Admissions
Admission criteria
The school is approved to accept children of both genders, aged between 7-19 years, having epilepsy or medical conditions associated with learning difficulties. Most of the pupil population has a cognitive and developmental delay which places them in the severe learning difficulty or profound learning difficulty category. Many of the pupils also have additional complex needs. These include communication difficulties, autistic spectrum disorders, sensory impairment and challenging behaviour. We do not accept pupils whose challenging behaviour is environmentally rather than neurologically generated. We specialise in educating pupils whose neurological impairment requires a holistic approach including health and social care.
Parents of prospective pupils are welcome to visit the Centre on an informal basis.
Admissions procedure
Parents are welcome to visit the school, and we would recommend that you do so as a first step to admission. We will contact you to arrange a convenient date for you to visit.
You may also wish other professionals with whom you are involved, for example Educational Psychologists, Social Workers, etc., to visit, and we are happy to make such arrangements.
To arrange a visit to school and to discuss your child’s special needs please telephone Deborah Good, Head of Education on 01565 640063.
If you decide to proceed in seeking a placement at the school, you will need to notify your child’s leading funding agency, usually the Children’s Services Department, to make a formal referral to us.
Once formal referral papers are received, they are taken to the multi-disciplinary admissions panel, which meets fortnightly. The panel includes the Headteacher, Head of Education, Registered Managers, Doctors, Consultant Paediatric Neuropsychologist, Behaviour Support Advisers, and Speech and Language Therapist. Other professional advice, e.g. physiotherapy is sought as required. Referral papers are sometimes incomplete or not sufficiently detailed with regard to medical information and you may experience some delay whilst this information is sought.
If we feel that the school could meet your child’s needs we will arrange for you to bring him/her for a placement visit. Usually we will also arrange to visit your child at home and at school. A decision will then be made to offer a place to your child. This formal offer of a placement will be sent to the referring agency along with a proposed start date.
All efforts are made to ensure an effective transition to help your child settle into the school and the procedure followed will be tailored to meet the particular needs of each child.
Day Pupils
There are a small number of school places available for day pupils from neighbouring authorities. These pupils are integrated into class groups and they have access to all the support services available to residential pupils.
For further information on admission for day pupils please contact the Head of Education.
Referrals
Referrals are normally received from the Children’s Services Department of the Local Authority and are paid by the child’s local statutory agencies (Health and Children’s Services Department).
