How alternative education provider scored top marks
Fiona Simpson
Thursday, January 2, 2020
Head of only “outstanding” alternative education provider says a passion for learning is behind its success.
The introduction in September 2019 of Ofsted’s Education Inspection Framework has resulted in some schools struggling to understand what they need to do to meet new requirements and demonstrate best practice.
Since its launch, seven alternative education providers (AP) have been inspected, but only one – Westside School – has received an “outstanding” rating.
The 50-pupil capacity school, in Hammersmith, west London, was praised by inspectors over its “effective implementation” of the curriculum tailored to address gaps in individual pupils’ knowledge.
Specialist knowledge
The Ofsted report notes every teacher at Westside holds qualified teacher status and many are “specialists with excellent knowledge of the subjects they teach”.
“They plan a quality curriculum that motivates pupils and sustains their interest. This is why attendance is high and why the school is oversubscribed,” it adds.
The school is credited with helping pupils with a history of non-attendance and those at risk of exclusion to “rediscover their love for learning and find their own identity”.
Pupil behaviour is described as “impressive”, while safeguarding protocols are said to be “timely and effective”.
Westside is judged highly on improving pupils’ self-esteem and resilience. “Disadvantaged pupils told us about the positive impact such provision has had on their personal development. It has fired their curiosity and has made them want to know more about the world,” the report says.
Head teacher Carole-Anne Alcock puts the outstanding rating down, in part, to hard work from her team.
“Every single member of the team is highly passionate about what they do, and the school’s ethos is reflected in every aspect of school life; from how pupils and staff act around school and in the classroom to how they communicate with one another,” she explains.
Westside’s ethos centres on five principles: struggling students will benefit from a small, stable, caring environment; every young person can be successful; general social skills must be nurtured; families are key agents for change; and educational establishments should educate the whole student.
Differentiating between individual pupils’ needs both in and out of the classroom is a key element of Westside’s success, Alcock says.
“A focus on the curriculum tailored to the individual’s needs and differentiation in the classroom means that gaps in a child’s knowledge are identified early.
“We have children that have moved from [different] provision, others that have been out of mainstream school for a substantial period due to whatever reason and you have to give them that base, that groundwork to build on.
“One of the big reasons some of these young people are behind or have been unable to catch up is because they don’t have this basic knowledge; we ensure they have that, so they are engaged and want to learn,” Alcock adds.
This is reflected in inspectors’ views that leaders and governors “ensure that every pupil gets the curriculum that is best for them”. Great care and attention is given to finding out what pupils need the minute they join the school, the report adds.
Weekly training
Constantly building the skills of staff through weekly peer-to-peer training sessions is also something Alcock credits with helping the school achieve the top rating.
“We have a weekly training session on a Wednesday evening where a teacher who I, or another staff member, has seen do something particularly impressive or engaging, will demonstrate how this worked,” explains Alcock.
“For example, we had a teacher recently do a very good citizenship lesson that I happened to pop in on.
“The pupils were so engaged, and so she agreed to do it again in front of the teachers.
“A lot of teachers take things in and grow by doing; practical demonstrations are much more engaging for a lot of people.”
Alcock notes that teacher retention is a challenge faced by many AP settings and calls for more training and better incentives as a way of retaining staff who work in AP education.
“It is hard for alternative providers to recruit and retain staff; it is a challenging environment and often there is not the support in place,” she says.
“I seem to be very lucky in the fact that a lot of my teachers came with me and all my staff are trained but more needs to be done to ensure there are trained teachers in provisions and that there are incentives there for people to train and stay within a role.”
Everybody at the school – staff and pupils – are set high expectations, which “helps make Westside the outstanding provision that it is”, says Alcock.
“We want to show other APs, the government and the public that this is possible,” she adds. “We don’t dumb anything down – if there are gaps in knowledge, we work to fill those gaps. All children can achieve great things.”