About Right Choice

Right Choice is an Independent Special School and Education & Training Centre
dedicated to the engagement and advancement of young people who are unable to
access mainstream provision due to Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties
(S.E.M.H) and Acquired Brain Injuries (ABI).
We are an inclusive learning community and aim to nurture aspiration, self-belief
and achievement in the students referred to our programmes


Our Mission

Our mission is to ensure that our clients have a second chance to discover and
realise their potential by providing a variety of services aimed at reducing and
removing social, emotional, psychological barriers to learning and achievement and
contribute to a general sense of well-being, while equipping them with independent
living and life skills to lay firm foundations for future personal, professional and
economic success as citizens and active participants in 21st Century Society.


Our Ethos

We believe in a solution-focused, persuasive behavioural change model that engages
the client in a movement from pre-contemplation to contemplation to planning for
change to adopting change in a sustainable manner, based on the Trans-Theoretical
Model (for more information on the Trans-Theoretical Model, please see
Enrichment and Behavioural Change on page 10).


Our Focus

Our main focus is to promote and support:

  • Engagement
  •  Learning
  • Achievement
  • Progression
 
Our Objectives
  • GIVE young people a second chance to engage, achieve and realise their potential
  • ACHIEVE the BEST OUTCOME possible for our students
  • EQUIP young people for active participation in 21st century society
 
How do we achieve our objectives?
  • Through the provision of tailored support that addresses the social, emotional and psychological barriers to engagement and learning (To promote Engagement)
  • Through the provision of a balanced mix of one-to-one/group and traditional/nontraditional learning experiences (To support Learning)
  • Through the provision of a range of nationally accredited educational programmes from Entry Level up to Levels 1 and 2 (To support Achievement)
  • Through the provision of ongoing Next-Step Option-related advice and guidance and post-graduation support (To help plan Progression and support  Sustained Progression)
 
Our Clients

Our client group are those young people who:

  • Experience Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties (SEMH)
  • Have Acquired Brain Injuries
  • Have Education and Health Care Plans (EHCPs)
  • Require assessments for Education and Health Care Plans (EHCPs)
  • Function better as part of a smaller group
  • Need extra care and attention due to low self-esteem or other emotional wellbeing issues
  • Are school phobic
  • Are victims of crime
  • Require 1-2-1 support
  • Have been excluded or are at risk of exclusion from mainstream education
  • Are unwilling or unable to engage in mainstream school, and
  • Students for whom English is a second language

Our Programmes

Right Choice currently offers full-time, part-time and short-term programmes for:

  1. Secondary School Age students (Year 7 through to Year 11), and
  2. Post-16 Students (16 – 24 year olds)
 

Our programmes are delivered both on and off-site and include:

  1. Home Schooling to those unable to attend school,
  2. SPACE programme for those on Fixed Term Exclusions and an
  3. Assessment for Success programme for those requiring focused assessments for additional learning support and Education and Health Care Plans (EHCPs).
 

Right Choice aims to:

  • Nurture aspiration
  • Foster a sense of self-worth and help each young person discover, develop

           and realise their full potential

  • Build positive, empowering and enabling relationships with young people
  • Help young people to set and achieve goals
  • Re-engage those disaffected and disengaged from mainstream life
  • Equip young people with skills for life – independent living, employability and

           key skills

  • Help young people obtain nationally recognised qualifications as a gateway to further education, vocational and employment opportunities
  • Provide a diverse and personalised curriculum for the young people referred to our service

Support Services

As an integral part of our provision, all students registered on any of our
programmes receive the following support services:

  • Counselling & Emotional Wellbeing Support
  • Mentoring & Life Coaching Support
  • Information, Advice & Guidance
  • Parent Support
 

General Information
Right Choice is regulated by OFSTED and registered with the DfE as an Independent
Special School. We have been operating in the Royal Borough of Greenwich since
1999. We are a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee.


Programme Offer

Our programme offer is broad and diverse with relevance to our students; their
engagement and educational needs and is designed to lay a firm foundation for their
Engagement, Learning, Achievement and Progression.
The programme will offer both Educational (GCSEs, Functional Skills, Project
Qualification) and Vocational (BTEC) learning opportunities for our students. The
AQA accredited Unit Award Scheme will be a thread that runs through our entire
programme offer, providing certificated evidence of cumulative achievement on a
term-by-term basis.


Right Choice offers the following programmes:
(1) Secondary Education Programme

  • Secondary Education Programme
  • SPACE Programme
  • Assessment for Success Programme

(2) Post-16 Programme
(1) Secondary Education Programme
This is our full and part time programme for Years 7 through to Years 11 students:


This programme covers:

  • Functional Skills at Levels I and II in the core subjects of English and Mathematics
  • GCSEs / iGCSEs in English Language, Mathematics, Science: Double Awards (for a full breakdown of subjects on offer, please go to the Curriculum Offer & Accreditations List on page 8)
  • Project Qualification – a stand-alone, student-led qualification which

           engages the individual student in an area of personal interest or activity
           outside of their main programme of study. The focus of this is “Learning Fun”

  • BTEC in Motorbike Mechanics, Motor Mechanics, Bicycle Mechanics, Building

           & Construction, Painting & Decoration (for a full breakdown of subjects on offer, please go to the Curriculum Offer & Accreditations List on page 9)Students on this programme will attend a full time (25 hours per week) or part time programme of study leading to relevant qualifications that equip them for their next step options.

 

In addition to our flagship secondary education programme, we also have a SPACE
Programme which is a specially designed programme to provide ‘timeout’ space for
KS3 and 4 pupils who may be on fixed term or temporarily exclusions from
mainstream provision due to challenging or disruptive behaviour.
The objective is to deliver a series of modules designed to engage the individual and
group in a psycho-social personal development programme that provides the space
for each person to reflect, increase self-awareness, develop self-esteem and
confidence and to develop positive self-management strategies that will enable
them to be successfully re-integrated back into mainstream provision.
The SPACE Programme will be delivered in a series of flexible modular sessions, the
aim of which is to help the target client group to develop and improve their self esteem and confidence; equipping them with skills and strategies to help them make
more responsible decisions and help re-integrate them back into mainstream
provision.


Expected outcomes

  1. Increased self-awareness/esteem/confidence
  2. A commitment to ongoing personal development
  3. Re-integration into mainstream provision

We also provide an Assessment for Success Programme for students who may be
having difficulties settling into learning in Mainstream Provision and require a period
of assessment for an Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP). We will provide a range
of assessments that will form the basis of an application for an EHC Plan.
Expected outcomes

  1. A FULLY comprehensive assessment involving SALT, EP, OC, etc
  2. An Draft Application for an EHC Plan

(2) Post-16 Programme
This is designed for students who at the conclusion of their Secondary Education are
unable or unwilling to progress and required additional support to become better
able to sustain progression into further education, employment or training.
This programme is one dedicated to students with EHC Plans and incorporates an
extension of the individualised aspects of the Secondary Education Programme offer
and aims:

  1. To keep students engaged in Learning
  2. To prepare for employment and other next step options
  3. To develop social interaction and Inter-personal skills
  4. To support / promote self-esteem
  5. To equip students with relevant vocational qualifications which prepares

      them for active participation in 21st Century Society


Curriculum Offer & Accreditation List

The curriculum on offer is designed to be broad enough to meet the diverse range of
needs and educational abilities of the students registered across our programmes.
The options available provide excellent opportunities for individual students to
achieve their best academic outcomes possible, with clear progression routes to next
step options.

Our curriculum continues to expand and the offer stated below is not exhaustive as
we strive to tailor our provision to meet the growing needs and diverse interests of
our students. Our curriculum is divided into an Educational and a Vocational Offer.
See below for details   


EDUCATIONAL OFFER

Qualification

Subjects

Accrediting Body

Levels

UNIT AWARD SCHEME

(Accredited by AQA)

GCSEs

Maths

English

Science

PSE

RE (tbc)

History (tbc)

Citizenship(tbc)

Leisure & Tourism (tbc)

AQA

1. Higher

2. Foundation

Functional Skills

English

Maths

AQA

1. Level 2

2. Level 1

Project Qualification

Various

AQA

Level l Foundation

ECDL

ICT

Internal

1. Higher

2. Intermediate


VOCATIONAL
OFFER

Qualification

 

Subject

 

Delivery
Partners

 

Levels

UNIT AWARD SCHEME

(Accredited by AQA)

BTEC

(Award, Certificate & Diploma)

Functional Skills

Motor Mechanics

Motor Bike

Bicycle

Painting & Decoration

Plumbing

Animal Husbandry

Hair & Beauty

The Archway Project

Ilderton Foundation

Flower Skills

Hadlow College

Level 2

Level l

Music
Technology

 

Street
Vibes

 

1.
Level 2

2.
Level 1

 


Performance Points and GCSE Equivalents
All subjects fall within the National Curriculum Framework and are taught from Entry Level to Levels I and 2. For detailed list of Performance Points and GCSE Grade Equivalents of qualifications, please see below:

Levels

Performance Points

GCSE Grade Equivalents

 

12.5

Foundation Level (or 50% of a GCSE)

 

23

1 x GCSE

2 (FS)

25

D – G

1 (FS)

46

A* – C


Additional Activities
In addition to the academic focus, we have a wide variety of extra-curricular activities designed to enrich students’ learning experiences, with a view to developing a well-rounded individual. These include Social Skills activities, Educational Visits, Physical Education and a range of activities that seek to address the social and emotional aspects of each learner’s journey, as they begin to engage and learn and achieve and progress from stated outcome to the next.

Enrichment and Behavioural Change
At Right Choice, much importance is placed on supporting and enriching the experience of students and their parents/carers, with a view to promoting engagement, supporting learning and helping the student to achieve, while laying the foundation for successful and sustained progression to their next step options.

To achieve this, we provide the following tailored services:
  1. 1-2-1 Mentoring & Coaching
  2. 1-2-1 Counselling & Wellbeing
  3. Parent Support

The rationale that underpins our approach to working with young people (and their families) is based on the Trans-theoretical Model of Change which is a theoretical model of behaviour change and has been the basis for developing effective interventions to promote health behaviour change. The Trans-theoretical Model (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1983; Prochaska, DiClemente, & Norcross, 1992; Prochaska & Velicer, 1997) is an integrative model of behaviour change. The model describes how people modify problem behaviour or acquire positive behaviour. The central organizing construct of the model is the Stages of Change. The model also includes a series of independent variables, the Processes of Change, and a series of outcome measures, including the Decisional Balance and the Temptation scales. The Processes of Change are ten cognitive and behaviour activities that facilitate change.
The Trans-theoretical Model is a model of intentional change. It is a model that focuses on the decision making of the individual. Other approaches to health promotion have focused primarily on social influences on behaviour or on biological influences on behaviour. Within the context of the Trans-theoretical Model, these are viewed as external influences, impacting through the individual.
The model involves emotions, cognitions, and behaviour. This involves a reliance on self-report. The model has previously been applied to a wide variety of problem behaviours. Accurate measurement requires a series of unambiguous items that the individual can respond to accurately with little opportunity for distortion. Measurement issues are very important and one of the critical steps for the application of the model involves the development of short, reliable, and valid measures of the key constructs.

Stages of Change: The Temporal Dimension – The Trans-theoretical Model construes change as a process involving progress through a series of five stages:

  1. Pre-contemplation is the stage in which people are not intending to take action in the foreseeable future People may be in this stage because they are uninformed or under-informed about the consequences of their behaviour. Or they may have tried to change a number of times and become demoralized about their ability to change. Both groups tend to avoid reading, talking or thinking about their high risk behaviours. They are often characterized in other theories as resistant or unmotivated or as not ready for change.
  2. Contemplation is the stage in which people are intending to change in the next six months. They are more aware of the pros of changing but are also acutely aware of the cons. This balance between the costs and benefits of changing can produce profound ambivalence that can keep people stuck in this stage for long periods of time.
  3. Preparation is the stage in which people are intending to take action in the immediate future, usually measured as the next month. They have typically taken some significant action in the past year. These individuals have a plan of action, joining a mentoring or life coaching programme.
  4. Action is the stage in which people have made specific overt modifications in their life-styles within the past six months. Since action is observable, behaviour change often has been equated with action. The Action stage is also the stage where vigilance against relapse is critical.
  5. Maintenance is the stage in which people are working to prevent relapse but they do not apply change processes as frequently as do people in action.

They are less tempted to relapse and increasingly more confident that they can continue their change.
Hence, for the individual student at Right Choice, their educational experience is wrapped in a holistically-derived, therapeutic approach which seeks to support the achievement of our aforementioned main focus of: Engagement, Learning, Achievement and Progression.
In a nutshell, our mission is to not only educate students referred to us, but to equip them to become citizens that will actively participate and contribute to 21st Century Society.

General Information (containing excerpts from our policies and procedures)
(1) Admissions Policy
Right Choice is a secondary education provider with a dedicated post-16 programme. As such, we will accept referrals from Years 7 through to 11, with some student progressing on to our post-16 provision, when in exceptional circumstances they are not ready to progress to external post-16 education provision.

Right Choice will accept young people with a range of mild learning difficulties to severe learning difficulties, including those with Acquired Brain Injuries. Please Note: A large percentage of our students have Education and Health Care Plans (EHCPs) or require assessments for a Plan. We also accept students fixed term exclusions or where the school of origin requires respite on to our SPACE Programme.

For a Referral Form, please request at: dawn@rcpc.co.uk or rcp@rcpc.co.uk

(2) Curriculum Policy
Our curriculum covers a wide range of subject areas that equip students with independent living, life and functional skills which lead to nationally recognised qualifications certified by AQA, to mention a few, (please see Curriculum Offer & Accreditation List on pages 8 and 9) and serves as a gateway into further education, vocational courses and employment. The curriculum is delivered in conjunction with a varied support package, which engages the student by helping them to overcome barriers to learning and encourages a discovery, development and realisation of potential and talents.

The delivery of the curriculum follows the standards as stated by the accrediting bodies and the ethos is one of joint learning and continuous assessment, where the student is actively encouraged. In our experience, this approach engenders the appreciation of the importance of learning and an investment in lifelong learning.

Please Note: Depending on individual needs, we will offer a tailored programme designed to help the individual student achieve their best outcome possible.

(3) Teaching & Learning Policy
As an essential addition to supporting teaching and learning across the curriculum offer, we have engage the services of Speech And Language Therapists (SALT) from the Greenwich NHS team, in addition to Literacy and Numeracy Specialists with the main aim of embedding specialist input into the ongoing delivery of the curriculum in order to achieve the best outcome possible for each student.

We also engage the services of Occupational Therapists to support and improve the fine motor skills of students, as well as Educational Psychologists, when carrying out assessments for students that may require EHC Plans.

At Right Choice our approach to teaching and learning undertakes to:
  • Raise levels of attainment for all pupils, enabling them to achieve their personal best
  • Develop confident, disciplined and enquiring learners, able to make informed choices.
  • Foster a love of learning and an eventual commitment to lifelong learning.
  • Foster self-esteem and personal responsibility, linked to respect for the needs and feelings of others.
  • Facilitate considerate and positive relationships between all members of the school community.
  • Ensure equal opportunities in relation to gender, race, class, special needs and belief.
  • Value and respect diversity.
  • Provide a safe and happy work place.
  • Promote a thoughtful positive attitude towards the immediate and wider environment.

(4) The Learning Process:
Students are referred to Right Choice at different stages of development, with a wide range of challenges. At Right Choice we recognise that students learn in different ways and at different rates of progress and that in the course of learning students develop their skills through a variety of processes. Including:

  • Investigation
  • Experimentation
  • Listening
  • Observation
  • Talking and discussion
  • Asking questions
  • Practical exploration and role play
  • Retrieving information
  • Imagining
  • Repetition
  • Problem-solving
  • Making choices and decision-making

At Right Choice opportunities are organised to expose students to these processes, and for them to develop their own strategies to gain knowledge and skills. Teaching and support strategies are designed to facilitate each student’s learning and to make the learning process a pleasurable, empowering and collaborative experience for both tutors and learners.

The teaching and delivery of programmes are designed to incorporate the following learning styles:

  • Individual learning
  • Collaborative learning in small groups, or pairs
  • One to one learning with an adult, or more able pupil
  • Whole class
  • Independent learning

Learning is actively encouraged and the resulting achievements are acknowledged and displayed as to foster learner confidence and interest in further learning.

(5) Assessment, Monitoring & Reporting Policy
1.1 Assessment Procedure
Initial Assessment: All students are assessed at entry to ensure that we have an understanding of their learning styles and any gaps in their prior learning, so that we are able to plan to effectively address these gaps and to determine the level of support that would be required for individual success.

Our Initial Assessment includes the following:

  1. Informal Interview (with the student and parent/carer or referral agency)
  2. Completion of consent and other relevant forms
  3. An agreed start date

Parents/Guardians/Carers will be involved and consulted at all points during this assessment and will receive an acceptance letter along with pertinent additional information.

1.2 Procedure for Monitoring and Reporting Progress: We use a combination of Systems designed to capture, monitor and report each student’s progress. These Systems encourage both the learner and tutor to set goals, record milestones and achievements which create a clear path for action-planning/reviewing.

Our Monitoring and Reporting systems provide a 360˚ Progress Report that covers Attendance, Behaviour and Contribution of each student as follows:

  • End of Term and End of Year Reports – Each student will have a progress report that covers:

  1. Attendance – As part of the Local Authority’s “Every School Day Counts” it is expected that every student maintains at best 100% attendance. We maintain a digital register and each student progress report will include a print-off of their attendance that term.
  2. Behaviour – As part of our commitment to supporting and promoting engagement via the social and emotional aspects of learning, a Skills and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) which is a tool designed to measure individual student’s attitude towards learning will be completed for each student in the Autumn, Winter and Summer Terms.
  3. Contribution – As part of our commitment to review individual learning and skills acquisition, track achievements and areas where improvement is required, the termly reports will be formative (to monitor, in cumulative fashion, each student’s learning for that term) with a final summative report at the end of the Academic Year (to evaluate the overall learning, achievement and progression for that period).

  • PEPs and Annual Reviews – For students with EHC Plans, there will be regular Personal Education Plans and Annual Review of stated Outcomes carried out in timely fashion. These are completed at the end of a prescribed period of time and provide an opportunity for the student to do an overview of their own development and progress over the term in question and set out areas for further development
  • Observation Record / Witness Statements – Where necessary, evidence of each student’s progress (both required and accidental) will be captured and recorded.
  •  Sampling Matrix – For internal reporting and quality assurance purposes, we will strive to analyse, on an ongoing basis, students’ engagement, learning, achievements and progression with a view to providing a complete and comprehensive picture of the achievements or otherwise of groups of students along gender, ethnicity and other categorical lines.

(6) Code of Conduct, Discipline, Anti-Bullying & Child Protection Policies

  • Code of Conduct Policy – The policy is a statement of good practice that covers all aspects of life at Right Choice that contribute to the development and maintenance of good behaviour and a positive ethos. All members of our school are expected to help maintain an atmosphere conducive to learning, with courtesy and mutual respect as basic requirements.

The Basic Code of Conduct covers:
a) Attendance
b) Behaviour
c) Contribution
d) Punctuality
e) Mutual Respect

  • Disciplinary Policy & Procedure – The aim of the disciplinary Policy is to determine the boundaries of acceptable and unacceptable behaviour, the hierarchy of rewards and sanctions and how they will be fairly and consistently applied.Where the code of expected conduct is breached, pupils have a right to expect fair and consistently applied sanctions for poor behaviour and which make a clear distinction between serious and minor infringements of the code of conduct. An appropriate sanction is one which is designed to put matters right and encourage better behaviour in future.

  • Anti-Bullying Policy – Everyone at Right Choice has the right to feel welcome, secure and happy. Only if this is the case will all members of the school community be able to achieve to their maximum potential. Bullying of any sort prevents this being able to happen and prevents equality of opportunity. It is everyone’s responsibility to prevent this happening and this policy contains guidelines to support this ethos. Where bullying exists the victims must feel confident to activate the anti-bullying systems within the school to end the bullying. From a restorative justice point of view, it is our intention to challenge attitudes about bullying behaviour, increase understanding for bullied pupils and help build an anti-bullying ethos in the school.

  • Child Protection Policy – At Right Choice, the safety and protection of young people is paramount and has high priority. It is our responsibility to ensure that a comprehensive child protection policy is operated and all staff are given a basic induction in this regard. Additionally, all staff are subject to enhanced DBS checks (renewed regularly) before commencement of employment, references are taken up and staff are sent on ACPC facilitated Child Protection courses. The school premises also provide a safe environment for all young people to learn.

(10) A Statement on Students with Additional Needs
(10.1) Students with Special Educational Needs – At Right Choice, we believe in providing a suitable range of alternative education activities, which stimulate all recipients and encourages them to discover, develop and realise their full potential. In this regard, each student, depending on the stated outcomes in their Education and Health Care Plans (EHCPs), will have an individual programme offer which recognises their learning needs and sets out action plans on how to meet those needs.
Upon receipt of a placement consultation, we will request a summary of those needs from the referring agency in order to plan how to meet those needs effectively within the set structure. Where the level of need as stated in the summary is deemed to fall outside of what we are able to provide, the relevant referring agency will be advised accordingly.
The aim in this instance is to remove barriers to learning and raise aspirations and achievements of the individual student in partnership with relevant statutory agencies. As the Host School, we will convene the annual review of EHC Plans in conjunction with the statutory body with primary responsibility for the student in question.

(10.2) Students on Child Protection Register – All students come to Right Choice with a wide and varying range of needs. Where a student is registered on the Child Protection Register, identified either as a child in need or a child at risk, we will endeavour to monitor this closely and where necessary form part of a review of that student’s status.
Where, in our experience of working with a student, we deem that they require protective status, we will ensure to make the necessary referrals to facilitate this.

(10.3) Students who are Looked After – Where a student is an unaccompanied minor or Looked After by the Local Authority, we will assess needs and aim to provide support relevant to such needs in partnership with the statutory/non-statutory agency that bears responsibility for the care and welfare of such a child.

SUMMARY OF BENEFITS FOR STUDENTS ATTENDING RIGHT CHOICE

There are lots of benefits for students joining our school, including:

  1. A broad and varied curriculum offer; there is something for everyone
  2. Nationally recognised qualifications across educational and vocational offers.
  3. Smaller classrooms & more individual attention/assistance – a higher ratio of teaching and support staff per student.
  4. FREE breakfast and lunch provided with unlimited supply of water and juices (minus the ‘E’ numbers)
  5. Enhanced Pastoral Support – including counselling and mentoring/coaching.
  6. Individual / Personalised programme offers – regularly reviewed to monitor and record progress
  7. Educational Day Trips
  8. A structured Exit Programme (in conjunction with a dedicated Guidance Counsellor) leading to further Education, Employment and/or Training.
  9. Physical Education
  10. Healthy Lifestyles classes – including healthy cooking classes.
  11. Parent Support – including mediation where there is domestic conflict
  12. Wake-up calls and Home visits (where necessary)