Service User Assurances
Unregistered alternative provision is an important intervention to supplement in-school education for those who need it the most, offering a wide range of specialised education and support. It has been shown that bespoke placements with small, flexible unregistered providers can respond to individual needs that cannot be addressed in school, and such placements can help children to gain valuable qualifications and skills that may not be readily available in their schools.
All placements in unregistered alternative provision should be safe, good quality and meet each child's individual needs. Referring schools and commissioners should feel confident that children are achieving good outcomes, and that unregistered settings are providing good value for money, given placements tend to come at a significant cost to the high needs budget.
Best Foot Forward embrace and welcome the introduction of new reforms to enhance the delivery of services to vulnerable children, including new SEND and partnerships to strengthen the local planning of specialised support. Furthermore, we don't feel quality should come at a disproportionate cost, disadvantaging those young people who so desperately need the support. We have done all we can to keep our fees reasonable, and accessible to providers.
Best Foot Forward is a high-quality alternative provision that believes that unregistered alternative provision should:
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Be used as a time-limited intervention to complement in-school education
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Meet new proposed national standards and encourage quality assurance checks by commissioners against these proposed national standards.
Here at Best Foot Forward, we don't just want to be seen as working towards proposed national standards. We have set out our stall and can confidently say that we embrace and implement them in all we do. We believe such high-level and re-evaluated standards would add consistency and transparency to unregistered alternate provider settings and how they are expected to deliver their services and minimise the burdens on any commissioning party or the provider itself.
What will Best Foot Forward do to ensure students are safe and receiving a high quality alternative provision?
Best Foot Forward offers our assurances of the following:
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All staff and proprietors have appropriate recruitment checks, including an enhanced DBS, which are recorded on a single central register.
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Persons failing to meet those checks are not employed.
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Appropriate policies and procedures to safeguard children are in place and are accessible to relevant parties.
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Staff are aware of the content of safeguarding policy, procedures, and the Keeping Children Safe in Education legislation and implementing them effectively
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Robust procedures are set out for recording and escalating concerns and the actions taken.
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There is a safeguarding lead at our setting who has received appropriate, documented training.
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A large part of a new staff member's induction is dedicated to safeguarding training and we employ an external safeguarding consultant to help new staff navigate the challenges of working with vulnerable young people.
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The setting promotes to learners the importance of attendance, punctuality and good behaviour and has an operating strategy to address non-compliance.
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There is a process for setting and monitoring learner progress to support reintegration where appropriate, and for taking action if progress is not on track.
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Learner underperformance is addressed through appropriate intervention and support.
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There is a process to assess whether our setting effectively delivers the commissioned service.
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The setting records pupil attendance for each session, and there is a clear process in place to notify the commissioner of any absence within 30 minutes of the session time.
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Processes are in place with commissioner (s) for checking on the health and wellbeing of absent learners.
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Where appropriate, children with needs relating to health, disability or a special educational need will have individualised plans in place to help meet their need.
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All children will have a risk assessment completed that will be updated and reviewed regularly.
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A system is in place and is in use for recording health and safety and first aid incidents.
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Staff hold appropriate qualifications or have received appropriate training.
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The setting has all appropriate insurance cover, including public liability insurance.
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A health and safety policy is in place and is understood and implemented by all staff.
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Staff providing education have the appropriate skills and qualifications to deliver programmes.
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Planning for learning shows lesson/session plans identify the knowledge, skills and understanding that different learners will achieve.
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Regular and thorough assessment and review of progress takes place.
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Admission and referral procedures are clear and well supported.
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The setting maintains records including information supplied by schools on admission, induction records, personal education plans or other learning plans, EHC plans, behaviour reports and risk assessments.
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All learners participate in an induction process that will help them understand their rights and responsibilities, and health and safety procedures.
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All staff go through a rigorous induction process including training relating to managing safeguarding concerns, assessing risk, domestic abuse, Prevent, GDPR and an introduction to the values of Best Foot Forward and the quality of service we aspire to deliver.
The most direct way to request our services is to complete our online refer form. Completing this form with as much information as possible will ensure that we can generate an individualised and focused proposal that will support your young person to make tangible progress.​
(Where relevant please include an EHCP and Risk Assessment)