Arrangements for the admission of children with SEND to Telford & Wrekin specialist provision.
Haughton School
Function/Aim:
This is a maintained day special school for children aged rising 5-11 years. Children will be provided with an appropriately paced and differentiated curriculum The school is accessible for wheelchair users and is on one level.
Size and Staffing:
The LA is the admissions authority. The school currently has places for 134 children. Occasionally the school may be required to take additional children.
Staffing levels are enhanced so that children are usually taught in classes of up to 15 with a teacher and at least one Teaching Assistant and an appropriate number of additional teaching assistants to meet the needs of the class group.
The school receives advice from a range of health professionals in order to meet the needs of the children.
Funding:
The school is funded on a place led basis by the LA.
Criteria for Placement:
All children will be under assessment or have an Education Health and Care plan (EHCP).
The children’s identified needs will be complex and significant in at least two areas of need as described in the Special Educational Need Code of Practice. These will to be in the areas of cognition and learning (moderate learning difficulties), and may also be communication and interaction (autistic spectrum disorder and/or speech and language difficulties) and / or have associated emotional, social and mental wellbeing difficulties. In addition children may have sensory or physical difficulties.
Referral Routes
- Pupils may be considered for placements:
- Following a Statutory Assessment or as a provision within an EHCP
- Following an Annual Review
- On arrival into the LA having previously attended a specialist provision or special school
- Following a parental request
- In exceptional circumstances e.g. sudden trauma.
- Following a request from another LA
Evidence to support the need for a special school place:
There will be evidence from a range of agencies that a special school placement is appropriate which will include an educational psychologist’s opinion where possible.
The views of the parent and the child will be considered.
Prioritising Placements
If there are more children who meet the criteria than available places the following priorities apply;
The child doesn’t have a current school place
The child is a Child in Care (CIC) and there is evidence that the placement will be appropriate to meet their needs
The current placement is no longer successfully meeting the child’s needs
Admission Procedures
Once the LA has decided that the referral is appropriate the head teacher will be consulted at either a termly meeting with education officers or by the sending of individual papers. Following the receipt of papers, the head teacher will have 15 working days to consider the admission. When the admission(s) is agreed the LA will formalise this by notifying parents and the child’s current school so that admission arrangements can be made.
Transport
Children are entitled to home to school transport if they live 3 or more miles from Haughton School.
Transport may be provided for children who live nearer than the above distance if they have specific transport needs relating to physical disabilities or significant learning and/or emotional difficulties. Written professional evidence will be required to support such a request (See Telford & Wrekin Educational Transport Policy).
Change of Placement
If a change of placement to another special school or mainstream school is being considered an LA officer must be consulted prior to any arrangements being made. The child is prioritised either through the regular LA placements meeting, for consideration at the Special Schools Admission Panel meeting which is held each term or by the sending of individual papers. Prospective children’s papers will be sent to the members of that panel prior to the meeting. If a placement is agreed a timescale for transfer is planned.
Inclusion Opportunities
Through on going planning and review, opportunities for inclusion in other settings will be considered. The school will facilitate inclusion opportunities depending on the needs of the child. This may be in either the adjacent school or at another school appropriate to the child’s age group close to their home address.
If it is envisaged that the inclusion may lead to transfer to another school an LA officer must be consulted prior to any arrangements being made.
Monitoring & Review
Every child’s progress will be reviewed at least termly and an Annual Review meeting will be held within 12 months of the current EHCP being issued or the previous Annual Review meeting. The child and his/her parents will be involved in all reviews.
These admission arrangements will be reviewed as necessary, via the termly meetings between the head teacher and education officers.
Please click here for our Admissions Arrangements Policy: