Enrolments
Cheshire School welcomes enrolment enquiries at any time of the year!
Our Eligibility Criteria
To be considered for enrolment at Cheshire School, students need to meet all the following criteria:
- Be of age eligible for primary school.
- Be experiencing significant social, emotional and/or behavioural difficulties which place them at risk of disengagement within the mainstream educational setting.
- Have speech and language skills within the normal range.
- Have a full scale IQ of 80 or more.
- Unlikely to cause significant or persistent harm to themselves and others.
- Exhibit positive indicators of the ability to sustain changes made and to reintegrate into mainstream school following placement at Cheshire School.
- Parents, guardians and/or carers are willing to support school policies and procedures and will be positively and actively responsive to working with staff to support behavioural change.
Enrolment Procedures
1. Initial Contact and Referral
Students can be referred by their parents, guardians and or/carers, or by educational and health professionals.
2. Eligibility Assessment
Upon initial contact, an eligibility assessment is undertaken by the Enrolments Officer. All eligibility criteria as outlined within the School’s Enrolment Policy and Procedure must be met.
3. Initial Meeting and School Tour
Parents, guardians and/or carers and any others involved in the wellbeing of the student are invited to attend an initial meeting and tour of the school. All current assessments by paediatrician and/or allied health are required to be brought to this meeting.
4. Observation Visits
Following the meeting, a visit may be arranged to the student’s current school by members of Cheshire’s Intake Team. Members of the Intake Team include
- Head of School
- Classroom Teacher
- School’s Psychologist
- Child and Family Support Coordinator
5. Submission of Application for Enrolment Form and Supporting Documentation
Parents, guardians and/or carers are required to complete the Application for Enrolment form and submit to the School along with all supporting documentation as outlined in the Enrolment Policy and Procedure.
This must be completed in full before commencement of the Trial.
6. Trial
Students who are invited to trial will usually visit Cheshire School between 4-6 times.
The initial trial session is for an hour with subsequent visits progressing to a full day over the trial period.
The purpose of the trial is to:
- Engage the student in the program so that they want to continue attending;
- Determine the likelihood of significant behaviour change and capacity for future re-integration into mainstream schooling;
- Allow the team to observe how the student fits with the current cohort of students; and
- Allow our team to observe how the student copes with the behavioural support practices implemented by the School.
7. Enrolment Decision
Following the trial sessions, a decision is made by the Intake Team as to whether or not the enrolment process has been successful.
8. Communicating the Outcome
If the student is considered eligible for enrolment, the Head of School will advise the parents, guardians and/or carers whether the placement is available immediately or the following term. Parents, guardians and/or carers are invited to an offer of enrolment meeting with the Head of School to go through and sign the Enrolment Agreement.
If the student is considered ineligible, the Head of School will advise the parents, guardians and/or carers and communicate the grounds for the decision.
9. Commencing the Program
Students generally begin their placement at Cheshire School at the beginning of the next school term, or once a place is available. If no place is available, the student is put on a waiting list and a deposit is required to hold the position. This deposit is non-refundable should parents, guardians and/or carers decide not to proceed with the enrolment. However, should the enrolment proceed, the deposit is applied as a credit to the first fee statement.
