2014
Lorna Matley, head teacher at Reach, only needs two words to sum up why it is rated "outstanding" by Ofsted: "Constant improvement."
The Stoke-on-Trent pupil referral unit is, she says, always striving to better itself. "We call ourselves a short-stay school," she says. "Pupil referral unit is the usual term, but I think short-stay school sounds much nicer. Kids come here on a very short-term basis to move onto where they should be, so we have to be creative about what we do. All of the young people have differing needs so we have to be creative. Nothing is ever static here, we're constantly trying to improve."
One of the ongoing changes at Reach since its previous inspection in 2011 is a drive to develop a more creative curriculum to engage young people who have been alienated from education. "We have very creative things on the curriculum," says Matley. "For example, as well as offering traditional art we do a lot of urban art."
Another twist on the usual curriculum are family learning sessions where young people's families join the lessons. "All the Key Stage 3 young people's parents are invited to come into sessions," says Matley. "The sessions are in the curriculum as part of the timetable and there's a different family session every week. It could be on any subject. It could be a creative subject or a literacy-based subject. And it's not just mums and dads - it is wider family: grans, granddads, aunties."
These sessions help both pupils and families value education more. "It helps the family feel very comfortable about coming into the school, but also it helps the wider family understand what's going on in the school and increases the value of learning within the family."
Ofsted certainly saw the benefits of this approach, using its inspection report to note how parents talk about the positive impact that Reach's work has in the home. Another aspect of Reach's work that Ofsted praised was its success at encouraging good behaviour. As one student told the inspector: "I can't behave badly because I have respect for everyone and everything."
Respect lies at the heart of Reach's approach to behaviour, says Matley. "Our entire behaviour policy is based around respect," she says. "One of the things our young people say they find different and like about being here is that they feel respected in the way that they are treated."
Young people are very much aware and involved in the push to improve their behaviour too. "Our behaviour for learning system runs through the day," says Matley. "Our young people know how they are doing at any part of the day because they are familiar with the grading system. They discuss their grading with the staff at the end of each lesson so they know what grades they are getting and why and how to improve them. It's not something the teachers do to the young people - the young people are engaged in it."
And the outcomes of such approaches speak for themselves. "We have an incredibly high success rate," says Matley. "One hundred per cent of our young people go back into whatever is a suitable provision for them. Only a very small percentage don't stay after they go back and if they don't we re-engage with them to find out why and make sure they go to a provision that could suit them."
FACT FILE
- Name: Reach
- Location: Stoke-on-Trent
- Description: Reach is a pupil referral unit catering to young people aged 11 to 16. It offers both full and part-time places to students who have been permanently excluded or are at risk of exclusion from school. The proportion of learners supported through the pupil premium is high compared with the national average and almost all pupils are of white British heritage. Reach moved into purpose-built premises, funded through the Building Schools for the Future programme, in 2012.
- Number of children: 44 girls and boys
- Ofsted reference number: 133178
HELPFUL HINTS
Data should be tailored. Rather than relying on off-the-shelf data collection tools, Reach gathers data specific to the work it does. "All pupil referral units are very individual schools - they don't always do the same things," says head teacher Lorna Matley. "We collect data that exactly reflects what we do here. Data that has been designed by us for us. Lots of the packages that schools buy to collect data wouldn't fit what we need."
Buildings make a difference. Reach's premises were purpose-built and designed in consultation with parents and young people and this, says Matley, makes a big difference. "We've had lots of different buildings all over Stoke-on-Trent and none have been quite as beautiful as the one we've got now. Having a beautiful new building that looks lovely and feels lovely makes a massive difference to the young people and how they feel about their education. They feel good about coming to school in a building like this."
Parents are alienated too. "Parents often feel very alienated by school and have sometimes had a bad experience in school," says Matley. "So we invite parents in and always make sure they feel comfortable in school as well."
