At Ninestiles, an academy within the Summit Learning Trust, we have always worked hard to ensure that our school is able to support and embrace all different types of learners.
This includes following our trust’s policy of supporting all learners to maximise their attendance and avoiding the use of part-time timetables.
That said, we do have the flexibility to make adaptations for young people as required, and this freedom is something we have used to create our Habituation programme, designed to support students who struggle with school attendance.
Improving school attendance
The programme began in 2021 to help a group of boys who had found primary school very challenging during Covid and weren’t yet ready for secondary education.
The idea was to give them a time-limited period, ideally a term, in a bespoke class-based provision with a low-arousal and caring environment where they would study the core curriculum alongside an accredited personalised programme of speech and language work and social skills.
Participants also now complete sessions on managing behaviour and emotions.
The classroom is staffed by one teacher and one teaching assistant, and we work closely with a local alternative provision provider, which shares resources.
Every Friday the group takes part in an adventurous curriculum, leaving school for physical and confidence-building activities. Students from our school’s leadership team also join them, modelling positive peer behaviour.
The Habituation lead works closely with parents on a daily basis, building strong and authentic partnerships.
We believe this calm, inclusive environment within our mainstream setting allows young people to keep up with their work while addressing the reasons behind their challenges.
This helps them to return to mainstream equipped with the skills they need to be successful both personally and academically over the long term.
Indeed, in the first cohort, while some students gained an education, health and care plan (EHCP) and moved into specialist provision, most of them successfully integrated into mainstream education.
Based on this success, we have continued the offering. In the four years of operation, out of the 28 students who have taken part, 24 have been reintegrated to the mainstream.
This summer we saw our strongest ever exam results outcomes for our disadvantaged learners, and I believe this is down to the structured support we provide through initiatives like our Habituation programme.
The Habituation programme has been particularly effective for those learners who struggled at primary and then found the transition to secondary difficult.
While successful reintegration back to mainstream is the outcome we really want from the programme, I would argue that it also gives us valuable insight into how to meet the needs of our most vulnerable learners.
Supporting students on site
By designing this provision on site, we are able to keep students within our school community, alongside their peers, rather than sending them straight to external alternative provision.
As a result, fewer learners are referred externally - an excellent outcome in itself, and one that is also more cost-effective.
The programme also forms part of our improvement planning, following our achievement of the Leading Parent Partnership Award. We also won the °Õ±ð²õÌýInclusive School of the Year award, which was an incredible proud moment and a huge boost for staff.
This really underlined the fact that a can-do attitude is key to supporting young people with extra needs and it’s crucial that staff members work hard to ensure that every cultural capital and external experience is fully accessible for all.
Our pastoral and inclusion teams work collegially, ensuring that all colleagues see all learners as important members of the school.
At Ninestiles, we believe aspiration and inclusivity go hand in hand. A key part of our mission is to improve life chances for young people by tackling disadvantage and removing barriers to learning so that every student can achieve their potential. We are clear that being inclusive and ensuring great outcomes are not mutually exclusive.
I am incredibly proud of our Habituation programme and everything it does to bring this mission to life.
Alex Hughes is principal at Ninestiles, an academy that is part of Summit Learning Trust
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