ASAP presents Alternative Learning Trust's Co-Located SEMH & AP

PAG & ASAP are delighted to welcome Alternative Learning Trust’s (ALT) Co-Located SEMH & AP model into the growing ASAP family of projects.

The Isle of Sheppey in Kent has historically faced entrenched educational challenges: high exclusion rates, rising SEMH need, and heavy reliance on expensive out-of-borough placements due to financial and geographical challenges.

The closure of Oasis Academy Isle of Sheppey in 2022-23 left the island with no sustainable secondary provision and a major SEND/AP deficit. The DfE brokered the site into two new mainstream schools, but recognised that the system would not stabilise without strong local AP and specialist capacity. Kent was also under a Safety Valve agreement to cut the rising costs of independent and out-of-borough placements, as well as transportation off the island, which were consuming the local authority’s High Needs Block budget.

In an attempt to rectify growing concerns, the DfE approved two parallel interventions:

• A new SEMH free school (Nore Academy) to increase local capacity

• A co-located AP satellite (Estuary Academy Island), designed to provide immediate places for pupils displaced by the Oasis closure, as well as a sustainable reintegration continuum for the island.

Alternative Learning Trust now runs Nore Academy, a 120-place SEMH free school, and the co-located Estuary Academy Island offering 115 AP places. The AP and SEMH is operating within the Nore Academy building faciliates a phased model that allows AP numbers to taper as SEMH places grow.

This co-located continuum provides:

• Shared staff expertise: ALT’s trauma-informed SEMH specialists, outreach mentors, and therapists work seamlessly across AP and special settings, reducing duplication and improving quality.

• Flexible use of space: shared vocational workshops, therapeutic rooms, and safe spaces ensure cost efficiency and broaden curriculum pathways.

• Integrated pathways for pupils: young people can move between AP, SEMH provision, and mainstream reintegration without the disruption of changing institutions.

• Financial efficiency: co-location avoids duplicating estate costs, maximises public investment in the new Nore site, and contributes to the projected £8m savings over five years from reduced EHCP demand and independent placements.

By co-locating Nore SEMH Free School and Estuary Academy Island, ALT unlocks educational, financial, and systemic benefits; it keeps Sheppey’s most vulnerable learners local, drives savings, and pioneers a national model of integrated AP/SEND provision.

PAG will now work in partnership with ALT to support and amplify the Co-Located SEMH & AP model for sustainable scaling.