At Orchard Therapeutic Farm, we take Quality Assurance (QA) extremely seriously. It is our responsibility to ensure that when pupils attend our provision, they are kept safe, motivated, able to learn, and able to achieve.

The Department for Education’s statutory guidance on Alternative Provision states:
“Responsibility for the alternative provision used rests with the commissioner. The nature of the intervention, its objectives, and the timeline to achieve these objectives should be agreed and clearly defined.” (DfE, 2013)

We fully understand the role and responsibilities of commissioners and hold these in the highest regard. Schools and other commissioners are expected to carry out appropriate quality assurance for all off-site and alternative provision accessed by pupils.

To support this, Orchard Therapeutic Farm provides transparent access to our quality assurance processes, practices, and policies. This enables schools, commissioners, and stakeholders to evaluate evidence directly from us as the provider, supporting informed judgments about the effectiveness of our provision in meeting pupils’ needs.

Our Quality Assurance Responsibilities

We are committed to:

• Ensuring compliance with the latest DfE guidance and definitions of alternative provision

• Maintaining close contact with commissioning schools and parents/guardians, including regular updates on pupil progress

• Carrying out an initial educational needs assessment within one week of referral to confirm the appropriate level of support

• Providing schools with timely attendance and absence notifications (best practice is twice daily)

• Sharing all relevant policies and procedures relating to welfare, education, and safety (e.g. Safeguarding, E-safety, Health & Safety, Behaviour)

• Attending multi-agency meetings where required, including PEPs, EHCP reviews, SEND reviews, and Social Care meetings

• Using clear monitoring criteria to evaluate the quality of teaching and learning, reporting back at agreed intervals

• Providing a named contact for each pupil

• Complying with local authority policies, standards, and procedures (including safeguarding and Children Missing Education protocols)

• Maintaining Individual Learning Plans that set both academic and wider targets, agreed by the pupil, provider, and school

• Completing regular audits in line with regulatory requirements for safeguarding, health and safety, and teaching and learning