Context for joining Behaviour Hubs
The Richard Barnes Academy opened on May 1st, 2020, as a successor to the Peterborough Pupil Referral Service. The Academy operates within a service Level Agreement with Peterborough Local Authority (developed in summer 2021) and provides Alternative Provision for those pupils who are at risk of or who have been permanently excluded from mainstream providers in the City.
RBA (Richard Barnes Academy) consists of 2 campuses.
Fitzwilliam Campus (located on Williamson Avenue) and Trinity Campus (located in the Paston area of the city).
On both sites students have either been permanently excluded or on a short-term placement due to high risk of permanent exclusion.
RBA History
- In June 2019, the Academy – then known as The Peterborough Pupil Referral Service (PPRS) – was judged to require special measures by Ofsted.
- In May 2020, the academy was re-brokered and changed sponsorship to the Thomas Deacon Education Trust (TDET) based in Peterborough, The Academy re opened as the Richard Barnes Academy (RBA) reducing accommodation to two campuses instead of three.
- The LA reduced the number of commissioned places from 190 (2019) to 170 (2020-22) to 120 (Sept – Oct 2022) to 140 (Nov 2022) with learners spread over both sites. (70 on each Campus) from April 2023 160 places have been commissioned.
- In December 2021 Claire Everton (Former Primary Principal) became Principal of the Fitzwilliam campus where our Primary learners are based. In April 2022 Lynn Mayes (Secondary Principal) became Principal of the Trinity campus where the majority of learners are secondary (with the exception of the GEMs In December 2023 Claire Everton was named principal across both campuses through a period of transition starting January 2023.
- February half-term Claire Everton Principal working across both campuses.
Catchment
- RBA receives learners from all 15 Secondary schools across the city and 61 primary schools.
- The Permanent Exclusion rate for Peterborough is currently in line with national average at 0.03.
- 21-22 There were 74 permanent exclusions in Peterborough, compared to 34 the year before. This would indicate that figures nationally are likely to increase.
- 22-23 90 PEX
- Referrals come directly from the LA for Permanent Excluded (PEX) learners and via the LA managed Behaviour Panel for Short Term Intervention Placements (STIP) and Fair Access Panel (FAP) panel.
- There were 601 referrals made to behaviour panel from schools in Peterborough (academic year 21-22) 393 of these were new cases. 92 of these were provided AP (Alternative Provision) (not RBA). Academic year 20-21 there were only 296 cases referred to behaviour panel
FITZWILLIAM CAMPUS
The core purpose of Fitzwilliam is to:
For primary:
- To act as a diagnostic, assessment and therapeutic centre aiming to identify and prepare pupils for the most appropriate pathway and setting (specialist, alternative and mainstream) to meet individual need.
- To provide short term placement for pupils at risk of PEX in order to support a successful return to mainstream.
- To provide longer term placement for pupils whose need can best be met in the RBA Fitzwilliam setting.
For Year 7 – Year 11
- To provide long term placement (and short term where appropriate) for pupils at risk of exclusion or who have been excluded who are at significant risk of Child Sexual and/or Criminal Exploitation or have experienced significant trauma in their lives requiring a more therapeutic led approach to support.
To provide co-ordination and management of Day 6 provision.
To provide outreach support for primary schools (and secondary where deemed appropriate) in working with pupils at risk of exclusion. RBA Fitzwilliam will become a centre of excellence and an integral part of the Local Authority’s support package for all Peterborough schools.
Primary Students
The challenges that our primary students display include:
- High levels of violence, frequently needing multiple members of staff to keep them and others safe.
- Sexualised behaviour.
- Anxiety, manifesting in both physical and mental symptoms.
- Attachment issues.
- Undiagnosed SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) needs e.g. language processing disorder, autism, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and sensory processing disorder.
Our Family Liaison Officer will also try and engage with the family and offer tailored support. It is evident that for all our primary pupil’s external support / input is needed in the family home in order for the student to thrive in a school setting.
GEMS
GEMS is primarily a provision for predominantly secondary age girls; however, we are starting to have some boys and students who are transitioning gender, who are involved in or at significant risk of CCE (Child Criminal Exploitation) / CSE or have significant trauma. The girls may have been permanently excluded or on a short-term placement.
These students are exceptionally complex and challenging, the vast majority have several external agencies involved.
The main challenges we face are:
- Reliance on nicotine, cannabis and alcohol, some use of other drugs.
- High levels of self-harm.
- High anxiety.
- Inappropriate and dangerous sexual relationships.
Extreme violent outbursts – this includes physical assaults; a number of the girls have been arrested and have assault charges
Trinity Campus
Trinity is a provision primarily for secondary boys, Years 7 – 11. The boys may have been permanently excluded or placed in RBA on a short-term placement due to being at significant risk of permanent exclusion.
These students are exceptionally complex and challenging, the vast majority have several external agencies involved.
The main challenges we face are:
- Reliance on nicotine, cannabis and alcohol, some use of other drugs.
- Several of the boys are suspected to be involved in drug running and being dealers.
- A high number involved in local gangs.
- CCE is a significant concern for a high number of students.
- Inappropriate and dangerous sexual relationships.
Extreme violent outbursts – this includes physical assaults; a few of the boys s have been arrested and have assault charges.
Day 6 – 15
When the decision that a student is going to be permanently excluded from a Peterborough School, they become our responsibility from Day 6 – 15, as per the SLA states that we currently have with the Local Authority.
A Day 6 – 15 co-ordinator is in place and the following protocol is followed:
- Contact is made with the family to ensure that the student has access to a laptop, if they do not, we provide one.
- Family know that they can contact our Day 6 co-ordinator for any support required during this time.
- Learner is registered onto Century On-Line. This provision provides high quality English, Maths and Science on-line learning, tailored to the level and course needs of each learner.
- A full suite of GL assessments are registered for the student.
- Student is invited into Fitzwilliam to complete the GL assessments and any other learning the day 6 co-ordinator can offer (this depends on the number of students on Day 6 at the time same time).
- The co-ordinator ensures that as much information as possible is collected, so that if the PEX is upheld we can make an informed decision as to appropriate placement. This frequently involves chasing safeguarding information.
PEX and Short-term Placements
We offer placement for pupils who have been permanently excluded and would be able to manage in the setting. There are occasions when PEX primary need a more specialised setting due to their needs, especially when they have been PEX from a specialist setting e.g. Autistic Special School.
We also offer short term placements for pupils who are at real risk of being permanently excluded. We then work alongside their ‘home school’ to carry out further assessments to see if there is unmet need. The child being in a much smaller group gives us the opportunity to work closely with them and trail a variety of strategies.
During the placement we ensure that contact is maintained with their home school, this may include visits from their teachers or virtual calls to share their learning. It is imperative that the child knows that they will be going back and that they have not been rejected. It is a short placement to ensure that the child can stay in mainstream and not be permanently excluded.
Behaviour challenges and goals
Our goal was to ensure that all stakeholders felt that they had participated in developing the culture at Richard Barnes Academy. We wanted to ensure that behaviour expectations are clear and agreed and consistently followed enabling us to lower suspensions and allow routines to become the social norm.
85 % of our students have multiple ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) and trauma and in their lives. We want a school where it is calm and purposeful allowing students a safe space where every day stresses can be discussed and misconstrued ideals challenged to allow personal growth and engagement in aspiring constructive learning.
We believe that anyone entering our Academy whether this be student, parent or external professionals feel safe and focus on what needs to be done.
We wanted a behaviour policy that was fit for purpose and easily accessed by all stakeholders. We wanted this document to be actively used and be a handbook that staff use, refer to daily.
Our challenges were changing a whole academy culture across two different sites and two different sets of staff and very differing cohorts in each building. We needed to get parents on board that already had pre-conceived ideas of what an alternative place is, and had already had, an unpleasant experience and rejection from mainstream school. Changing beliefs that we were a school for ‘naughty children’ is a challenge. Secondary mainstream schools/academies use us as a stick to beat children with. This needed to be a change driven through secondary heads forums.
Disaffected students that feel rejected and no longer trust adults in education.
Solutions to behaviour challenges
With the support of lead schools and working closely with the Limes we were encouraged to make closer links with the Local authority and all our feeder schools. We engaged them and all stakeholders with the remodelling of our vision and values and being a part of our journey forward.
Being able to network and reach out to outstanding schools alongside our initial audit enabled us to organise our CPD for staff in line with the changes that needed to be made. The resources that we had available to us supported these changes.
Visiting a new school each half term helped us to keep motivated and moving forward through their own inspirational journeys
Impact on behaviour
All stakeholders through staff, student and parent voice have shared that they understand and support our vision and behaviour policy. The local authority has shared our routines during behaviour panel to support other schools struggling with student behaviour.
The results from the staff survey show that:
77% of staff stated that behaviour was acceptable or better
79% of staff agree that there is a clear vision of what is expected of good behaviour
93% of staff say that policy and routines are easy to follow
88% of staff state school behaviour rules and procedures help make the school a safe and happy place
95% of staff say the school’s approach to behaviour management shows an understanding of the factors that can affect pupil behaviour.
91% of staff state the school has robust procedures in place to provide appropriate early support for pupils who struggle to follow the behaviour rules.
98% of staff state pupils are provided with information to ensure they know how they are expected to behave when they join the school, and then regularly reminded / updated.
88% staff feel that pupils understand the behaviour rules and the consequences of not adhering to the policy.
95% of staff stated that school staff build positive, respectful and supportive relationships with all pupils.
88% of staff stated that appropriate training and development is available to ALL staff to support them with behaviour management
93% of staff said that school leaders are visible and remind pupils about the behaviour rules.
73% of staff have stated that behaviour has improved over the last 10 months
72% of staff have said that he clarity of rules and procedures have improved over the last 10 months
Next steps on your behaviour journey
To continue to drive staff behaviour consistency through regular reviews and audits using the staff and student audit/survey to drive CPD and ensure it is relevant.
To continue to work and collaborate with colleagues from lead schools and networking events.
To ensure that visits continue to schools and sharing of good practice.
To continue lowering behaviour incidences and reducing the need for suspensions.
Adapt and review behaviour policy to meet need of staff and students yearly ensuring that all have a voice in the development.