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School Admissions
If your child has SEND but does not have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), then you should follow the usual admissions process.
If you are applying for your child to start primary or secondary school for the first time, you can find all of the relevant information on the Greenwich councils school admissions pages:
If you wish to apply for a school place during the school year, you’ll need to make an in-year admissions application. You can find out more on Greenwich Council’s In-Year Admissions page.
When looking at schools, we recommend visiting where possible, and speaking with the school SENCO’s as well as looking at their websites and OFSTED reports.
Most children with SEND will go to a mainstream school and are often supported by the school. You can find out more about how children with SEND are supported in schools via our School SEN Support page.
If your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), you will need to follow a different process. More information on this can be found on our Choosing a School page.
Choosing a school can feel overwhelming for parents and carers, particularly when they have a child with SEND. Researching schools and visiting where possible will help to give you more confidence when making your decision.
Please also see our Transition page for more information on moving through phases of education.
Do your research
You can search a school’s Ofsted rating, academic results and more online. You may also wish to speak to other parent/carers to get their opinions. These can provide useful information, but we would encourage you to think about your child, their needs and which schools they might be most suited to. Everyone will have a different experience.
If you are unable to visit, all schools will have a SEND/Inclusion policy on their websites, which you can use to get a better idea of the provision and support available in each school. You should also take your child’s views into account where possible.
When choosing a school, gathering as much information as you can will help you work out your preferences.
Visiting schools
You can make a checklist of all the things that are important to you and your child before visiting schools. This can be used as a prompt to ensure you get the answers to your questions.
Read through the schools SEND information report, SEND & behaviour policies, which should all be found on the school’s website. This will give you a good idea of what the school can provide in certain situations.
It is also a good idea to visit schools so you can have a look at the environment and meet the staff. Most offer open evenings or afternoons, where the SENCO is often available. We would suggest you visit at least two schools so you can make comparisons.
For some families, the physical environment might be very important, so a visit can help you to get a better idea if it is the right fit for your child. You may also be able to discuss strategies of support with the SENCO, as not all schools will offer support in the same ways. If you are going to an open evening, it may not be possible to have an in-depth discussion, so you may want to make an appointment with the SENCO to discuss your child’s individual needs in more detail.
Questions you might want to ask
- How is SEN provision is organised in the school?
- How teaching is organised, class sizes, teaching assistants, group or individual work etc?
- Does the school have any experience of children with similar needs and how they were supported?
- What support could I expect for my child?
- How does the school communicate progress to parents?
- What processes are in place between teachers and the SENCO to track individual pupil progress?
Useful links
Support for transition to Primary School
Getting ready to move to Secondary School
Questions: Choosing a secondary school
Back to school guidance for parents of children with SEND - Family Action (family-action.org.uk)