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Praise for council's pupil referral unit

Posted on Monday 29th June 2015

 

Newport City Council has been praised by Estyn, the education and training inspectorate for Wales, for the work of its pupil referral unit (PRU) and cabinet member for education and young people, Councillor Debbie Wilcox, has welcomed the report.

"The local authority has a very good relationship with its pupil referral unit and the partnership between us, our schools and the PRU works effectively," commented Councillor Wilcox.

"While pupils presenting challenges in mainstream educational settings are placed in the PRU when many other avenues have been explored with little success, a great deal of good work goes into delivering a meaningful education to each pupil, tailor made to meet their individual needs.

"This ensures that every child has every chance of success and I am delighted this report acknowledges the hard and good work of this important education setting."

Estyn has carried out a good practice survey into education other than at school and Newport City Council has been singled out as an example of best practice.

The report found that provision for pupils at risk of exclusion or disengagement is most effective where the local authority, school and PRU work together to meet the needs of these pupils to ensure they remain in full time education.

The report said that Newport City Council works "effectively with schools to ensure that they have a clear understanding of their responsibilities and the role of the PRU as part of this continuum of provision."

Newport City Council works closely with its PRU which is used as a short term measure for pupils before they return to mainstream education or another appropriate provision.

The council has changed the name of its PRU from Cylchdroi PRU to Bridge Achievement Centre, to reflect the idea of the PRU being a bridge towards a better future. The unit has also moved to a new building and now provides a more appropriate and positive learning environment for pupils.

Both staff and pupils were involved in the project to move to a new building and worked closely with the council to identify what was needed in line with the curriculum to increase engagement. The new building includes a purpose-built kitchen for the teaching of life skills, a science lab, a multi-use room for gym work and leisure time and a design technology and construction workshop.

Pupils were involved in the choice of colours and design as well as taking part in a logo design competition with the winning entry displayed on the building, on paperwork and on the staff uniform.

The impact of the new building has been significant, for example,

  • Staff morale has improved considerably
  • Teachers and teaching assistants take pride in their classrooms and displays are well-maintained
  • Pupil attendance has improved by nine percentage points over the last year
  • The number of fixed term exclusions fell by more than 50% during the period from April to December 2014 compared to the same time period in 2013

The Estyn report also identifies a number of other good practice case studies including how the Bridge Achievement Centre has introduced a short term intervention and reintegration programme after the council recognised that too many pupils were spending extended period of time in PRU provision rather than returning to mainstream school. Also highlighted was the work that Newport High School has done to address the issue of how pupils with behavioural difficulties sometimes struggle to cope with the demands of a mainstream curriculum and the pressures of being in a busy environment. The school has addressed this issue through an off-site scheme, Bettws in Bloom, for targeted pupils.

Read the full report here

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