Bleary-eyed and caffeine in my hand, I checked my Twitter feed.

It was there I saw a story relating to new data from the Centre for Social Justice (CSY) that stated 96 per cent of pupils in alternative provision fail GCSEs.

As the vice principal of an alternative provision (AP) setting in Cornwall, it’s fair to say my attention was grabbed, not least because in our school 35 per cent of pupils achieved a Grade 9-4 in GCSE English last year and 80 per cent achieved a GCSE grade in English and maths - a very different story from the CSJ data.

Nonetheless, as I absorbed the comments from CSJ chief executive Andy Cook such as: “It is time the government prioritised providing quality education {for excluded children]” and “society will pay a heavy price for ignoring the needs of young people…” I could hardly disagree.

After all, the government should be directing more research, respect and resources toward AP.

What is quality education?

However, it struck me that the report and its findings should also make us question how we measure “quality education”.

AP provisions that have been recently rated as “inadequate” across the board are clearly not meeting need and must, of course, be supported to do better, however, I wonder if education is being measured and assessed incorrectly?

As noted, in our school, many pupils achieved a Grade 9-4 in English last year and four-fifths achieved a grade in English and Maths.

But, equally, this year I have two pupils in my setting who will very possibly gain ‘just’ one non-core GCSE, but they will also achieve a fistful of vocational qualifications; and these same pupils are volunteering at food banks, building bird boxes for the elderly, rebuilding cars, tuning engines and helping the most vulnerable in their communities.

Aren’t these skills and ethics that they have developed by thriving in an AP setting indicators of quality also? 

A team effort

However, I then came to the phrase in the article that really got my nostrils flaring. This came in the form of a recommendation from the CSJ to tackle its concerns over the lack of GCSEs being achieved: “[We need] an AP workforce programme to encourage talented, qualified teachers to join the sector [and] train existing AP staff.”

This is where I think things get skewed. It seems to me that it should be the host of outstanding specialist and dedicated staff who currently work in AP that should do the lion’s share of the training.

Implying that mainstream staff must leap in to save the day just serves to feed the destructive narrative of “us versus them”.

This is not only counterproductive but also detrimental to the morale and self-belief of both pupils and teachers within the AP sector.

After all, there are only so many times you can feel like you are being told excluded kids are failures and AP teachers are ineffective before you want to quit in frustration.

Challenging stereotypes

The whole sector needs to work together to challenge these stereotypes - naturally, there are some schools, individuals and even trusts within our sector where these characterisations may be true in part.

But the vast majority of AP staff I have either met, worked or conversed with do not for one second settle for second-best for these excluded pupils, whom we love so much and want to inspire to do well in life.

And, yes, doing this should also involve calling for things such as a set of quality benchmarks, improved data collection and a review of the funding system - these are vital in ensuring both quality education and quality hard and soft outcomes.

I agree with the assertion by Cath Murray, AP lead for the CSJ, that “now is the time to re-envisage the kind of education we provide for children who have been excluded from school” to support those excluded children who currently have “poor to zero chance of getting a good quality education”.

However, this also unknowingly underlines the extent of the issue: The phrase “zero chance” goes against everything I know or have experienced about young people from disadvantaged backgrounds - some of the most resilient, determined fighters I have ever encountered.