Admissions Procedure

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• Admissions Procedure

Admissions Procedure

Below is a summary of the key phases in the admissions procedure..  Greater explanation of each phase is available in the Donaldson's Admissions Policy.  Please contact the school for a copy.

• Initial Visit/Information Day: Parents and professionals are invited to attend one of our termly Information Days to see the school, meet the team and find out about our provision.
• Referral: Following an initial visit, parents or professionals can request an assessment visit for a child.  Donaldson's will request appropriate current reports to help inform our decision on whether an assessment visit would be appropriate.
• Assessment Visit: Following consideration of reports appropriate pupils will be offered an assessment visit to the school and to the residence, if required.  The purpose of this visit is to ascertain whether or not we can meet the communication, educational and social needs of the young person.  Local authorities are informed when an assessment visit is offered.
• Offer of Placement: If appropriate, Donaldson's will make an offer of placement to the family, which is copied to the local authority.  The decision regarding funding of the placement rests with the local authority.
• Trial Placements: Trial placements or extended assessment visits may be offered if appropriate after an initial assessment visit.
• Post-Placement Review:  All placements are subject to a post placement review, usually within 3 months of starting. The purpose of the post-placement review is to review the placement and to identify any changes that need to be put in place to better support the education and care of the pupil.
• Placement: All placements are designed to best meet the needs of the individual pupil. We take into account the views of the young person, parents/carers, Donaldson's multi-disciplinary admissions assessment team and the views of professionals from the referring Local Authority or Health Trust. All placements are subject to annual review.

As part of the application process for residential pupils we strongly encourage a visit to Donaldson's for a full tour of the Lodge to see where your child will be residing.  For more information on our residence please visit Our Residence section.