Admissions
Admissions statement
General Information
Crosby High School is a 170 place secondary school for pupils aged 11 to 16 who have moderate and /or complex special needs that are identified through their Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP). The number of places are chosen and commissioned by the Local Education Authority.
All pupils who are admitted to Crosby High School have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).
Pupils are placed at Crosby High School as a result of a partnership agreement with the Local Authority and the school in that the LA will request a place at the school and the school will respond whether or not it feels the needs of the pupil can be met.
Pre-admission visit
Crosby High are very open to families visiting the school and meeting the Headteacher and some teaching staff, see the school at work, visits to classrooms and be able to talk about your child and their needs. To do this all parents need to do is contact the school.
All Local Authorities have a Local Offer which provides clear and accessible information about the provision Sefton Council expects to be available locally for our children and young people from 0 to 25 who have special educational needs and/or disability (SEND) The Local Offer helps you to understand what services you can expect from a range of local agencies, including your statutory entitlements, eligibility and referral criteria. The Local Offer also makes clear what is available from early years settings, schools (including Academies and Free Schools), colleges and other services including those from health and social care.
The Local offer states that Crosby High;
"Provides for students with a range of complex needs; in addition to their moderate learning difficulty, includes students with speech and communication difficulties, autism spectrum conditions, social and emotional difficulties and with physical and sensory impairments."
Pupils being admitted to Crosby High School usually meet the following criteria:
have a statement or EHCP describing their learning difficulties as moderate or a range of needs which mean their SEN is complex.
aged 11- 16 years
academically are functioning below their chronological age and on entry are between P level 6 and National Curriculum age related expectation of a Year 1 / Year 2 child. (NC Level 1 /low Level 2)
Admission Process
In terms of formal admission to Crosby High the order of events are as follows;
1) The family choose Crosby High as their preferred choice of school as they want Crosby High to be named in Part 4 of the statement.
The Local Authority has to name the school that is the parents preference. (This is in accordance with the SEN Code of Practice (section 8: 62)
2) The Authority send all the information about the child to the school eg the statement, the child's academic levels as well as social, behavioural or health needs, formal reports from other professionals such as psychologist, speech therapist and the school considers all the shared information.
3) The school can only refuse a place under three criteria which are;
• it is unsuitable to the child's age, ability, aptitude or special educational needs
• the placement would be incompatible with the efficient education of other children in the school or
• the placement would be incompatible with the efficient use of public resources.
4) If, having considered all he enclosed information the school feel unable to meet the child's needs the school have to provide a detailed written response summarizing why such a placement does not meet the above criteria. Notably this would then be provided as part of the authority's evidence if the parent/carer chooses to exercise their right of appeal to the SEN tribunal service.
In accordance with the timescales set out in the SEN Code of Practice the Local Authority expect a response within 15 days.
5) There are other criteria that may need to be considered as part of admission to Crosby High and they are;
a) if the school roll is at it's maximum of 170 places
b) if the request is for a placement in a year group that is full
c) if the request is for a child to be placed in a year group that is different to their chronological age ie a different year group
In these instances the school will consider whether it has the resource needed to admit this pupil. This will be in liaison with the LA. The school will then decide whether it appropriate to admit under these circumstances.
6) The Headteacher will confirm the school is able to offer a place and will then contact the family and the pupil and invite them in for a visit and discuss key aspects such as form groups, uniform, discuss and sign the home-school agreement, give permissions that are required by the school, discuss any health care plans and generally talk over issues or concerns.
If specific transition plans are required for example a slow transition into the school this is all discusses and arranged at this point.
The Authority SEN department will arrange transport if it is required.
Transition to Crosby High School
Transition from Year 6 to Year 7 in September (the beginning of an academic year) is the usual way pupils are admitted to Crosby High, although SEN also request places for pupils at other times in the year and in other year groups.
For most pupils with EHCPs/statements transition to Crosby High begins whilst the pupil is still attending their mainstream school as a Y6 pupil. The process is as follows;
1) Assistant headteacher Mrs. Morgan or a Year 7 form tutor, arrange a visit to the primary school in order to meet the pupil as well as their teacher and to be able to discuss the child's level of functioning and any specific needs or information we need to know.
2) Crosby High invite all new Y7 pupils into school on 2 occasions in the Summer 2 term.
For the first visit we ask parents/carers to bring your child to school. This visit is a welcome visit and a fun day of activities is planned with pupils in their new forms so they can get to know each other. The pupils have lunch in the dining room and go out on the school playground.
The second visit includes experience of the transport so Sefton transport pick the pupils up and take them home again. This visit includes experiencing lessons with a few different teachers and moving around the school from lesson to lesson.
3) Crosby High also have a welcome evening for new families ( 5.30 – 6.30pm) where we show parents/carers how the children got on on the 2 day visits eg work completed and a video of them and more information is shared eg the home school agreement, permissions and data sheets to be completed and uniform can also be purchased.