Alternative Provision
What is Alternative Provision?
For children and young people who are of compulsory school age (age 5-16), alternative provision/education can be arranged for them by their school or the Local Authority (LA) if they, because of illness, exclusion or other reasons, would not receive a suitable education unless it was provided for them.
This entitlement to education comes from The Education Act (1996), section 19 and under this legislation, children’s access to alternative provision/education can be made as the LA have a duty to do so. This duty applies to all children and young people, regardless of if they have an EHCP.
The alternative provision/education which is provided must be full-time and suitable to the child’s age, ability and aptitude and must take account of their SEND needs. If full-time is not suitable, due to difficulties with the child’s physical or mental health, then a reduced level of education would be appropriate.
All children and young people, regardless of SEND, have a right to a full-time, suitable and accessible education within law.
However, for some children and young people, attending an education setting can be difficult and challenging, but there is support available for them.
Children not attending school
The Local Authority has a legal duty to secure suitable, full-time alternative education for those children of compulsory school age who, by reason of illness, exclusion or otherwise, may not for any period receive suitable education unless such arrangements are made for them (section 19, Education Act 1996).
This applies whether or not your child has an EHC Plan. Where a child has an EHC plan, the Local Authority must continue to secure the special educational provision in the EHC plan while your child is out of school (section 42, Children and Families Act 2014).
This education must be full-time unless, for reasons relating to the physical or mental health of the child, a reduced level of education would be in the child’s best interests. It must also be suitable to the child’s age, ability, aptitude and any special educational needs.
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Asking for help
There are some changes which school can make which may be beneficial to a child who is finding attending difficult and these changes should always be explored fully before requesting that the Local Authority intervene. Examples of support which school can offer:
- Talk to the child away from the distractions of the classroom/peers and ask them to explain, in their own words, how school could help them and what the help looks like – this could be something like changing seats or leaving class 5 minutes before everyone else to avoid noise in the corridors.
- Speak to the child’s parent/carer to see if there are any external influences which school need to be aware of such as a bereavement, a change to family life or a relationship breakdown etc.
- Review the child’s SEND support plan to ensure that the current support is correct and suitable – if the support isn’t working, school need to know why so they can change it.
- Explore reasonable adjustments and SEND support such as access to fidget toys, timeout passes, and access to the pastoral team.
- Changes to timetables, such as part-time timetables, twilight school sessions or work packs sent home.
- Arranging for children to attend alternative provisions which are either based within school (such as a nurture unit) or based off-site such as at another provision/assessment hub/home or hospital (depending upon the child’s individual circumstances).
Asking the Local Authority to Help
If the changes and adaptions school have put in place are not working or are not suitable, then parents/carers can ask the Local Authority to arrange the child’s education for them. Accessing this form of provision does not mean removing a child from the school roll, it means that the provision which they go on to access will share the responsibility for that child’s education with their original setting (known as home school) and the two providers will work together to ensure that the children they have are provided with the most suitable education they are able to access according to their individual circumstances.
To request that alternative provision/education is provided for a child, a letter of request can be sent directly from parents/carers to the Local Authority. These letters are usually addressed to the Directory of Children’s Services as they have the overall responsibility for education within their area, however, they may not be the ones to directly reply.
For further information around requesting this alternative provision/education from the Local Authority can be found on the IPSEA website.
