Ealing Alternative Provision (EAP) supporting pupils with medical needs policy

EAP supports equality of education for all pupils regardless of their physical and mental state of health. They are entitled to access a broad and balanced curriculum.

Our prime aim is to ensure continuity in the young person’s education by establishing close and effective liaison with the home school and all other parties involved in the pupil’s education and care.

To ensure equity for all young people, EAP has a clear and robust Inclusion Gateway in place to help signpost schools and health professionals to access our provision.

EAP offer a range of provisions that aim to cater for young people with health needs in the Borough of Ealing.

EAP Connect

EAP Connect is a provision for students who are unable to attend school due to their physical medical needs and therefore require home tuition. The pupils are referred to EAP if they are off school with a long term physical medical need, leading to extensive periods away from school. Referrals must be supported by a letter from a consultant or a senior clinical medical officer.

We have a small team of teachers that work with the student's home school to supplement the education provision already being provided by the school.

The Connect team will provide lessons at home for the duration of their illness. We will communicate with the pupil’s main school termly and when needed to discuss how the pupil can best be supported and the relevant topics to cover for that term. We can also communicate with medical professionals in order to best support the pupil with their health and in returning to school. All lessons and communications are done so that the young person is equipped to returning to school confidently and not feeling left behind.

Schools or medical professionals can apply directly to EAP Connect via our EAP Inclusion Gateway - Professionals Portal on our website.

EAP Include

EAP Include is a provision for students who are unable to attend school due to social, emotional and mental health conditions (SEMH). Referrals to EAP Include will be considered by EAP on a case by case basis. Each referral will be discussed at our Inclusion Gateway Panel. The provision that we are able to offer the young person will be dependent on need and external agencies involved.

Please note that initial referrals to our EAP Include provision must be made by a CAMHS practitioner (or equivalent) and not the home school or parents. CAMHS (or equivalent) must complete our ‘EAP Include – Professionals referral form’ in the first instance. This is a short form that will initiate EAP making contact with the home school to request further information via our ‘EAP Inclusion Gateway’ referral form.

Please note that emotionally based school avoidance is not considered an appropriate referral for EAP Include. A referral to EAP Engage may be more appropriate provision.

CAMHS (or equivalent) can apply directly to EAP Include via our EAP Inclusion Gateway - Professionals Portal on our website.

EAP Engage

EAP Engage is our on-site outreach programme that may be an option for young people that do not meet the criteria for EAP Connect and/or EAP Engage. Home schools should contact EAP directly if they wish to discuss a student in more detail.

Home schools can apply directly to EAP Engage via our EAP Inclusion Gateway - Professionals Portal on our website.

Referral procedures

Professionals need to refer to the EAP Inclusion Gateway Professionals Portal for further information and referral forms:

Ealing Alternative Provision School - Secure Area

Please contact us directly via a professional email account to gain the login details you require to access the portal:

Email: admin@eap.ealing.sch.uk
Tel: 0208 991 8570

A decision on whether a young person is eligible for a place of one of our Inclusion Gateway provisions is taken at EAP’s fortnightly Inclusion Gateway Placement Meeting.

Monitoring of attendance

Pupils with health needs are on dual roll; they remain on the roll of their home school but are also registered by EAP. There will be regular interim meetings with the home school and parents as to progress and return to school. For all dual roll placements there will be a Service Level Agreement (SLA) in place.

Management structures and staff responsibilities

Strategic development of the provision for young person with health needs is discussed at EAP’s ‘Inclusion Gateway Panel’ and Senior Leadership Team meetings.

When a referral is made and is successful, EAP will contact the person who made the referral directly to inform them of this and also contact the parents/carers of the referred young person to arrange an initial meeting.

EAP aim to carry out a full assessment of educational and health needs and consider any potential safety issues. If all is satisfactory, we will enrol the young person onto the most suitable programme within our ‘Inclusion Gateway’.

Access to public examinations

EAP encourage pupils with health needs, who are well enough, to enter appropriate public examinations. In conjunction with home schools, EAP ensures that pupils follow the relevant syllabus and complete necessary coursework.

Arrangements for public examinations are a matter of liaison between the following:

• the pupil concerned
• parents/carers
• any external professionals involved
• the home school
• EAP examinations officer

In the case of a pupil’s medical team deciding that he/she is well enough to sit the examination and issues a letter stating their decision, EAP will forward this to the home school staff negotiate with relevant examination boards to apply for special consideration.

If a young person is well enough to take examinations and to travel to his/her home school, this is arranged if possible.

In either of these cases, access arrangements/special consideration may be applied for to the examinations board. The consultant’s letter supports such a request.

Reintegration procedures

It is recognised that returning to school after a period of illness can be emotionally stressful for a young person or young person. The aim is to ensure that the return is as smooth and stress-free as possible by:

• Liaison and effective communication between EAP staff and home school staff (Head of School, Head of Year, SENCO, class teacher, administrative and welfare staff).
• Consulting with the young person and carers about concerns and health issues, such as taking medication in school, the pace of the return to school etc
• Contacting key staff at the home school in order to iron out concerns which school may have, such as facilities at playtime, access to PE, academic and social support, possibly a reduced curriculum etc
• Setting up flexible reintegration arrangements so that the young person feels confident and secure about returning to school.