Education otherwise than at school (EOTAS)

Nottinghamshire Local Authority (LA) is committed to ensuring that all children and young people of compulsory school age are provided with suitable and sufficient education at school or otherwise than at school. The duty of Nottinghamshire County Council as a Local Authority is laid down in Section 19(1) of the Education Act 1996 (as amended):

'Each local (education) authority shall make arrangements for the provision of suitable education at school or otherwise than at school for those children of compulsory school age who, by reason of illness, exclusion from school or otherwise, may not for any period receive suitable education unless such arrangements are made for them.'

In Nottinghamshire the responsibility for providing education other than at school falls mainly to the Nottinghamshire Learning Centre (NLC). The NLC provides educational provision for children and young people of compulsory school age who:

• require full-time education due to permanent exclusion
• are without a school place
• are admitted for medical treatment at Kings Mill and Bassetlaw Hospitals
• require home education for reasons of
• long term illness or convalescence
• anxiety related difficulties
• pregnancy and school girl mothers.
• are looked after children with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD), without a school place, at risk of exclusion or new to the county
• need long term provision due to their complex BESDs and who will usually have a statement of special educational needs
• are at risk of exclusion or who require support for re-integration to mainstream or other identified provision.

Pupils receive between a minimum of five and maximum of twenty-five hours provision per week depending upon their personal circumstances and in line with statutory guidance. This may take place at home on a one-to-one basis or in groups at area bases or other locations as determined by individual learning plans, which are known as assessment planning and review (APR) plans. Provision, with the exception of hospital education, is delivered through four geographically based learning centres which provide a range of learning opportunities through specialist teams. Each learning centre caters for identified groups of pupils using the range of resources within each team. Flexible personalised programmes are developed to meet the diversity of pupil needs. In discharging this responsibility the NLC commissions additional provision from alternative external providers, particularly at KS4.

The NLC is a centrally managed LA service providing out of school and specialist BESD provision. It is technically a school under the Education Act and is thus subject to inspection by Ofsted. It is registered with the DCSF as a ‘pupil referral unit’ and is based at four main locations across the county: Bassetlaw Centre covering the north, Grove Centre covering the east, St George’s Centre covering the south and the Oakdale Centre covering the west of Nottinghamshire. These four locality-based centres provide a continuum of ‘off site’ educational provision and services to identified young people with behaviour, emotional and social difficulties across their discrete geographical districts.

Five county wide specialist teams provide education to a range of learners including those with severe and complex behavioural, social and emotional needs (BESD). These five teams consist of the:

• Looked After Children Education team (LACE)
• Special Individual Programmes team (SIPs)
• Tailor Made Programmes team (TMP)
• Hospital Education Team
• Home Education Team.

Contact the EOTAS for more information on tel: 01623 433335 or email neil.hesketh@nottscc.gov.uk