity of receiving school: In our discussions with Richard Crombie we have managed to agree on a number of factors which are required on the part of the receiving school in order to ensure successful reintegration is achievable. We concur with his outline summarised below.

In order for schools to reintegrate students effectively they must be able to; • • • • •

ensure a child feels safe and secure by creating a positive and caring environment, have clear and consistently reinforced boundaries, proactively commit to building trusting relationships, respond positively to relationship repair through structured reparation opportunities such as restorative conferences, convince young people that they are welcome and are sincerely considered to be part of the school

Draft paper for consideration by Area Head teachers of D.11 and D.14.

10/06/2014 Schools will also need to be able to promote self development by; • • • • •

the reinforcement of accurate, positive self descriptions and related behaviour, creating opportunities for identifying influences on feelings, thoughts and behaviour, encouraging the recognition of individual uniqueness and qualities, the identification and appropriate expression of emotion, ensuring students take ownership of their behaviour and accept consequences.

Ideally, it would be beneficial in promoting affiliation if schools had time to prepare for; • • • • • •

a positive welcome, early inclusion in a base group, information regarding their immediate peers, support in developing friendships and friendship skills, a buddy or a peer mentor, regular and effective home liaison.

Alongside the clear necessity to manage risk related to potentially challenging behaviour and the stress of a new school, sensible precaution would include an agreed individual behaviour plan which clearly focuses upon; • • • •

identifying, acknowledging and building upon strengths, setting clear and achievable personal targets, regular review and reinforcement of expectations, celebration of progress and success.

The initial plan ought to follow a smooth transitional phase between advice given by the short stay school in addressing any element of a child's behaviour which may require support. this advice should be specific and detailed before admission is considered.

Assessing the child's readiness: This is essentially about the extent to which, the short stay school has been able to achieve progress with the child in the areas listed in the previous section. From the perspective of the child, it may be helpful to reframe the pre-requisites and the assessment pathway used, in providing clear evidence that the child can; • • • • • • •

achieve a sense of of safety and security, engage in trusting relationships, understand and follow instructions, respond to challenges, understand and have a sense of self as a pupil, learner, peer and member of the community, and within their family, behave within normal boundaries and expectations in class, with adults, around school and in less structured times, engage effectively in class with respect to general conduct, group and class discussion and

Draft paper for consideration by Area Head teachers of D.11 and D.14.

10/06/2014 • •

through independent work, engage positively in social relationships with others including adults, display the capacity to co-operate in the event of serious incidents and procedures.

It is evident from our early discussions with Richard and other professionals involved in the reintegration process that there is sufficient simplicity and clarity in the preamble. However, it appears that we need to be more precise when one considers the forensic analysis of those cases which have failed – largely through a lack of communication or planning. Clearly, agreement and planning must precede the reintegration process in order for it to become an effective and structured phase which ensures seamless transition between the breakdown in one school and a fresh start in another.

Therefore we would also propose the use of a reintegration plan populated by preparation and planning and evaluation in order to secure the success of the process. The plan is essentially a chronological order of events agreed by all parties which includes the identification of a member of staff from each setting through which all communication should take place. In order to track and evaluate the success of reintegration is it would also be useful to identify the source of the reintegration request and the main cause of previous concerns (e.g. social, emotional, behavioural, academic or a combination thereof).It is envisaged that this first phase of the reintegration process should take no longer than 10 working days.

Once the initial reintegration plan has assembled all parties can then be invited to attend a formally minuted meeting to discuss the plan, support required and expected outcomes. This would of course include a date set for the review of the success or otherwise of the plan. Of course, the proviso of a short notice review ought to be built in where there the potential perceived of a higher risk.

Notionally, one would expect a review to take place within 5 to 6 weeks with an agreement that the successful completion of one full term should lead to single registration at the mainstream school.

Of course, any student who subsequently began to show signs of deterioration in performance in relation to the reintegration plan targets, but would be a priority for support from the short stay school.

There are templates easily drafted to use in this process which can be branded on behalf of the receiving school's in order to make the process as straightforward as possible. I foresee the short stay school providing evidence of student performance from a variety of sources including: • Pupil assessment and self-evaluation scale – PASS (Jane McSherry, Fulton Publishers) • IRIS ( behaviour monitoring software) • e-Boxall profile • attainment levels/e-CAT's if not available from previous schools • successful support interventions The PASS offers evidence of progress, strength, weakness or concern with regard to: Self-management of behavioural Self and others Self-awareness Self-confidence Self organisation Draft paper for consideration by Area Head teachers of D.11 and D.14.

10/06/2014 Attitude Learning skills Literacy skills These were areas identified by a substantial body of mainstream teachers in London who sought to identify the pre-requisite skills required by a student attempting reintegration. In their reflections, it became clear that students include clearly need to 70% of the requirements would have the commensurate ability to survive in a mainstream setting and eventually become successful.

IRIS is an online behaviour monitoring and rewards system which convert anecdotal and incidentbased reports into extremely valuable and informative assessments of a child performance.

Boxall profiling will be in use in some of your schools already. The tool in itself it's not difficult to use but the information derived from the profile can be extremely powerful in identifying the root of behavioural issues.

E-CAT's whilst not an indicator of current attainment levels, provide the basic templates are expected progress over the key stages and can be used by the short stay school at any time in a student's education if required.

The menu of interventions proposed for 2010-11 to the Area Head teachers whilst not exhaustive contains a useful starting point from which to share good practice and, in the case of the receiving school,should save a great deal of time in identifying appropriate intervention in support of the child and the reintegration process. These techniques, programmes and strategies could be undertaken in a mainstream setting or in the Short stay school, whichever is deemed most appropriate.

Please accept our gratitude for the tremendous effort thus far in reducing exclusions! The impact upon the short state school is clear to see in the numbers of students on respite placements now being the majority of our population. In addition, those students who remain on roll having experienced a permanent exclusion are gradually reintegrating into the world of work, further education or E2E programmes. Our intention is to, yet again, have no NEETS leaving at the end of the academic year. In order to further this fantastic progress, please feedback your views on the proposals for an agreed format in addressing reintegration as soon as practicable.

Thanks again, Mark P. Bocker Headteacher The Oswaldtwistle School

Draft paper for consideration by Area Head teachers of D.11 and D.14.