• Spring Common Academy is a well-established community special school in the Huntingdon area, providing education for up to 210 pupils aged 3 to 19 with special educational needs.

• Arrangements for admission are managed by Cambridgeshire Local Authority procedures for admission to special school with the agreement of the Head Teacher for the Academy. There will be no prioritisation for pupils enrolled in particular schools and the system of admissions will follow a fair process.

• The Academy will only accept pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) within categories of Severe Learning disability (SLD) and Profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) areas of cognition who will require access to a pre – formal, informal or semi – formal learning pathway. We welcome admissions for pupils who are SLD/ PMLD with other identified needs: PD (Physical disabilities), Autism (ASD) HI and VI who also require these learning pathway educational approaches.

• The EHCP must demonstrate a significant delay in attainment and as a consequence, require significant modification and adaptation to the curriculum and personalised learning approaches that cannot be achieved in a mainstream school or education enhanced resource base.

• In any event the school becomes oversubscribed we will prioritise pupils from the local area and children in care.

There may be the following constraints on admissions:

1. There is not a place available in an appropriate class group to gain

placement and gain compatibility of learners for the pupil entering the school or for other learners.

2. Appropriate resources have not been made available to the school to deliver provision and services required for the pupil.
3. The pupil requires a residential placement.
4. The pupil does not have significant learning difficulties (SLD/ PMLD) and does not require a pre – formal, informal or semi – formal learning education pathway.

Our established post-16 provision offers specialist education for learners requiring tailored support. We provide pathways for young people working towards accreditation below Level 1, as well as those following complex needs or pre-formal learning programmes. Admissions to the post 16 provision are managed in the same manner as for the rest of the school.

Admission requests and EHCP and related papers should be sent to:

Statutory assessment team:

Telephone:   01480 372600       
Email:           sat@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

Cambridgeshire Admissions information link: Cambridgeshire County Council
 

We respond to local authority requests for placements within 15 days. The local authority Statutory Assessment & Resources Team (SAT) caseworker has role to communicate with the family of the young person to outline responses of the school and next steps and explain if the admission is unsuccessful.

We would expect to meet your child before any offer of admission to the school is made and the school is named on the EHCP.

Tours of the academy for available spaces will need to be pre-booked in advance via the school office. Opportunities to view the academy are invited when the SAT team submit a request for placement to our school if there are vacancies.

To make the process as fair as possible, places will be allocated in consultation and agreement with the Head Teacher following the Cambridgeshire Local Authority provision and placement panel.

If the school can meet need but the EHCP requires amendment this will need to be agreed, funded and formalised with the appropriate LA officer before the placement is confirmed. The school will outline this request in their formal response.

Once the academy is named on the EHCP and parents/carers have accepted a place, the academy will contact the family with information to plan the transition.