Admissions

At Hillside Specialist School we are very pleased to receive guests for both informal visits and professional training opportunities. Visits with a view to requesting a place should be directed through your Area Assessment Services Office or named officer (details of these can be found under 'Useful links' in the Community page of this website). Placement at the school is agreed between the LEA Officer, the school Educational Psychologist and the Integrated Assessment Panel.

It is important to note:

• ‘without prejudice visits’ - visit by the parents and child to the school, with no expectation of admission on either side at this stage,

If you are interested in visiting Hillside Specialist School, please contact the school to arrange your visit and ask for more details.

Hillside Specialist School is a limited specialist resource for all of Lancashire and in order to justify the distances many pupils travel to attend the school it is necessary to consider if there is alternative provision to meet all the child’s needs within their own communities prior to admission. This is in keeping with Government policy for all pupils to be included wherever possible within mainstream settings or local specialist provision. This is also a major focus of the LEA’s inclusion policy and vision for the future. Places at the school are limited to seventy-two and there are often a number of pupils referred to the school who are awaiting a place to become available. Requests for placement at Hillside Specialist School comes from the Integrated Assessment Panel. A member of staff from school will visit the child in their current placement or at home as part of the pre-admission assessment by the school.

The school does not operate a ‘waiting list’ system, however places are offered according to the following criteria:

• Availability/appropriateness of placement within the pupil’s local community
• Degree of autism/need based on school assessment prior to Integrated Assessment Panel meeting
• Examination of all the relevant documentation demonstrating the school can meet all the child’s needs
• Discussion at the Integrated Assessment Panel
• Availability of place according to where the vacancy has arisen within the existing school group structure.
• The needs of the child will not detract from those of pupils already attending the school

Full details of the admissions criteria and procedures can be found in the school’s admissions policy that is available on request.