ADMISSIONS
Our admissions process is designed to be sufficiently flexible to take account of changes as they come in, including the status of EHCPs.
ATTACH-Manchester welcomes enquiries from parents/carers of adopted, fostered, kinship and neurodivergent children and young people, as well as schools and local authorities. The young people we work with will have an EHCP and may not currently be attending any setting due to emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA) or because it has not been possible to secure a placement that can meet need. They may have experienced multiple breakdowns in provision and may have withdrawn to their bedrooms; or the family system may be under strain due to behaviour that results from early adverse experiences.
We are able to work with young people who have learning challenges, including as a result of FASD. However, ATTACH-Manchester is not a learning disability provision and is not able to cater for young people whose primary need arises from a diagnosed learning disability.
Initial enquiry
Initial contact can be made via email or phone. At this stage, we gather basic information, including confirmation that the child or young person has an EHCP or is undergoing an EHC needs assessment, their current educational setting, whether they are able to attend and any immediate concerns or priorities. This helps us determine how to proceed to the next stage.
Information gathering
To ensure we have a full understanding, we ask parents or EHCP teams to complete our referral form and provide the following:
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a copy of the current EHCP (including all sections and appendices)
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recent professional reports (e.g. educational psychology, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy)
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attendance and attainment records from the current or most recent school
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any relevant safeguarding or medical information.
This documentation allows us to assess whether our provision can meet the learner’s needs effectively and in line with statutory requirements; and, if so, prepares us for an early meeting with the parents, and the child or young person, if appropriate.
We generally meet the parent and child in their family home, as many of our young people may have difficulty accessing the community. We would then encourage them to visit the setting. Where the plan is for outreach provision, i.e. where the young person is unable to leave the house, we would still encourage the parent(s) to visit our building, to get more of a sense of who we are, how we work and what is available in the longer term.
These visits include:
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an opportunity for us to get critical information from the parent/carers, and, where appropriate, the young people themselves – they are the experts
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discussion of the family’s relationships with other services – we usually work as part of a network
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a guided tour of our facilities
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an opportunity to meet the therapeutic mentors and help determine best fit
We understand that young people with experience of the care system may have been through many moves. By the time they reach us, they may have experienced many more in the education system. They and their parents need reassurance of the team’s commitment.
At ATTACH-Manchester, we work closely with and aim to provide support for the whole family.
Offering a place
Following the consultation period, if all parties agree, we:
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confirm the placement in writing
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agree a start date
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where appropriate, identify a particular package of support, plus any individual adjustments to the package
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develop a personalised transition plan for the first few weeks
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set dates for network and parent meetings.
Continuing review
Within six weeks of starting, we hold a review meeting with the young person, parents/carers and local authority representatives. This meeting evaluates how well the placement is meeting the EHCP outcomes and identifies any adjustments needed to maximise success.
We recognise that the child or young person’s experiences at ATTACH-Manchester, in the family and in the community interact continuously, and one may affect their presentation in any of the other settings. We always offer regular parent meetings to discuss this and to provide early support or adaptation. Where other agencies are involved, we attend network and other meetings, as well as supporting the family in these processes, including with documentation.
We can attend annual reviews chaired by the EHCP caseworker or coordinator, or chair them ourselves.
Reviews with the parent and network are supplemented by our staff supervision system.