About The Albany

View our latest Ofsted Report here…

Our school is set in grounds that include a woodland area including a Forest Schools teaching area, a wildlife area with pond, basketball/5-a-side-football area, field for outdoor sports and an outdoor classroom (built by our students). The outdoor classroom is used for supporting vocational learning (eg brick laying, bike maintenance) and providing a covered space for martial arts and personal training.

The Albany is primarily a 46 place Secondary Alternative Provision

In September 2017 The Albany became a secondary provision, working with children in Years 7 to 11. In In February 2019 we academised, joining the Believe Engage Succeed Trust alongside two other schools, Riverwalk and Warren Special Schools. This partnership benefits both staff and students.

At The Albany we believe that our role is to fit the educational offer to the needs of the child. In 2017 Ofsted recognised that we

‘tailor … (our) … provision in response to the needs of … (our) … community to provide a very good quality of education and care.’

Students joining our Key Stage 4 offer may reintegrate back to their mainstream school, however it is more likely we will create a tailored education provision for them that enables them to transition successfully to post 16 learning.

Students joining our KS3 provision are expected to reintegrate back to their mainstream school at a point when this reintegration will be successful. Albany staff, working in partnership with the student’s mainstream school, support this process.

Specialist SEMH Provision

In addition to our 46 place Alternative Provision, The Albany is commissioned to provide 16 specialist SEMH places across KS3 and KS4. These are longer-term placements for students with an EHCP identifying SEMH as a primary need. Students in these groups may also have other special educational needs.

The Albany has a skilled team of staff who are able to meet the learning needs of a range of students including Autism Spectrum, social communication and sensory processing needs.

How we group students

Our students are grouped in classes tailored to their needs with a maximum of 8 students in a class. These groupings may relate to sensory, learning, social, and emotional needs and will be broadly single key stage groups. Sensory groupings provide students with learning environments tailored to their sensory needs.