Navigators Symposium: shining a spotlight on Alternative Provision

Date

13 January 2025

Author

sh-comms

A 2024 highlight for the Navigators team was welcoming a group of professionals and key voices in the Alternative Provision (AP) space for a collaborative discussion in its first ever symposium event. 

The event focused on exploring industry best practices, and gave space to different ideas and perspectives about navigating the challenges facing APs and the students they support. The Navigators team were delighted with its outcome and the valuable and important conversations about how everyone involved could best serve young people whose needs are not met by mainstream education. 

Navigators CEO Anthony Thompson gave a keynote speech for the event, highlighting the aim of helping to ensure the best possible outcomes for young people in APs: 

“The question we ask ourselves, and want the panel to discuss today is: how do we create a social education programme to engage all young people not attending school? How can we develop a full-time alternative curriculum? And how do we develop a world-class, sector specific workforce?” 

This  was followed by a panel discussion, moderated by education consultant and SEN expert Barney Angliss. Barney began by introducing some of the key challenges facing alternative provisions, as well as the value of embracing disruptive practices in the space:

Pushing children back into school environments which they have already either rejected or felt rejected by is futile. Schools need to understand this and train their people to work differently. 

“The latest data shows that, not surprisingly, children in AP travel further to their school setting on average, but they also have much better attendance than they did when they were in mainstream school. That’s a very hopeful note to carry…”

The panel included several key voices and leaders in AP : Assistant Headteacher and Special Education Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) at St John Vianney, Kirsten Nesbitt, Navigators’ Head of Alternative Provision Jo McManus and Graham Herstell, education consultant and Current Practising Lecturer at MMU Business School. Together, they dissected the questions posed by Anthony, and offered their unique perspectives and experiences to the audience. 

Some key takeaways from the panel discussion, and the event as a whole included:

  • A one-size-fits-all approach to education can’t meet the needs of all children or young people; there needs to be adequate alternatives to keep students who struggle in a mainstream environment engaged.
  • One of the main challenges facing AP settings is navigating the balance between offering an alternative to mainstream education, whilst also ensuring they receive a high-quality learning experience.  
  • A unique, enriching, and interest-based approach to AP has proved effective in keeping young people engaged with their learning, improving attendance and leading to more positive outcomes for the student. 
  • The way we live our lives has changed dramatically over the past 20 years. The UK has seen a dramatic rise in mental health issues for young people – this needs to be reflected in the country’s educational framework. 
  • There needs to be a change of mindset at every level around what ‘full time’ education might look like – incorporating different settings and activities to traditional classroom learning can have major benefits, and teach young people core skills to help them prepare for adulthood. 
  • Intervention needs to happen earlier – too many young people feel that they are failing at school before they reach secondary school. And of this group – too many are not properly assessed for the support that they need. 

The team at Navigators wanted to extend their thanks to Barney Angliss and the panel members, as well as everybody who attended the symposium.  It marks the first event of its kind to be run by the team, with more planned for the coming months.  This will allow for further collaboration between AP professionals and, ultimately, better outcomes for the children and young people they support. 

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