Strategic Planning
Strengthening inclusion and the use of alternative provision in Rotherham
‘The report presents a really comprehensive piece of work, which reflects the voices of Rotherham school leaders. This has not been easily come by, since this work has coincided with the time when the coronavirus pandemic took hold. The work gives us a roadmap for creating a functioning system of which we can all be proud.’
— Jenny Lingrell, Joint Assistant Director Commissioning, Performance & Inclusion
The brief
In the spring of 2020, the local system in Rotherham was experiencing a range of pressures on inclusion –
increasingly complex needs, in particular those related to emotional wellbeing, mental health, trauma, attachment, and troubled family lives, and consequently growing demand for inclusion support and rising numbers of young people placed in alternative provision (AP);
a mismatch between those needs and the current offer of AP across the borough, including a “blurring” of the distinctive roles of AP and specialist social, emotional and mental provision; and
the need for a refreshed strategy and approach to supporting inclusion and the use of AP in Rotherham.
School, AP and local authority (LA) leaders were keen to develop a new approach based on fostering early and holistic identification of needs, building inclusive capacity in mainstream schools as part of a well-planned continuum of inclusion support, and developing a strong sense of collective responsibility for all young people in Rotherham across schools, AP settings and LA leaders.
Isos Partnership was commissioned to lead a piece of co-productive work, engaging school, AP and LA leaders, to review current arrangements and set out shared proposals for strengthening support for inclusion and the use of AP in Rotherham.
What did we do?
We approached the work in three phases.
We built an evidence base about the strengths and challenges relating to inclusion and AP in Rotherham – we analysed publicly available and internal data and triangulated this with feedback from school, AP and LA leaders to build an informed consensus about the challenges facing the system.
We facilitated the co-production of options for a future system – we established and facilitated parallel Primary and Secondary Inclusion Working Groups that brought together school and LA leaders. Through these and other discussions with AP and LA colleagues, and drawing on our Rotherham evidence base and knowledge of approaches developed in other local areas, we facilitated a co-productive process through which school, AP and LA leaders could co-produce a set of proposals for how a future system of support for inclusion and AP should operate in Rotherham.
We agreed a set of shared recommendations and a roadmap for implementation – we drew together and tested these proposals with wider groups of school, AP and LA leaders, developing a concise, evidence-based, and action-focused summary report, with recommendations, practical implications, and suggested short- and long-term actions. This dovetailed with a locally-developed implementation plan, so that a clear direction-of-travel, agreed by the Working Groups, AP and LA leaders, could be presented to, and signed up to by, wider partners across the Rotherham system.
What difference did we make?
The project had been due to start in March 2019. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, apart from our initial kick-off meetings in Rotherham, the project has been carried out entirely via remote means. It is a testament to the flexibility, pragmatism and commitment to this agenda of school, AP and LA leaders that this work has been completed during a period of unprecedented change and rapid upheavals.
Through this project, we have –
engaged school, AP and LA leaders in an inclusive, co-productive, collegiate process, to confront tricky issues and co-produce solutions;
co-produced a clear vision for how school, AP and LA leaders want inclusion support and AP to operate in Rotherham in the future, and a set of recommendations and practical actions for realising that vision;
shaped a concrete roadmap for putting these proposals into place, alongside Working Group members, so that a clear direction-of-travel can be presented to the wider community of school, AP and LA leaders and partners across the Rotherham system.
Many local areas are experiencing the sorts of pressures that caused Rotherham to undertake this piece of work. The fact that the work has proceeded, while at the same time local leaders have been grappling with the response to a global pandemic, demonstrates the importance of having robust local inclusion support and AP arrangements in their own right, particularly at a time where swift identification and access to restorative and reintegrative support is going to be all the more important.
What did the client say about the work?
‘The response from school leaders has been incredibly positive. They really welcomed the direction-of-travel and there has been no resistance to the key proposals. They have really welcomed the inclusive way that they have been engaged in this process. The report presents a really comprehensive piece of work, which reflects the voices of Rotherham school leaders. This has not been easily come by, since this work has coincided with the time when the coronavirus pandemic took hold. The work gives us a roadmap for creating a functioning system of which we can all be proud.’
— Jenny Lingrell, Joint Assistant Director Commissioning, Performance & Inclusion
‘It is important that all school leaders do not see this as a LA issue and something that the LA will solve for them. Therefore the journey from this point rests with us all contributing, participating and committing to it. Thank you to Isos Partnership for holding this together during a very difficult time, and allowing us to maintain momentum when it would have been easy for the work to drift.’
— David Naisbitt, CEO, Inspire Trust and member of the Secondary Inclusion Working Group
‘I am delighted there is going to be a whole-LA approach.’
— Rebecca Staples, Principal, Dinnington High School
‘Fantastic work. Inspiring. An excellent move forward.’
— Marie Tomlinson, Principal, Brinsworth Manor Infant School
‘We completely welcome the notion of greater and real collaboration. In school it can feel that we are working within a vacuum so we would all want to bring this to realisation.’
— Judith Elstone, Kiveton Park Meadows Junior School
