October 2020
Chances - The Alternative Provision That Works!
Chances Aims
The main aim of our provision is to offer a range of unique education and well-being support packages, both formal and informal, to help students re-engage with education, avoid exclusion and help de-escalate some of the challenges they may be facing that often impact school life.
For the 2019/20 academic year we wanted to continue to develop and widen our offer for early intervention. Whilst being inclusive and supportive, we wanted to maintain what we were good at as a school and ensure we provided an outstanding quality education for students and partnering schools.
Proof that it worked!
Successful Reintegrations -
Our success rate at reintegrating your students back into mainstream education remained as high as ever with 83% of our students fully returning to our partner schools and thriving. For those transitioning to a different school or provision, the support we provided meant those young people stayed in education! This is what we aim to do and we continue to be able to do this like no other school in Devon.
Academic Results -
Once again all the year 11's that attended Chances obtained all of the GCSEs that they were entered into. This is so important to us at Chances. Many other Alternative Provisions concentrate on vocational course and Functional Skills, but at Chances we have very high expectations of what our students can achieve and last year 100% of our students made academic progress from their current working level when they joined us.
OFSTED -
Ofsted inspected us in February 2020 and we’re pleased to have been recognised as a ‘Good’ provider. We encourage everyone to read our report which states how ‘pupils are proud of the school and their achievements’ and how most pupils ‘reintegrate back into mainstream school successfully’ after staff build ‘strong relationships and are key to pupils positive attitudes’.
Engagement -
When at Chances students engage in and enjoy their learning. Average attendance levels raise by 34%, which means we have young people in school more often and therefore we are able to support the emotional and social needs they have, creating a positive effect on behaviour when back in school. The work completed is always to a high standard due to the very high expectations that staff hold.
Parents and Student Feedback -
Students and their families always speak very highly of Chances after using the provision for a placement. 100% of the responses stated that parents and carers felt ‘the school responds well to my child's concerns’ with 100% agreeing that their ‘child is taught well at this school and made good progress academically. The students expressed that they felt safe at the provision and that the ‘behaviour they experienced at Chances was good’ and that ‘teachers gave them work that challenged them'.
Numbers -
Chances currently works with 20 plus schools and we supported 117 students last year. When you take into account our high success rate that's a lot of positive differences being made to young people's lives and the local communities they live in!
Behaviour -
The OFSTED inspectors commented on the calm and supportive environment created at Chances stating ‘pupil’s learning is rarely disrupted’. This was due to a new behavioural policy that was implemented at the start of the year and a consistent approach from the staff team. We are very proud that visitors often forget they are in a school full of students who had been sent to us as they were disengaging in their mainstream education.
Safeguarding -
As recognised in our Ofsted report, there continues to be a strong culture of safeguarding at Chances. Whilst safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility, the central safeguarding team at Chances was restructured to include a range of expertise and personalities to provide opportunities for staff development. The current team are all highly experienced, have good attention to detail and have a proven record of engaging the most vulnerable students.
Curriculum -
A broader, ambitious, and ultimately, improved curriculum has been developed to suit our students' needs. This was designed with the changes made to the OFSTED framework. Our school day reflects that of a mainstream school as to ensure reintegrations back into school are more likely to be successful. Opportunities for the young people we work with became the focus, with an emphasis on students leaving the school in a better position, both academically and pastorally.
Home Learning -
During Lockdown, over 88% of Chances students engaged fully in a specially designed and personalised home learning system. A report by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) stated that teachers in the most deprived schools reported on only 30% of pupils returning their last piece of work. Given Chances were working with the students who were traditionally refusing to engage with their learning we were very happy with the amount of young people we managed to get completing the work staff were setting.
Why it works
Chances is unique, there is not any other provision like us! We focus purely on early intervention and refrain from moving away from what has made us so successful. There remains a strong focus on attracting the ‘right’ students who we can support and help. As an early intervention provision our aim of reintegrating young people back into a mainstream setting can not be forgotten. We do not mix groups of students with others who have more complex and negative behavior traits as this only has only ever proved to be detrimental to the success rates of reintegration back into the mainstream environment.
Through striving to recognise and meet the needs of each individual student, primarily through short and effective intervention packages, our practice is characterised by, but not limited to:
High expectations of student behaviour and achievement.
A commitment to high quality teaching, learning and assessment.
The delivery of an ambitious, relevant and balanced curriculum.
Working alongside partner schools to support a student’s learning and ensure a successful reintegration into mainstream education.
Creating and maintaining a warm, safe and friendly environment.
What Our Students Said To Us Last Year
As students come to the end of their journey with us at Chances, we now encourage them to create their own brick and become part of the school's success story to inspire others.
Moving forward
At Chances we offer a variety of different packages that can support your school and your students - but we can also be as innovative and flexible as you need us to be to suit whatever support would benefit you and your children!
If you have any questions about what we do and how we do it - please do not hesitate to contact us and speak to Gary Hayes our Headteacher.
Email: gary.hayes@spacepsm.org
Telephone: 01626 864412
