Admissions at Hope School and College

Hope School and College is an SEN specialist provision catering for pupils 2 to 19 years with a range of learning difficulties – Severe Learning Difficulties (SLD) / Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties (PMLD) / Complex Health Needs /ASC / Communication and Sensory.

All pupils admitted to Hope School and College will have a Statement of Special Educational Needs or Education, Health Care Plan, where appropriate. The LA may request the school admit a pupil on an observation and assessment placement in order for the pupil’s needs to be determined.

The needs of the pupil will be considered alongside the needs of the whole school population, and we have the staff specialism and ability across school and college to cater for all.

Children can be referred to the school from a variety of places and will be admitted following a decision made by the LA. The school is currently funded for 203 pupils although this is calculated as an average over a financial year.

* Mainstream admission for 2 – 3 year old children within our fully integrated provision please see Early Years Page.

The Local Authority (LA) is the admitting authority and, following consultation with the school, takes the decision to place pupils.

The Special Educational Needs and Disability Team at Wigan Council can be contacted on 01942 486136 for more information and advice. Detailed notes with regard to the Admissions Policy is available from the LA – Children and Young people Services (CYPS).

Admissions Policy for Children with Additional Needs and Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties placed at Hope School Early Years Centre/Class 1

Aim

The aim of this admissions policy is to clarify the process by which children with additional needs or profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD) are placed at Hope School Early Years Centre/Class 1.

Context

The early years places available at Hope School for children with additional needs and children with PMLD, are in addition to those provided through the mainstream nursery, and are funded through ‘planned places’.

Definition of Children with Additional Needs

Children with additional needs who would benefit from placement at Hope School are defined as those who show evidence of one or more of the following, which have a profound and long term impact on the development of academic and social skills.

An inability to be make progress through the curriculum without the extensive use of specialist materials, additional aids or resources, and high levels of adult support.
A marked discrepancy between the child’s development and that of the majority of children of the same age, as assessed by teachers and external specialists following close observation.
Significant emotional and/or behavioural difficulties – for which there is clear substantiated evidence, based on specific examples, that these difficulties are as a result of the child’s additional needs.

Definition of Children with Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties

Children with PMLD are defined as those who have difficulty carrying out even very basic tasks, such as feeding, toileting and self help skills without adult assistance. These children require a significantly modified and predominantly sensory curriculum in addition to significant medical input within the educational setting.

Most children with PMLD have a significant cognitive learning difficulty, usually with motor and sensory impairments, as well as complex health/medical care needs. Almost all will have communication difficulties and will be working at a very early developmental stage.

Children with PMLD are likely to have:

severe developmental delay
impaired ability to communicate and interact with the environment
regressive conditions in some instances

These may be due to multiple impairments, eg, combinations of physical, sensory and medical needs. They may also have ASD, of varying degrees, and behavioural needs, ranging from challenging to passivity, resulting in lack of motivation or uncertainty and low self esteem.

Admissions Criteria

For a child with additional needs and/or PMLD to be placed at Hope School Early Years Centre/Class 1, there must be evidence from a range of professionals, including medical services, educational psychologist, specialist teaching services and Early Years Teams , where appropriate, that he/she fits the definition, and has:

a multi-disciplinary diagnosis of having additional needs
significant and persistent additional needs or PMLD
learning and social needs which:
require access to a significantly differentiated curriculum and learning programmes delivered by experienced teaching and support staff
require regular and consistent access to a range of therapies intervention delivered by external specialist staff
require oversight by medical staff
cannot be effectively met within a non-specialist environment

Admissions Procedure

To ensure consistency, fairness and transparency within the admissions process, admissions to Hope School Early Years Centre/Class 1, for children with additional needs and/or PMLD, will be determined by an agreed procedure. The LA and the school will work together to make sure that the child’s needs are met, parent/carer views addressed, and the capacity of the school considered.

In accordance with the SEN Code of Practice, account will be taken of any concerns that the admission of an individual child will be incompatible with the efficient education of other children at the school, and whether the Governing Body or the LA can take reasonable steps to prevent that incompatibility.

The agreed procedure for admissions is as follows:

The child will be known to the Early Years Quality and Inclusion Team and procedures for supporting pre-school children with special and additional needs will be in place.
A multi–disciplinary assessment will be undertaken, involving relevant professionals and parents/carers, to identify the child’s needs and resources required to remove barriers to learning.
Where parent/carer preference is known to be for specialist provision, and the child’s needs reflect those described in the admissions criteria, parents/carers will be notified that a referral has been made to the school.
Where parent/carer preference is not known, a nominated SEN Officer, Early Years worker or Parent Partnership Officer will contact the parents/carers to ascertain their views.
The LA will consult the Headteacher regarding the potential admission to the school. This will be a written referral, ie, a letter accompanied by the reports gathered from the multi-disciplinary assessment.
The Headteacher will be asked to consider the referral details and to contact the named SEN Officer for clarification and further discussion where appropriate.
The Headteacher will then arrange a visit for the child and his/her parents/carers. This will allow for parents/carers to see the facilities and resources available at the school and discuss how their child’s special educational needs will be met.

Early Placements

Places will usually be offered from the beginning of the academic year in which the child turns 4. However, in a very few exceptional cases, where a child has the most severe and complex needs, places may be offered earlier. This may be when the child:

has profound and multiple learning needs which are evident without a multi disciplinary assessment
is unable to access early education outside of a specialist setting due to the impact of their difficulties
has a life-limiting condition and is in receipt of palliative care
has severe and complex needs and compromised parenting.

Places will usually be offered in Class 1, except for those children who needs fall within 3 and 4 above, and who may not have PMLD. Part-time/sessional places will be offered, following consultation with the Headteacher, dependent upon the needs of the individual child and the school’s capacity.

Places will be offered from the start of the academic year in which the child turns 3.

In exceptional cases, a place may be offered from age 2 in Class 1 only.

Children who may require an early place will also:

be supported through the Inclusion Protocol by the Early Years Quality and Inclusion Team
have a comprehensive assessment by a health and/or educational professional which confirms that they meet the above criteria

Transitional Process

Early years provision at Hope School provides places up to the end of the Reception year. Children who are placed in Reception at Hope School would transfer from the Early Years Centre to the main school in Year 1.

Other children will transfer from nursery to a Reception class elsewhere. The process of transition from the Early Years Centre to a Reception class in another school or to Year 1 at Hope School will be based upon:

a review of progress
a clear understanding of the child’s needs and appropriate interventions
detailed Individual Education Plans (IEPs)/records being available to aid transition, and the prompt transfer of the child’s file and all relevant information to the receiving school
parent/carer views
child’s views

A transitional review meeting will be arranged, and a SEN Officer invited to attend. Options for the child will be considered and an integration plan drawn up which will detail:

timescales for action
roles and responsibilities of all parties
support for the child in the new setting

Once placed in an appropriate Reception class, the child will be subject to regular monitoring and supported through the school’s and LA processes for early years children.

Admissions Policy for Children and Young People with Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties placed at Hope School and College

Aim

The aim of this admissions policy is to clarify the process by which children/young people aged 2-19 years with profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD) are placed at Hope School.

Context

Hope School caters for children/young people with learning difficulties on the continuum from severe and complex to profound and multiple. These admission criteria refer to those with PMLD. This is a borough-wide resource.

Definition of Children/Young People with Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties

Children/young people with PMLD are defined as those who have difficulty carrying out even very basic tasks, such as feeding, toileting and self help skills without adult assistance. They require a significantly modified and predominantly sensory curriculum, in addition to significant medical input, within the educational setting.

Most children/young people with PMLD have a significant cognitive learning difficulty, usually with motor and sensory impairments, as well as complex health/medical care needs. Almost all will have communication difficulties and will be working at a very early developmental stage.

Children/young people with PMLD are likely to have:

severe developmental delay
impaired ability to communicate and interact with the environment
regressive conditions in some instances

Admissions Criteria

For a child/young person with PMLD to be placed at Hope School, there must be evidence from a range of professionals, including medical services, educational psychologist, specialist teaching services, and Early Years Teams where appropriate, that he/she fits the definition, and has:

a multi-disciplinary diagnosis of PMLD
significant and persistent PMLD
learning needs which require daily access to core subject programmes, facilitated and supported by small group teaching
learning and social needs which:
require a significantly differentiated curriculum and learning programmes delivered by experienced teaching and support staff
require regular and consistent access to a range of therapies delivered by external specialist staff
require oversight by medical staff
cannot be effectively met within a non-specialist environment

Admissions Procedure

To ensure consistency, fairness and transparency within the admissions process, admissions to Hope School for children/young people with PMLD will be determined by an agreed procedure. The LA and the school will work together to make sure that the child’s/young person’s needs are met, parent/carer views addressed, and the capacity of the school considered.

In accordance with the SEN Code of Practice, account will be taken of any concerns that the admission of an individual child/young person will be incompatible with the efficient education of others at the school, and whether the Governing Body or the LA can take reasonable steps to prevent that incompatibility.

The agreed procedure for admissions is as follows:

A Statutory Assessment will be undertaken and a draft Statement of Special Educational Needs drawn up. Where a child/young person already has a Statement, the process will involve an Annual Review. The draft Statement or Annual Review information will be sent to parents/carers and professionals involved.
Where parent/carer/pupil preference is known to be for specialist provision, and the young person’s needs reflect those described in the Admissions Criteria, parents/carers will be notified that a referral has been made to Hope School.
Where preference is not known, a nominated SEN Officer or Parent Partnership Officer will contact the parents/carers to ascertain their views.
The LA will consult the Headteacher regarding the potential admission to the school. This will be a written referral, ie, a letter accompanied by the draft Statement and appendices and/or Annual Review information.
The Headteacher will be asked to consider the referral details and will contact the named SEN Officer for clarification and further discussion where appropriate.
The Headteacher will then arrange a visit for the child/young person and his/her parents/carers. This will allow for parents/carers to see the facilities and resources available at the school, and discuss the how the child’s/young person’s special educational needs will be met.
If appropriate, the Headteacher, or nominated representative, will visit the child/young person in his/her current setting to gather more information on the individual needs and functioning within a structured setting.
The Headteacher, or nominated representative, will contact the SEN Officer to confirm that the pre-admission visit has taken place, discuss an appropriate admission date and clarify any other issues around transition/admission arrangements.
The SEN Officer will write to parents/carers with details of the admission date, and any other relevant transition information.
The SEN Officer will liaise with the Transport Team where appropriate.
The Headteacher, or nominated representative, will facilitate the admission process for the child/young person through appropriate liaison with the family and the child’s/young person’s current setting.

In some cases, the LA may consult with the Headteacher on providing a place for a child/young person who has not undergone a Statutory Assessment. In accordance with the SEN Code of Practice, this may occur either:

when a child/young person is undergoing assessment to determine if a Statement

is needed, or

where there has been a change in circumstances

In these situations, the LA may ask for a full time, part time or temporary place. Where a child’s/young person’s needs are being assessed, re-assessed or reviewed, the period of time spent in the special school would form part of this process and the Headteacher would be requested to provided written advice on the child’s/young person’s progress at the appropriate time.

Exit Criteria

Although it should not be assumed that once the LA has issued a Statement it will maintain that Statement until the child/young person leaves school, it is likely that children/young people with the most complex needs will continue to require the LA to determine the special educational provision required for them to make progress.

All Statements must be reviewed at least annually, and the LA has a duty to ensure that Headteachers undertake this process. Any changes to the provision specified in the Statement will be considered at this time, including the suitability of a mainstream placement.

The process to determine a child/young person leaving Hope School will be based upon:

the Annual Review of progress
a clear understanding of the child’s/young person’s SEN and appropriate interventions
detailed Individual Education Plans (IEPs)/records being available to aid transition, and the prompt transfer of the child’s/young person’s file and all relevant information to the receiving school
parent/carer views
child’s/young person’s views

If a change of placement is being considered, the Headteacher will arrange for an Educational Psychologist to provide up-to-date advice on the child/young person. A SEN Officer will be invited to attend the review meeting and the child’s/young person’s options will be considered. If agreed, an integration plan will be drawn up. This will detail:

timescales for action
roles and responsibilities of all parties
support for the child/young person in the new setting

Mainstream Experience

Mainstream experience may be arranged for pupils with PMLD who are on roll at Hope School. This will be determined by the Headteacher, in consultation with parents/carers, the mainstream school and the LA, and will be provided as part of the special school’s provision.