THE ALTERNATIVE PROVISION CENTRE (APC)
“Working in partnership with parent carers to ensure young people with complex needs settle happily into Somerset schools”
§ The APC is a Local Authority provision that offers temporary education for children and young people with Statements of Special Educational Needs (SEN).
§ Although we are a small team, we provide a service across the whole of Somerset.
§ Over the past five years we have built strong relationships with schools and other professionals in order to achieve our principal aim:
to enable our pupils to settle quickly and happily in their new schools.
· How are pupils referred to the APC?
Pupils are referred to the APC through Somerset’s SEN Statutory Panel which meets every week to consider the Local Authority’s responsibilities to pupils and young people with SEN.
We receive referrals for young people with a range of Special Educational Needs, currently from ages 5 to 16. Some of our pupils have moved into Somerset from other parts of the country; for others, already living in Somerset, the Local Authority is seeking to find the most appropriate provision to meet their needs. All our pupils have Statements of SEN or Education & Health Care Plans.
· What does the APC provide?
The APC is usually asked to provide intensive, “interim” education for each pupil, which is delivered 1:1, often in the pupil’s home. We make a home visit and meet the pupils and family before we match teaching and learning arrangements to the pupil’s individual needs. In this way, parent carers have their own direct contact at the APC.
The priority at this stage is to put together a programme that meets the objectives and outcomes set out in the Statement. Using information from the pupil’s Statement, Annual Review or other school records, we draw up a personalised plan which contains academic and personal / emotional / social targets. This is in the form of an Individual Tutoring Plan delivered by our team of central staff and outreach teachers.
· How are pupils and their parent carers involved in drawing up this Plan?
We value the opportunity to talk through these plans with young people and their parent carers, discuss the arrangements and ensure we have permission for any work done outside the home. Teachers will provide parent carers with a fortnightly update of work covered, and record feedback; the Individual Tuition Plans are reviewed approximately every half term. In this way we can work together towards the success of the Plan.
· What other support does the APC offer?
The APC then continues to support pupils and their parent carers in the transition to the young person’s new school. We consider this to be a vital part of the work we do, and we have achieved great success with transitions over the past 5 years.
The APC has built a solid reputation for engaging our pupils in their personalised packages and for supporting their integration into new schools and colleges.
We work in close partnership with the Educational Psychology Service and members of other Somerset support services, specifically learning support services, Children’s Social Care and the National Health Service.
In the School Year 2012-2013, for example:
· 32 pupils with Statements passed through the APC to new schools
· all our Y11 leavers entered further education, employment or an apprenticeship at the end of the academic year
· 70% of the remainder had attendance records of 90% or over and settled well into their new schools
In 2013-2014, the APC has helped integrate 48 pupils into their new schools, and at present all our Year 11 leavers are destined for placements on school / college courses.
Key to our success is our team of very highly skilled and professional Higher Level Teaching Assistants (HLTAs) who have developed some remarkable and creative approaches to delivering the curriculum, and a loyal and dedicated group of home tutors – our outreach teachers. Our teamwork and multi-agency working is exemplary, and at the heart of our ethos is mutual respect and support.
The APC has its office in Taunton, from where we co-ordinate education arrangements for all our pupils. Our contact details are:
The Alternative Provision Centre (SEN) Tel: 01823 349842
The Holway Centre (voicemail service may
Byron Road operate after 2.00pm)
Taunton TA1 2JD
Central Staff:
Lisa Tuckey Centre Administrator
Graeme Cozens Head of Centre 07919 540259
Deborah Salisbury Assistant SENCo 07919 540076
Karen Irwin Higher Level Teaching Assistant 07775 406571
Sarah Robinson Higher Level Teaching Assistant 07919 540276
Skills and expertise used by APC staff:
The APC works with pupils within all four broad areas of difficulty:
§ Communication and interaction
§ Cognition and learning
§ Social, emotional and mental health difficulties
§ Sensory and/or physical needs
We try to take a holistic approach to the provision we make by focusing carefully on the individual needs of our pupils using a range of approaches:
ü high level of safeguarding
ü Quality First Teaching
ü solution-focused approaches
ü integration & transition planning
ü addressing specific learning difficulties
ü addressing complex needs
ü anxiety / stress management
ü emotional literacy
ü protective behaviours
ü attachment and resilience
ü social skills and social stories
ü concentration skills
ü the behaviour environment and curriculum
ü analysing problem behaviours
ü assertive discipline
ü rules – rewards – consequences
ü dealing with confrontation and refusal
ü assertive not aggressive
ü Circle of Friends
ü parenting skills
ü behavioural target-setting
ü managing mealtime behaviour
ü co-operative games
ü observing behaviour
ü Circle Time
Graeme Cozens (Head of Centre)
July 2014