The Albany Academy Springboard Pathway

Pathway Overview

Purpose of the pathway

The Year 11 Springboard Pathway is designed to support pupils in successfully maintaining and progressing within their dual school placement. It provides a safe, stable, and supportive framework that addresses both academic and SEMH (social, emotional and mental health) needs.  

A central focus of the pathway is to work collaboratively with the dual school to ensure that pupils can access their full entitlement of 10 sessions of education per week. Through strong partnership working, the pathway supports pupils to engage with their timetable, routines, and learning expectations.  

The pathway aims to strengthen pupils’ connection to their peers, daily routines, and the curriculum, enabling them to participate more confidently in school life. Ultimately, the placement is intended to support successful reintegration into the dual school and/or a smooth and positive transition to post-16 education, employment, or training.  

Timescales 

Placements on this pathway typically last up to one year.   

An initial induction period, facilitated in collaboration with the Raedwald Trust Assessment Centre, forms the first stage of the placement. During this time, key baseline assessments are completed and push/pull factors impacting engagement, attendance, and learning are identified.  

The pupil timetable and curriculum are then finalised following the induction period, ensuring that the structure, level of support, and interventions where appropriate are precisely matched to the pupil’s needs. Provision remains flexible and may be adapted in response to ongoing assessment and progress.  

This responsive, needs-led model ensures that pupils remain connected to their dual school while receiving targeted and adaptive support that evolves over time.  

 Curriculum 

The curriculum is derived from the National Curriculum at Key Stage 4 and is carefully sequenced to meet the needs of pupils at different stages of learning. Delivery follows either a concentric model (revisiting key knowledge over time) or a sequential model (structured progression towards mastery), depending on the subject area. Conscious decisions about subject delivery have been made to ensure long-term knowledge acquisition appropriate to the pupils’ age/stage of development.  

 A key feature of the pathway is collaborative curriculum design. Raedwald Trust staff work closely with the dual school to co-construct a curriculum that meets the pupil precisely at their point of need. This approach is informed by baseline assessment information gathered during the induction process, ensuring that teaching is responsive, targeted, and appropriately ambitious.  

Programmes of study may span Year 7 to Year 11 objectives, depending on pupils’ starting points. All pupils access explicitly taught reading lessons alongside English, delivered through the Raedwald Trust Readers for Life curriculum.  

Enrichment benchmarks are interwoven throughout the curriculum, ensuring that pupils access a broad and balanced educational experience that supports personal development, cultural capital, and wider engagement beyond the core academic offer.  

Following updates to the School Sport and Activity Action plan, we are keen to be partners in ensuring all pupils have equal access to a high-quality P.E. curriculum and that all benefit from regular physical exercise. This pathway can offer students the opportunity to engage in physical education through healthy participation and the wider pillars of progression. The proportionality of P.E. delivered will be bespoke.  

At Key Stage 4, dependent on the co-constructed curriculum, we may not deliver all subjects within the National Curriculum and if a pupil has chosen specific option subjects not available through our pathway, the full responsibility for delivery may remain with the dual school. Such areas include History, Geography, Modern Foreign Languages, P.E. (agreed additional hours to supplement our offer up to 90 minutes per week). For pupils entered for single science or English literature, we will work with you to understand how our existing science and English curriculum programmes of study can support exam entries for your pupil.  

Additional support for post-16 transition is embedded across all curriculum areas and is a key feature of the PSHE curriculum structure. Pupils will have access to a Level 6 qualified Careers Advisor, alongside opportunities to engage in visits, events, and activities that support informed decision-making about their next steps. Conscious decision-making underpins curriculum design, ensuring that learning is purposeful and aligned with future destinations. Further detail regarding curriculum intent, sequencing, and subject-specific planning can be found within programmes of study and curriculum overviews, available on our website.

For pupils who remain with us during GCSE examinations, dual schools will make exam entries and pupils can sit exams in their dual school or as an alternative site candidate (if all involved believe this would be most suitable for the pupil) can be agreed for them to sit exams at a Raedwald Trust site. If this arrangement is requested, dual school would be responsible for this application. If access arrangements are required, dual schools would be responsible for the submission of Form 8/9 JCQ applications and other relevant exam board applications; access arrangement testing costs and responsibilities can be discussed at appropriate review meetings.  

Where additional needs are identified, staff may deliver bespoke curriculum, such as:  

  • PE Health and Well-being curriculum  
  • Life Essentials curriculum (SEMH, resilience, independence skills)  

Assessment and Tracking Progress

During the induction period, staff work in collaboration with the Raedwald Trust Assessment Centre to gather baseline information, including the identification of barriers to engagement and learning. This baseline informs curriculum planning, targeted intervention, and ongoing progress tracking throughout the placement.  

All pupils have a Student Support Plan (SSP) in place, which acts as the central document for recording assessment data, targets, and interventions. The SSP is structured around the Assess–Plan–Do–Review (APDR) cycle, ensuring a consistent, evidence-informed, and responsive approach to support.  

Pupils are set personalised targets across key areas, including:  

  • Academic learning  
  • SEMH development  
  • Behaviour  
  • Attendance and engagement  

SSPs are reviewed and updated weekly, providing a clear and continuous narrative of progress over time. All assessment data, including baseline measures and ongoing CISS outcomes, is recorded within the SSP.  

Progress is formally reviewed on a six-weekly cycle, combining CISS (Coping in Schools Scale) data with academic and engagement measures. These reviews are shared with home schools and, where appropriate, parents/carers and external professionals.  

Where significant gaps or additional needs are identified, this information is shared promptly with the home school SENCo. Targeted interventions are then agreed and delivered as part of the pathway offer. All interventions are monitored and evaluated through the APDR cycle, ensuring provision remains adaptive, targeted, and effective in improving engagement, attendance, and outcomes.  

Regular APDR review points are scheduled at the outset of the placement, ensuring that support strategies are consistently evaluated and refined in line with pupil need.