Admissions

Children are accepted at Blossom House only after careful assessment, to ensure that we are the right provision. Usually the initial enquiry is made by parents, but occasionally referrals come from Local Authorities, whether on the parents’ or their own behalf. A child does not need to have a Statement of Educational Needs before being assessed by the school; however parents should be aware that the Statementing process can be protracted and complicated. Some year groups become very oversubscribed; places can only be held open for six months, and before making a formal offer we would need to be assured that Local Authority (or private) funding will be available.
Please note there is an assessment fee of £250 if your child is offered a place and you choose not to take it up. This fee reflects the detailed assessment process, which includes input over 3 days by several members of staff and the therapist's written report.

Group Tours

We organise at least 3 open days per year when parents can see around the school and meet Joanna Burgess, the Principal. These would be appropriate for parents who are not looking for an immediate place for their child.

Initial Assessments

For parents who are looking for a place more quickly, we have a 2-stage assessment. The Initial Assessments (45 minutes) usually take place on Wednesday afternoons, and are an opportunity for parents to see around the school and discuss their child and their concerns with Joanna Burgess, while one of our Speech and Language Therapists spends time with the child. This is an informal session (playing games or talking) and not a formal assessment. From this, it will usually be possible to tell whether we might be the right provision, and if this is the case we will invite the child back for a 3 day assessment.

3 day assessments

The child spends 3 consecutive days with his age group, from 8.50am to 3.00pm. During this time there will be a formal SLT assessment as well as more informal observation of the child in lessons and around the school. The impact of the child on the current group dynamics is also taken into account. A decision will be made on whether the school can meet the needs of the child, and an offer of a place will be made, and a full report sent to the parents. Occasionally we may ask the child to come for a longer assessment period.

We hope this helps to explain our assessment process, but please don’t hesitate to ring the school for more information or to discuss your child with our admissions team.