Alternative provision to mainstream describes the education offered by The Ashwood Academy for a good proportion of their students. Intensive provision for the remaining students may be a better description.
You might expect me to offer a reflection on how behaviour is managed, however I want to focus, as the staff do, on the teaching, learning and assessment.
Although I have mentioned is previously the fragility and unpredictability of the lessons / students in class and therefore learning, it is important that you hold onto these thoughts as you read on. What I didn’t highlight from days 1 to 3, that continued through days 4 and 5, the numerous distractions both outside and inside the classroom (banging on walls, doors, windows, shouting, and inside other students, plug sockets, cupboards, posters, walls, tools, equipment, stored equipment, mobile phones). Second, as a result of the difficulties of moving students between classrooms, lesson starts can be fractured, disrupted or delayed which reduces learning time. Even in the most productive lessons, the lesson start had to be controlled or highly managed.
We discussed how a more flexible (possibly extended) “do it now” task, with greater emphasis on learning. We discussed tasks connected to the use of subject specific language (a strength at The Ashwood Academy), communication, numeracy or low stakes quizzing in place of the lesson of procedure / learning objectives. Of course I introduced them to Tripticoplus (although I was informed board pens were a premium item at The Ashwood Academy). The introduction of learning objectives could then be used to signal the introduction of the teaching/learning phase. We also discussed how a similar closing task / plenary could signal the end of the lesson, support a calm exit and aid transfer. (As punctuality improves, retract the time allocated to “Do it now,” tasks.)
In the best lessons, I saw cleverly differentiated tasks and questions, which in some lesson meant fully personalised learning. We discussed the importance of rehearsal or practice time and I learnt that, for many of the students either low confidence, a weak personal focus / learning resilience or both meant that extend practice or rehearsal time much beyond two or three questions was rarely achieved. I owe this particular insight from one of my last post lesson conversations.
One of the most interesting insights was the importance of card or game rules – to students that frequently tried to test the rules in place to support their learning. Cards, chess, pool and table tennis at lunchtime operated under strict rules. Cheating was heavily sanctioned by the students themselves. Someone else winning or losing often lead to a verbal or physical outburst that caused the game to come to a catastrophic end; cards thrown down, pool balls moved, table tennis bat with-held from the next player. “Games” clearly offer a social learning opportunity, I expect, if I had time they would also offer a teaching opportunity too.
It was difficult to get students interested in their marking and feedback. Live feedback was most effective and reinforced successes. Offering feedback on inaccuracies or errors was understandably a more risky strategy, that said, some teachers were able to create a very positive approach to drafting and correct written work.
Of course, I could not overlook the resourcefulness of the teachers. In addition to the adroitness of the teaching, a broad range of behaviour strategies are employed. “Going for Gold” cards generated reward point every lesson much like a Tesco’s loyalty card. Behaviour Bands (Red, Amber, Green) is a tool most Primary teachers will already be aware of was available to teachers. This had better adherence with younger students. Broken record, staff proximity or ignore tactics were used in almost all lessons. A calm voice and non-threatening posture were merely a default for staff. Teacher radio’s were an essential reporting tool. A range of inventive strategies were also applied throughout the week, my favourite, busy or distract student A, to address the behaviour of student B. Remove distraction from student A.
Isolation set for a single period and is considered effective and manageable for the students. Isolation periods were also used by staff as a mentoring opportunity. It left me reflecting on the effectiveness of a full day isolation at The Wellington Academy.
What can mainstream schools do better to support the work of Alternative Provision colleague? In the best cases, a thorough personal, academic and SEND profile is shared with our colleagues – though not all. What their teachers really felt would help them was “all the small things.” The conversation points, interests, quirks, successes, the qualitative stuff. By sheer coincidence we discovered one student had a real passion for racing driving. A short video introduced graphing and the varying fuelling capabilities of different cars; F1, touring cars, F3. The student knew all there was to know and his enthusiasm for… maths. I have set myself the challenge that I/we share a pen portrait with our AP or managed-move colleagues because you and I know, there is always someone in the school that truly “knows” that student.
Lastly, I must thank Catch22, Graham Payne, Dave Moran, the staff of The Ashwood Academy and my Executive Principal for their support.
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