Admissions

Broadly speaking our students’ additional needs will be a combination of Communication and Interaction needs, with Social, Emotional and/or Mental Health needs. It is expected that students would fit into the following categories:

1. Students who experience challenges associated with social communication, whether they have a formal diagnosis of autism or not. They may find the mainstream secondary environment causes high anxiety and is overwhelming.
2. Students who have had challenges attending school. They may have experienced emotionally based school non-attendance and/or may have had their attendance impacted by multiple suspensions.
3. Students who have experienced adverse childhood experiences that may have had an impact on their mental health and well-being. This adds a complexity of need to their profile.
4. Students who would like to and are able to access an academic GCSE, studying for six GCSE qualifications. There is no vocational or alternative offer.

Laurus Grace is an Alternative Provision 11-16 Free School offering specialist provision for students within a smaller nurturing environment. We are following a mainstream model of providing students with a high-quality academic offer where students will study for 6 GCSEs.

Alongside this, they follow a restorative curriculum and have an intervention offer which targets their social and personal development. We do not have any vocational or alternative offers.

Referrals to Laurus Grace will take two routes depending on whether the young person has an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or not.

1. For a child with an EHCP, there may be a consultation to Laurus Grace following Annual Review where all parties believe that a change of placement would be in the child’s best interests. As such, all students with an EHCP will have previously been attending a mainstream or specialist secondary school and cannot transfer at the Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3 transition point. All consultations will be considered by an internal panel.
2. For a child without an EHCP, the referral route is through the Stockport Secondary Panel for Inclusion, for which the Head of School is a member.

Final decisions for agreeing a placement will be decided by the Laurus Grace Admissions Panel where they feel that the student meets our student profile well and that their admission would not be to the detriment of themselves or other students at the school.

Laurus Grace is opening early to support the Local Authority in providing specialist places for students. Our temporary accommodation is within part of Hazel Grove High School until our final building is completed. Students will be taught in classes of around 8 students and there will be 3 classes within the first year of operation.

All current places have been commissioned by Stockport Local Authority.

For Key Stage 4 students it is expected to be a long-term placement and they will complete their secondary education with us. If they have an EHCP Laurus Grace will be named in this document.

For Key Stage 3 students placements will be considered as ‘assessment placements’ to determine the best outcomes for these students. Students at Key Stage 3 with an EHCP will have a home school and Laurus Grace named on their plan. Key Stage 3 students may become long term placements, or they may move to a different school.

We are lucky to have such a highly skilled staff team who have shared values in supporting and educating our students.

Our staff is split broadly into three categories of ‘teaching staff’, ‘pastoral staff’ and ‘SEND staff’, although they will work closely together. Each class will have a non-teaching Tutor who will be the key adult for students and will stay with their class in the same classroom.

Teachers will rotate to classes except where specialist equipment is needed. Our specialist roles include ‘Transition Mentor’, ‘School Counsellor and Wellbeing Lead’, and ‘Intervention and Inclusion Specialist’.

Specialist training has included:

• Unconditional Positive Regard and relational behaviour management
• The use of language and de-escalation approaches
• Solutions-focused training
• Comic strips and social stories
• Autism training by the Neurodevelopmental Team. Laurus Grace is proud to be part of the Greater Manchester Autism in Schools Project.