ADMISSIONS PROCEDURE

Pupils may be admitted to Merstone at any time of the year, but the majority of admissions take place in September.  Merstone provides education for pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD) and specific learning difficulties (SLD) and all pupils enter school with an Education, Health and Care Plan.

What is an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan?

An Education, Health and Care plan (EHC plan) is a legal document which describes a child or young person’s aged up to 25 special educational needs, the support they need, and the outcomes they would like to achieve.

The special educational provision described in an EHC plan must be provided by the child or young person’s local authority. This means an EHC plan can give a child or young person extra educational support. It can also give parents and young people more choice about which school or other setting the child or young person can attend.

An EHC plan can only be issued after a child or young person has gone through the process of an Education, Health and Care needs assessment.

Places at Merstone School are offered by the Local Authority subject to availability and suitability.  The Local Authority can be contacted on 0121 704 6690 – Special Education Needs Team.

Parents and pupils are encouraged to visit school.  We will discuss with you about how we can best help to ease the transition to Merstone and make individual arrangements to support this.  Upon admission, a variety of assessments are undertaken to determine the pupil’s baseline of learning. From this, individual targets are set in a ‘Passport to Learning’.

We are proud of all our children and young people at school. Most children and young people do well, but we know that some need more support than others or may need help to get ready for their future life. For these children and young people, we are committed to working with Solihull LA in a way which helps them have the best life possible.

Specialist Inclusion Support Service

The Specialist Inclusion Support Service (SISS) is a high quality, specialist teaching and advisory service, made up of 4 specialist teams. The teams provide a range of support for children and young people with SEND and their families, as well as assessment and advice, training and direct support to schools and early years settings.

How do you request an EHC plan assessment?

You can ask your local authority to carry out an assessment if you think your child needs an EHC plan. A young person can request an assessment themselves if they’re aged 16 to 25. A request can also be made by anyone else who thinks an assessment may be necessary, including doctors, health visitors, teachers, parents and family friends.