At Willowbank School we recognise that transitions throughout school can present greater challenges for pupils with complex additional support needs. We also recognise that transition into school and particularly transition from school into adult services are difficult, emotional and often worrying times for parents and carers of a child with a disability.
Enrolment
When it is identified that a young person would benefit from a specialist provision, a full assessment is carried out by members of a multi-disciplinary team at the pre-school stage.
Parents/carers are involved in this and kept informed at all stages. The professional opinions are then collated by the East Ayrshire Psychological Service and the recommendations are discussed with the parents at a Pre-School Assessment Team (PRESCAT) meeting.
The parents/carers then visit the suggested schools and obtain all the relevant information and make an informed choice. If the child is transferring from an Early Childhood Centre, the Head Teacher would usually visit the child at the centre to confirm that Willowbank would be the most appropriate placing.
There is also the opportunity for the children to visit as part of a transition programme to prepare them for school in August. All information is passed to the Head of Education for their decision and steps are taken to admit the child and an Induction Programme is put in place.
Parents seeking to place a pupil outwith August enrolment should contact the Psychological Service.
When you enrol your child, their original birth certificate will be needed. A copy of this will be taken and the original will be returned to you. We do this to comply with the terms of the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 and to help determine who has parental rights for a child.
For children born after May 2006, if both parents are named on the birth certificate, then both have parental rights and we will record both names on our system.
Parental rights are different for children born before May 2006. In this case the father will only have parental rights if he is named on the birth certificate and if he was married to the mother at the time of the child’s birth.
A child’s name cannot be changed and a parent cannot be removed from the system without written consent from all parties with parental rights for the child.
