Referrals and Admissions

At The Pears Family School, we work on a systemic family therapy informed model, meaning that we consider parents and family to be the experts of their child, and that we understand the child in the context of their wider family and system. Therefore your partnership with us is crucial.

Pupils who come to us have often found school and the education system very difficult. It does not mean that they are not academically able, however, it might mean that the setting itself, or patterns of behaviour are stopping them from accessing their education successfully. 

Often pupils have received suspensions; may be at risk of permanent suspension; have started to avoid or refuse to go to school (EBSA – emotionally based school avoidance) and / or they find school incredibly overwhelming and demonstrate behaviours to show that they do not feel emotionally safe and regulated.

Who is The Pears Family School suitable for?

Criteria for referrals:

•  Pupils aged 5 years old – 14 years old (KS1-KS3; Year 1-9)
• Agreed funding from the child’s local authority for a placement at The Family School, including transport.
• A system around the child, usually a parent / carer or significant family member, who can engage in the family school model by attending school alongside the pupil, throughout their transition into school and for a significant amount of their time in school during the recovery and rebuild periods of their attendance.
• Clear goals and intentions of the placement at PFS, collaboratively agreed by the family and wider network, including their referring school.
• The referring school to keep the pupil dual-rolled and to have an understanding of The Family School model and ability to commit to continued collaborative working, ensuring they continue to meet children’s needs wherever possible until the student is ready for reintegration back to them or to another appropriate setting.
• A minimum of 4-6 terms commitment to The Family School (this will vary pupil to pupil).
• We work with children with a wide range of needs and diagnoses, including but not limited to Autism, ADHD, PTSD, Developmental Trauma/Attachment difficulties and those who have experienced Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Often our children have a mixed profiles including multiple areas of need that usually consists of Social and Emotional Mental Health needs and may also include Cognition and Learning needs, Communication and Interaction needs and Sensory and Physical needs.
• Many of the children at The Family School have an EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan), however, it is not essential to have an EHCP to have a place with us.

How do we refer?

Referrals

Local Authority (LA): Referrals MUST be agreed with your Local Authority for funding (this is usually someone in the SEN department). Some LA’s have contracted places with us; others can agree to fund a ‘spot’ placement. Families can express a preference for a placement at Family School through the Annual Review process. We will then be contacted for a consultation as to whether or not we can meet your child’s needs.

Referral form: Once funding is agreed, a fully completed PFS referral form must be sent to reception@thefamilyschoollondon.org.

A member of school staff who knows your child well is often best placed to complete the referral form (this may be the SENCO). We also encourage as much input from families as possible.

Review of referrals: Referrals are reviewed fortnightly by the referrals team. They will consider whether we can meet the needs of the child and whether there is space at The Pears Family School at that time.

Contact: The referral team will contact named family members and professionals by phone to gather further information and understanding about the child, answer any questions you may have, and discuss the model of the school and expectations.

Visit: You will be met with WARMTH…a visit will be arranged for parents/carers to ensure that they feel The Pears Family School is right for their child and them and answer any more questions.

Network meeting: If the placement is agreed, an initial network meeting will be arranged by The Pears Family School with parents / carers / important family members and friends and all professionals working with the child. This will usually be done virtually to increase accessibility but can be done in person if preferred.

The purpose of this meeting is to agree the goals of the placement; agree each person’s roles and responsibilities during the placement, and to understand more about the child’s interests, qualities,  presenting behaviours and needs.

Some pupils will continue to attend their mainstream school for part of the week and The Family School for the remainder of the week; others will attend The Family School full-time, depending on the circumstances.

A start date and phased transition into PFS will usually be agreed during this meeting.

Transitioning on

Transitions can be scary and uncertain. Whilst we are a short-term provision and many children will come with a destination school, some will not, or their identified needs may change, requiring a new provision.

The SENCO and team for your child will work with you closer to the time your child is getting ready to move on to identify the right provision to help your child to be successful and support you with the process. This could be the mainstream school the child attended previously and has been dual registered at. It could be a fresh start at a new mainstream provision. It could be a long term Special School that can continue some of the additional support in place at The Pears Family School.

This will be done in collaboration with you and, once identified, the SENCO will work closely with you and the new school to ensure they have a good understanding of your child and their needs and how to best communicate with you. More often than not this is done through a gradual integration with visits from staff at the new school to see your child at The Peas Family School and with visits from The Pears Family School staff to the new school to accompany the child and share the practice that has supported them to thrive.