Admissions

Although young people placed at the Potteries have a maximum timeframe at the home of 26 weeks, the period of assessment is 16 weeks. This ensures that the education provision is following a integrated curriculum that involves engagement, experience and assessment for learners at a relatively early stage of their placement.

The initial week of placement involves no direct education experience for the learner. This time in the home is utilised to stabilise behaviour, establish routines, outline boundaries and register the young person with the necessary services situated locally. During this period, the Headteacher reviews existing documentation for learners, liaises with the placing authorities education department and gathers the necessary documentation to be able to evaluate the learners experience of education up until this point. With this information, formulation of risk assessments and bespoke individual curricula are compiled prior to learners commencing school at the onset of week two. A date is also be set with the young person’s social worker to complete a Personal Education Plan at the first opportunity.

The majority of young people placed at the Potteries have very negative experiences of school, are resistant to a structured educational environment and exhibit all those difficulties associated with low self-esteem. The induction process involves the slow introduction of routine, the establishment of boundaries around behaviour at school and qualitative, formative assessment concerning academic levels. This is mediated by the ability of pupils to cope with the very tangible difficulties they experience in the classroom. The Headteacher determines the length of initial education sessions, when to increase learner involvement and the level of support required to deliver effective education.

The objectives of the induction process are to ensure that the process of re-engagement has been initiated and the young person has all the necessary support framework required to be able to make progress; that a regime of assessment is in place to measure that progress and inform future planning; that all necessary support needs are identified and met within the learning programme and prepare the young person for future transition to a more permanent educational provision.