Agenda item

Briefing attached.

The Sub-Committee received a presentation from Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer for Olive Academies.

Members were informed that Olive Academies was a multi-academy trust, approved by the Department for Education, it was one of the first academy sponsors specialising in alternative provision in England.

The Olive Alternative Provision (AP) Academy Havering provides full-time provision for 64 Key Stage 3 and 4 pupils, many of whom have been permanently excluded from mainstream school in Havering. It was stated that the academy conversion had also provided a unique opportunity to shape the new provision in line with current education thinking so that Havering schools received the support they required.

The Sub-Committee noted that Olive AP Academy had formed a partnership with the council which would be pivotal to the success of the project.

The principles of Olive AP Academy - Havering vision was driven by a fundamental belief that young people with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) should succeed in line with their peers.

The key aim for KS4 was to prepare students to be successful in the 21st century world. It was the ambition of the Academy that a student should not need to be permanently excluded to be in receipt of a curriculum offer appropriate to meet their needs. The aim was to agree a pathway with the student, their family and their home school.

It was stated that at Key Stage 3, the aim was to work with students in preventative and proactive ways, which maintain them in their home school as it was an objective of the Academy to also work with mainstream schools to prevent permanent exclusions.

The Sub-Committee was informed that the Trust was working to improve the quality of provision for all pupils. This was being achieved through the high expectations of the all staff at the academy to provide the very best learning opportunities at all times. The Sub-Committee also noted that safeguarding of pupils was high on the Trust’s priority. Since its opening in September 2016, the Academy had been audited on five occasions by the local authority, trust safeguarding lead and trust board safeguarding lead to ensure that all areas of the academy’s practice met the high expectation of the Trust.

The analysis of 2017 performance indicated that the Academy was starting to address the historical underperformance of Manor Green College. On performance against national benchmarks, the Sub-Committee was informed that students at Olive AP Academy Havering were performing significantly better than AP Centres in the local area and nationwide. The progress of the students was noted as significantly higher and attainment was also very significantly higher.

The Sub-Committee was informed that as part of the governance at the Academy, the Trust promotes a link between its academies and the local mainstream schools and was committed to securing their representation on each advisory board. In Havering a monitoring group that comprised an independent Chair, three Havering schools representatives from (Drapers Academy, Abbs Cross Academy and the Albany School) supports the work of the academy on a half-termly basis.

The Academy Trust monitors the work of each of its academies through its two subcommittees (‘Education Performance and Standards’ and ‘Finance and Audit’) who meet quarterly to review progress.

The Trust was working to develop strong partnerships with each of the three local authorities it works with as the work of the Academy was commissioned through a service level agreement and was monitored through two annual reviews, which were carried out by a current school inspector. A representative of the local authority had been invited to join these reviews. The next review of the Havering Academy with was scheduled for 12 and 13 March 2018.

The Sub-Committee was informed that the Trust was grateful for the support of the Council in funding the new building project to improve the quality of the site. It was indicated that improving the quality of the building represented an opportunity to embed our ambitious vision for the academy.

The Sub-Committee thanked the Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer for Olive Academies for making the time to attend and update Members on the progress at the Academy.

The Sub-Committee noted the report.