At our pupil-referral unit (PRU), we try to foster the closest possible collaborative relationship with the local educational community, emphasising our proactive strategies and support, rather than relying on a more reactive philosophy. 

We have provided training to schools on behaviour management/co-regulation strategies, attachment and trauma awareness and reflective practice through the use of supervision. 

We also have two outreach workers who offer consultation and bespoke support for schools to access, all with the aim of addressing an issue before it has the chance to blow up. 

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We want to avoid the frustration and stress experienced by schools and families, ultimately reducing the likelihood of the pupil coming our way, either as a dual-registered placement or as a permanent exclusion. 

Although we could be considered as perhaps approaching one end of a spectrum, we are still very much part of a functioning educational ecosystem, which requires all of its constituent parts to be healthy in order to thrive.

Despite all our successes with such interventions, pupils are steadily referred to us throughout the year, as to be expected.

Such referrals differ so much in terms of entry criteria - persistent disruptive behaviour, physical aggression, drug use - you use the paper entry to hold a mental picture of the pupil in preparation for the initial home visit.

Home visits, as initial points of contact, are invaluable sources of information; they reveal so many intricate subtleties about familial relationships, as well as providing the opportunity for more immediately overt safeguarding checks. 

Fears about pupil-referral units

Over the years, we have come across such a diverse array of reactions from parents about the future; some excited, some seemingly indifferent and others highly anxious about their child starting with us. 

Media coverage of PRUs as breeding grounds of exploitation along with well-meaning but statistically misguided descriptions of the association between exclusion and involvement with County Lines have made such visits more challenging.

However, in the main, we have found that dissuading parents of their concerns regarding such potential issues is of relative slim consequence, relative to the impact of how we have been framed by their previous schools.

Sadly, we have experienced schools using us a kind of educational bogeyman, issuing vague threats that explain if pupils don’t modify their behaviour they’ll be sent in our direction. 

They don’t mention the amazing relationships we foster between staff and pupils, the incredible atmosphere around the centre or the small class sizes in which we can help to individualise learning. 

School links to alternative provision

Our incredible staff break down the wall of anxiety and apprehension and win the parents round. Many have told us they don’t want their children to leave us, such is the positive experience they are having; for many, coming to us was the single most important contributory factor that allowed them to rediscover a more positive trajectory.

PRUs offer the kind of provision that, with financial constraints in effect across all aspects of society, many schools cannot implement, whether due to the pervasive focus on attainment and Ofsted or a larger malaise stemming from educational ideology. 

They must be recognised as an important part of the local educational ecosystem and need to be treated accordingly. Without a truly collaborative approach across all provisions, as a community and wider society, we cannot honestly say that we are catering for the needs of the many.

Through fostering really positive relationships with our local schools, we have found them to be incredibly supportive of the difference we can make with pupils, highlighting our strengths and emphasising our ability to offer specialist skills in a bespoke manner. 

This means that pupils and their families start positively, avoiding increasing levels of anxiety during a time that is already a very stressful experience, which is always going to have the most benefit for all involved.

Leanne Forde-Nassey is headteacher at The Key Education Centre, Hampshire, in Hampshire. Ollie Ward is outreach lead at The Key Education Centre, Hampshire