LWS Admissions Policy

LWS is a special school which provides 58 day places for 11-16 year olds in an environment where pupils have Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP) for Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs. Ideally, students are expected to be admitted from year 7 to 9. The Local Authority (Hampshire) currently manages all of our spaces and all referrals and enquiries should be directed to the relevant SEN teams, in the first instance.

The procedure of admission to LWS Academy is as follows;

• A copy of the EHCP, and all other relevant supporting information from other agencies involved, including information from the current or last school will be sent to the Headteacher. Their response will be sent to the relevant  SEN Team within 10 working days. 

 

• Once the referral papers have been checked the Headteacher (after consulting with other key team members) will make a decision as to whether that child meets the schools admission criteria or not. The Headteacher (or their authorised deputy) will then inform the SEN Service and/or SMEH placement panel. The SMEH admission panel meets half termly to consider placements where vacancies exist within the four Hampshire SMEH secondary schools. Any decision regarding the continued request for the placement will then be further discussed during this meeting.

 

• If a student meets the criteria for placement and a place is available, or expected to be available in the future, the Headteacher (or their authorised deputy) will inform the SEN Service and or SMEH placement panel to start the planned admission procedure. The SEN Service will often inform parent(s) of the placement decision. 

 

The admissions procedure will be as follows: 

 

~ Parent (s)/ Carers/ Interested parties (e.g. social workers) will contact the school regarding a school place at LWS.

 

~ Parents/carers will be invited to visit the school with the student where a formal discussion regarding placement can take place as well as a tour of the school. These initial visits will take place after the school day.

 

~ Parents/carers may view the school independently from the child, allowing for any confidential discussion as required however the admissions process cannot continue unless the student has also visited the school.

 

~ All relevant information, such as uniform expectations, lunch arrangements etc will be provided.

 

~ After these discussions and visits, the Headteacher will either notify the SEN Service of the starting date, or alert the SEN Service to any difficulty relating to the admission. 

 

~ A transition plan will likely be discussed to ensure a successful transition into the school.

 

If the pupil is to be admitted then the necessary paperwork will be completed with the Parents/Carers.Parents/ carers will need to complete their own transport request form but the link to this form can be provided by the administrative team. 

 

Admissions criteria:

 

Students being considered for admission to LWS Academy will: 

 

~ Be within the age group catered for by the school (11-16/ Year 7 – 11). It is very unlikely that there will be any admissions during a child’s final school year (Year 11).  

 

~ Have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) in draft or finalised which specifies the type of provision required.  

 

~ Have been assessed as having Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) difficulties as defined in the DfE Code of Practice for SEN and HCC’s criteria for statutory assessment for children.

 

~ Show evidence of general intellectual ability within the range normally catered for in a mainstream school. The priority area of special need must be SEMH associated and not primarily arising from moderate or specific learning difficulties. Children with severe challenging behaviour arising from or associated with severe learning difficulties will not normally be considered for placement at LWS Academy.

 

~ Be given a placement only when it is compatible with the interests of the student and of other students currently attending the school.

 

~ Not be dependent on intensive therapeutic support.  

 

~ Have been assessed as likely to respond to programmes of intervention provided within the resources of the school. 

 

~ Have full and current assessment information from all relevant agencies.

 

~ Not having persistent non-attendance as their main rationale for placement.  

 

~ Not having persistent criminal activity as their main rationale for placement