Summary - This case study is an example of one successful EIP's experience of taking on delegated responsibility from the LA, for function delivery in respect of hard to place pupils.   

Peak 11 is a federation of 11 secondary schools (including 2 Roman Catholic schools and one foundation school) in the rural west of Derbyshire with a scattered pupil population. It has developed from a general meeting of head teachers into a formal federation with a wide remit, including re-engaging disaffected pupils. A panel made up of head teachers and LA representatives identifies disaffected pupils and recommends preventative work whilst problems are at an early stage. The LA has delegated funding for provision of services for hard to place pupils to the individual schools within the Peak 11, and last year the schools decided to pool some resources which gave them greater flexibility and enabled the panel to seek more imaginative approaches to address pupils' needs.

Collaboration through the federation has enabled schools to make better provision for more pupils. For example, each school in the group has purchased five one day a week places at a local college for pupils having difficulties at school, to do a pre-NVQ course. The project began with one FE provider but now schools have branched out and are using other providers, including work-based training providers and packages of work placement with FE and/or training. The LEA is also setting up a KS4 PRU with a single point of referral via the head teacher panel.