Outstanding Provision
St Wilfrid’s Academy has recently been accoladed with the IQM National Champion Award in recognition of its outstanding inclusive practice. The school has a 125-place alternative provision setting offering KS2 and KS3 pupil assessments, short-term intervention placements, and longer-term programmes for KS4 pupils delivering the model described in the Government’s current National SEND and AP Improvement plan.
As a school, St Wilfrid’s Academy is committed to multi-agency outreach work providing the support and challenge to mainstream colleagues to think outside the box in terms of how they meet the needs of high-tariff students. St Wilfrid’s has a strong track record in terms of successfully re-integrating pupils back into mainstream schools. As a result of the impact of the outstanding provision, the school is now supporting other LAs to set up similar task forces based on the St Wilfrid’s Academy model as this approach has been shown to be highly cost-effective for the Local Authority and early help agencies.
Supporting Pupils
St Wilfrid’s Academy was invited to take part in an exciting Department for Education pilot to provide multi-agency support. A multi-agency task force now operates out of St Wilfrid’s, supporting pupils and their families within the community. This efficient, highly effective approach to early-intervention model has had a significant impact on pupils’ attendance, well-being, learning outcomes, and on their future life chances.
Recognising the importance of Inclusive Multi-Agency work the Youth Endowment Fund as part of their evidence -in-practice series, ran a session that focussed on the work and learning from the Department for Education’s Alternative Provision Specialist Taskforces (APSTs). This two-year programme aims to keep pupils that are in alternative provision – including those who have been excluded from school – engaged in education, getting them back on track with their studies and preventing them from being criminally exploited.
St. Wilfrid’s Principal, Dirk Pittard explained that as a school it is committed to multi-agency outreach work providing the support and challenge to mainstream colleagues to think outside the box in terms of the way in which they meet the needs of their high tariff students. They have a strong track record in terms of successfully re-integrating pupils back into mainstream schools.