All admissions are through Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council. It is possible for pupils from other Local Authorities to attend our school, but only with the agreement of both the pupil's Local Authority and that of Tameside MBC.
As a Special School, all our pupils have a Statement of Special Educational Needs or Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). It is this document that specifies that attendance at our school is appropriate.
Transition
Parents should be assured that Transition arrangements will reflect the needs of each individual child. We fully appreciate that some pupils will need much greater preparation for a move of school than would be the case for mainstream pupils. In all cases, it is essential that our school has gained all the information necessary to ensure that we can fully meet the pupil's educational, health, care and pastoral needs.
Cromwell High School firmly believes that we need to listen to parents who know their child so well. Parents are the experts on their child's specific needs. On the other hand, school staff, together, have vast experience of a large number of pupils over time with similar (though clearly not identical) needs and how these pupils have learnt and developed as they have grown over their time in our school. It is only when both of these essential sources of understanding work together, share their expertise and work in partnership, that the best results can be achieved for the child. Cromwell High School is proud of our record of strong partnership with parents and look forward each year to developing the same valuable collaboration with parents of pupils moving to our school.
Most of our pupils (though by no means all) have come from the Primary Special Schools in Tameside: Oakdale and Hawthorns Schools. Cromwell works in very strong partnership with these schools and many transition arrangements are facilitated through the joint work between our schools - including some staff who work across these schools.
We see transition as happening in 4 elements:
- Sensory desensitisation - this happens by arranging low pressure visits well in advance of a pupil moving schools. Pupils become familiar with the new surroundings and this moves into their long term memory. This continues with photos, a social story and other material given from our school for pupils to reflect upon - including through the summer holiday.
- Staff information and expertise handover - this involves understanding all the paperwork associated with the child, but more importantly speaking with parents and Primary School staff about their individual needs and, wherever possible, visiting them to see how they operate within their primary schools.
- The third element of transition before the move is when the pupil is made as aware as possible that they are moving schools "soon" and visit our school and the primary staff gradually withdraw and allow our staff to meet the pupil's needs.
- The final stage of transistion occurs after the pupil has started in our school in the new school year. This involves staying in touch with parents and the primary school to monitor how well the pupil settles into secondary school and addressing any "hiccups" (though in practice not many occur due to our preparation process) in partnership with parents and the pupil's Primary School.