Alchemy School has achieved the Inclusive School Award.
Inclusive Setting
Alchemy School was set up in 2019 in Teynham and caters for 20 students. The outreach service provides a further 30 places. Many students hold an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) for Social Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH). Two other sites have been acquired and the outreach programme is being expanded. However, this IQM assessment visit took place at the original Alchemy Teynham site.
Alchemy School is, by its very nature, an inclusive setting. Most students have had an unsettled school experience and have often been excluded from other education settings or have been school refusers for many years. Alchemy seeks to include every one of them and seeks to find ways for them to access the education they need and deserve. Every staff member understands the part they play in changing students’ life courses for the better and, as such, are driven and dedicated to making that happen. One student described how Alchemy staff changed their life trajectory, “I needed to be home-schooled from when I was aged 10 to 16. I could not stay in lessons. I had to leave every ten minutes. They gave me time and patience.”
Alchemy School has grown at an impressive rate due to the passionate, responsive and outward-reaching aspirations of its leadership team and the wider Advisory Committee. Where needs have been identified in the locality, Alchemy has provided a solution-based response. As such, it has needed to consider the organisation of provision as they expand. This is now at an early stage but students can now be grouped by the level and types of needs so that staff skills and resources can be deployed more strategically.
High-Quality Training
Monitoring takes the form of regular internal and external observations and surveys. All stakeholders participate in this, particularly leaders and the Advisory Committee. Consequently, high-quality training is provided internally or by reputable providers and this training is either signposted for individuals or provided to the wider team. Staff training is primarily driven by the needs of the student cohort, but leaders are also mindful to promote and encourage individual professional development with many current staff members formalising teaching qualifications or furthering their knowledge base.
As an independent provider, Alchemy School has opted to replace a traditional governing body with an Advisory Committee. Leaders have worked hard to ensure that this committee comprises stakeholders who have the knowledge and experience to drive high-quality inclusive practice. Committee members represent the local authority, school and parents. Their role is to provide support whilst also challenging thinking. The tone is of invitation, not demand. This relationship is seen to be less authoritative and more of a collegiate approach that provides self-evaluation and self-reflection opportunities.
Alchemy School provides a variety of curriculum solutions for the students under their wing. These include bespoke personalised pathways based in school, via outreach or through an individual Pastoral Support Plan. The aim is for students to access the vocational or academic experience and qualifications that will lead to successful employment. All these options are designed to ensure that students can access the skills they need to be successful in their future lives.
Curriculum
The curriculum for individual students differs according to need. Whilst high priority is placed on teaching English and mathematics, the school’s pastoral offer plays a significant role in ensuring that mentoring, interventions, therapeutic provision and style of teaching match the students’ needs. Until recently, the school has not offered traditional ‘options’ for academic subjects and focused on key subjects only. The curriculum is now being expanded to ensure Gatsby benchmarks can be implemented.
As part of the curriculum, students access a range of opportunities within their own home, the school, outdoors, or in the community. Often these activities sit on the edge of the student’s zone of proximal development to develop resilience skills and encourages them to challenge themselves. Further to this, CREED Outdoor Learning Trust is currently employed to allow students to get outdoors and active, try new things, increase their social circles, and create an awareness of their surroundings.
The recent completion of Pearson’s registration means that the school is rapidly increasing the range of vocational qualifications on offer. In response to attendance data, the school has also developed a reintegration programme which is primarily delivered through outdoor education and allows for a less formalised approach to teaching English and mathematics whilst students access awards and vocational experiences related to their own interests. This highly personalised approach is not a new one, however. A great strength of the school is how responsive teaching is to students’ interests. For example, a student who was keen to move into the beauty industry had written their own instructions on how to apply lash extensions.
Staff are Knowledgeable
Staff are knowledgeable about the specific needs of individual learners. Effective planning for the pastoral support of students enables them to access the academic and vocational curriculum more readily. Teaching and learning opportunities take place in a variety of settings and for differing durations and levels of intensity ranging from access to short-term turn-around programmes and bespoke one-to-one programmes to outreach, tuition and full school placement.
Teachers/tutors are encouraged to be creative in their teaching methods and in providing opportunities for students to practise and consolidate skills. They utilise a range of environments and strategies to engage and motivate students. They use local facilities to supplement students’ learning experiences and maximise resources available to them. The impact of these teaching practices is that progress here is increasingly stable and sustained for students over time.
Assessment plays a significant role at Alchemy School. Staff understand that the students that come to them have experienced significant gaps in their education and that it is important to ensure these gaps are plugged. Alongside this, they also recognise that many of these students arrive with other additional needs that may impede learning. These needs may be grounded in safeguarding and pastoral needs or inherent cognitive, sensory or language barriers. To ensure that the provision at Alchemy is appropriate and accessible, students are rigorously tested.
Technology
Technology is used as an accessible assessment tool. Basic and Key Skills Builder (BKSB) tests are used to assess English, mathematics and information and communications technology. The information from these early assessments gives staff an initial indication of current levels of understanding and is used to set targets and, for school-based students, ensures they are placed in an appropriate streamed class. Students are formally reassessed three times per year and teacher assessment is used between these dates. Pupil Asset is used to track progress and attainment and is evaluated within the context of other events in the students’ lives, such as a change of foster placement or access to specialist interventions. Targets and groupings are then adapted accordingly.
Teacher assessment is a strength. Session plans are evaluated to show impact for each student and this informs consequent planned learning. These rapid adjustments and responsiveness lead to accelerated progress when students first access the school as gaps are identified and plugged which allows students to develop greater confidence in themselves and to reimagine themselves as effective learners. Furthermore, plans to develop careers and employability tracking will mean that students are more readily able to visualise their aspirations and goals and to work towards these, ensuring that they take ownership of their own learning journey progress.
Students are inspired and motivated by the strong relationships they have with staff. For example, one student described how a member of staff had motivated them to try new hobbies that had shaped their thinking about their future career as a police dog handler. Ofsted report, 2023 stated, ‘Leaders have also fostered positive relationships with professionals and other stakeholders from outside the school. This includes members of the Advisory Committee, who provide the directors and other leaders with an external independent view of the school’s work.’
Homely Environment
Students at Alchemy School have often experienced trauma, misunderstanding, failure and rejection. They are vulnerable but may present habitual behaviours that others often find challenging. The remit of Alchemy is to support these young people to feel safe, calm and reconnected. As such, this homely environment has been created where staff take the time to build relationships with the students so that they can authentically support and advocate for them. There is an overwhelming sense that students feel seen and heard here. One student stated, “they know things about me nobody else knows”.
Students are encouraged to seek out staff they feel secure with and these staff become their key workers. However, the open-door policy and small setting means that students are comfortable with a range of staff. Daily debriefs and behaviour support plans, ensure all staff are kept abreast of student developments and this means that staff can respond more proactively and sensitively when students are struggling and need space to regulate. There is no sign that students take advantage of the trust they are afforded and they use this space and time well. Staff explained that they carefully assess new students for, amongst other factors, risk of absconding. If they feel students are likely to abscond, they adapt their programme to reduce anxieties and demands to be on site.
Alchemy School strives to create an alluring environment where students feel safe and seen. Where students are reluctant to engage with their education and have backdrops of school avoidance, the school works in partnership with families to change thinking and address underlying issues. During the assessment visit, students seemed keen to attend with most standing waiting at the front doors before they were due.
Training
Staff access training that enables them to be consistent and clear in their expectations of the students. For example, students must hand in phones on arrival and inappropriate language is challenged. Self-regulation is promoted. Whilst here, students develop a stronger inner focus of control and sense of self, with greater clarity about who and where they will be in their future lives. Students here are encouraged to think of themselves as part of a school family and, as such, there is a drive to work collaboratively and resolve disputes amicably. Staff develop authentic relationships with the students based on respect, communication, empathy and aspiration. The recent introduction of Harry Potter houses provides a further vehicle to motivate team spirit. A parent stated, “they get what they need. They are a person again.”
Those students encountered during the visit were jovial, polite, inquisitive and friendly. They did not seem phased by a visitor which indicates they were well prepared for the visit and trusted staff judgements. Students repeatedly spoke about how they were listened to. This undoubtedly has a positive impact on self-esteem and self-efficacy. Although the environment offers multiple reminders and posters that signpost support, such as the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) and National Health Service (NHS) Domestic Abuse helplines, students tend to prefer to reach out to staff for mental and physical health issues. A parent stated, “they stuck to their words. What they say, they do.”
Alchemy School staff work hard to develop trusting relationships with parents, carers and guardians. From the outset of each student’s journey with them, staff meet with parents in their own homes. They listen to them and respect them. They ensure that parents understand the expectations of the school and the support that will be in place for their child to succeed. It is a partnership from the outset. One parent described the different tone of communication since their child began to attend Alchemy, “always phone calls saying he is doing well”.
One parent described the journey her child, and their family, had been on. They spoke about the sensitive and graduated approach taken by staff to build confidence and develop relationships to broaden the student’s tolerance window over time. They described the change from an intensely anxious youngster who was unable to access school, to two years later when they had got themselves a part-time job. The parent described their delight when their child one day announced, “I am off to school. I want to get an early start to get my day done.”
There is an understanding that parents may also need additional support and where this is the case, the Mental Health Lead works closely with them or signposts to other services. There is a proactive approach that begins with simple check-ins simply asking, “How are you? Are you okay?” One parent said, “they listen! They know about every family.”
Works Hard to Develop Relationships
Alchemy School works hard to develop relationships with those in the local community. The decision to implement an Advisory Committee was made to ensure that stakeholder schools in the locality were not only aware of the work being done at Alchemy but could scrutinise and influence the effectiveness of the provision. This benefits the whole community but also means that transitions into and out of the school are made far simpler. One student who was transitioning to their next placement said, “they will have asked them to go slow with me”.
Alchemy School has become a vital resource in the locality since the devolved Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) provision. Representatives from Alchemy School attend the Fair Access Panel to aid with discussion and support for hard-to-place children and young people. There has been an evident positive impact of the school and its inclusion-driven committee on the exclusion rates in the locality.
Similarly, the recent development of the Swale Safeguarding Liaison Group means that there is now a forum where community members and police, can pool information, such as indications of county lines movement or areas and times of disruptions, and can triangulate and act proactively to support the young people involved. Supporting residents and working directly with partner schools, allows the students to showcase their skills and attitudes, thus raising the reputation of the school, which has direct long-term effects on the students themselves. A parent stated, “I am so glad I found it. I wish I had known about it before.”
Find out more about the IQM Inclusive School Award
If your school is interested in obtaining the IQM Inclusive School Award or you wish to talk to a member of the IQM team please telephone:
028 7127 7857 (9.00 am to 5.00 pm)
or email: [email protected] for further details.
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