Three Spires Trust

*Visual created using AI for illustration purposes.

A Trust-Wide View: Where AV1 Fits

Sarah first encountered AV1 several years ago via a local authority arrangement supporting pupils who struggled to access school. During lockdown and shielding one pupil’s EHCP-funded AV1 became her “physical presence in school.” She was taught by her teachers and still connected to friends and routines. That early insight shaped the trust’s approach:‍

“That gave us a really different insight… it wasn’t delivered as a ‘here’s a solution to a problem.’ It was our creative approach… she still had those connections with her friends [and] teachers… and had still been doing the same learning as her peers.”‍

Today two secondary schools own AV1s alongside units delivered by LA AP teams. Uses range from home access with weekly pastoral contact to on-site access from safe spaces when circulating is difficult. This helps pupils keep up with peers and gradually rejoin classrooms.

A favourite primary example is quietly human:

“Snack and chill happens for a young person who is five. He doesn’t access the classroom… but he goes to snack and chill every day with his friends at a table and engages in that process… something we would never have done without it.”

Planned Intervention Not Crisis Response

Three Spires operates a high support high challenge model. AV1 is used proactively and never as a last-ditch fix:

“If we get to a crisis stage… that’s not the right recipe. The AV1 robot isn’t a crisis intervention. It’s a planned intervention with intention.”

Their reintegration framework aims at around 12 weeks to full time reviewed every three weeks and flexed to the child:

“Initially children will access at home and then… a little bit of time in school… the robot’s in a safe space in the school building… and we build it up slowly.”

Sometimes staying remote with the school’s own teachers is the right decision. Sarah describes a Year 10–11 pupil for whom full reintegration would have been overwhelming due to past trauma. The trust continued remote access safeguarded through weekly home visits and prioritised outcomes:

“She continued to engage and left school with GCSE in English… and all her other qualifications at level two and above… I’m confident that if we’d said, ‘You need to come physically into the building for it all,’ she wouldn’t have done.”

Crucially all AV1 use sits within SEND processes:

“If children are accessing provision through the robot they’ve got to be on the SEND register because it’s definitely provision that’s different to that of their peers.”

Safeguarding Staff Confidence and Classroom Practice

Adoption has been thoughtful and transparent. Some staff were cautious at first. The team addressed common concerns about recording classroom placement and fair expectations and set clear parameters:

“We think carefully about the placement in the room… in the main it’s right at the front so no other children are in the line of sight… it’s the open transparency with everybody around risk as well as benefit.”

Where group work happens more often in primary it is done with parental awareness and consent. And staff wellbeing matters:

“I’ve got one or two staff where we’ve had to be creative around timetabling… but the vast majority have embraced it.”

Data Attendance Codes and Doing the Right Thing

Sarah is frank about the tension between data and doing right by the child:

“Remote education counts as an absence doesn’t it?… It’s unfairly represented in data… There’s a really important conversation to say we’re making good quality decisions… and our intention is that this is not a long-term arrangement.”

She differentiates school-delivered remote provision with teachers marking and interaction from generic self-directed content. Until codes better reflect that difference the trust remains data-informed reviewing AV1 impact and progress regularly.

What They Have Learned

• Use the data tools: “We were late to this… you can log on and see when children had actually been on… explore that data availability and the interaction… a great way to review impact.”
  
• Connection is essential: “The robot alone is not enough. That child needs connection… one or two key adults so the child feels the connection to school is growing.”
  
• Be brave but intentional: The team wants to be “10% braver” with group work in the right contexts recognising that adult risk-aversion can slow otherwise helpful steps toward belonging.
  
• Target carefully: “It’s only cost effective if it’s the right children… we’d want to be more involved in decision-making with partners because we know the child.”

Practical Advice for Schools Starting Out

“Work with your staff to build their confidence… you can’t just rock up with a robot and hope it’s going to work. Start with a core staff and then grow it out. Winning hearts and minds is easier in smaller numbers.”

“Explore the analytics so you can review impact… sometimes being present is enough for a child to start that journey.”

“Ensure one or two key adults keep the relationship warm… so the child feels not just ‘present’ but connected.”

And a simple operational note from day-to-day practice:

“We have a child who comes most of the time but has days when she’s really poorly and she logs in via the robot… we just all drop everything and work out who’s going to make sure we get [her] to the right classroom on time.”

The Bottom Line

Three Spires Trust uses AV1 as one part of a planned reviewable pathway anchored in safeguarding teacher-led provision relational connection and measured reintegration. It is not a silver bullet and it is not for everyone. But in Sarah’s words:

“Right provision right time right moment… when we’ve got it right it’s had a great impact.”