We help young people who have self-excluded from mainstream school for various reasons.
Admissions Criteria
We provide education for young people who study at secondary school level (KS3 and KS4). Most students are aged between 11 and 16. Occasionally, we work with young people up to the age of 21 to help them achieve secondary school qualifications. We do not offer A-Level education and qualifications.
We do not have specific admissions criteria beyond our age limits but it is important that the provision that we can provide meets the needs of the individual student. As such we judge all admissions requests on a case-by-case basis.
Short-terms vs long-term provision
We provide a high level of intensive support to students and enable them to return to mainstream school or to move on to suitable alternative provision, further education, training or work. Depending on their age and individual circumstances, students stay with us between 2 – 6 terms on average. There are many children and young people who need our help and that is why we cannot offer long-term placements. If you are looking for a long-term alternative to school for your child, it may not be Red Balloon. However, if your child is unable to access any other provision at the moment, for reasons of anxiety or mental ill health, Red Balloon might be exactly the stepping stone your child needs.
The student promise
While we are keen to help every young person who needs us and can benefit from our support, it is important that the young person is prepared to go on a journey with us and wants to be with us. Otherwise our programme cannot be effective.
All our students agree to three conditions when they join us:
- That they want to come and will attend regularly
- That want to learn and make academic progress
- That they will behave with respect and consideration towards the other students, the staff, visitors and the property
We have this promise because if a student habitually doesn’t attend they are not only obstructing their own progress but also preventing the progress of another student by taking a much needed place with us. Our Centres are safe, comfortable, welcoming spaces where all individuals should feel valued; as such anyone behaving badly has the potential to destroy the inherent safe community which is pivotal to how we operate, and so respectful behaviour is a key condition of a student attending with us.
Education, Health and Care Plans
We are able to provide places to students with EHCPs, depending on their needs, but an EHCP is not needed for a place with us.
When a student with an EHCP is initially referred, we’ll be asked to cost the provision we can provide. The different strands of the provision means we have a range of staff and resources to meet a student’s needs. However, if we are unable to meet the needs of a student’s plan, this will be made clear and another provision may be sought.
Different authorities have different rules for referrals to Red Balloon, so it’s best to speak to your EHCP coordinator or SEND worker and ask their advice on how best to proceed. Please also feel free to contact us for information and advice.