Admissions and Assessment
When considering whether Meath School could potentially meet your child’s needs, we welcome and encourage parents and guardians to contact us to book a tour around our school.
This will give you the opportunity to discuss your child’s individual needs as well as see teaching and learning in action, with examples of the whole school approaches.
To consider children for admission, we evaluate whether developmental speech and/or language disorder is the primary barrier to learning.
Children whose needs can be best supported at Meath School usually present with:
- speech and/or language skills which show marked deficits in comparison with abilities in other areas
- non-verbal abilities that fall within the average range or just below, to include pupils with mild-moderate learning difficulties
- clear social motivation and intent to learn as part of a group
We can also support children with high functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder (also known as Asperger’s Syndrome) who present with associated language and communication difficulties and would benefit from our group learning environment. Unfortunately we are unable to provide the right support for children whose primary barrier to learning is Autism Spectrum Disorder or Social Communication Disorder.
Before being offered a place at Meath School, we consider whether we can meet the full range of the child’s needs. The first step is to submit all previous paperwork for review by the assessment and admissions team. Following an in depth review of this paperwork, if it is felt that Meath School may be an appropriate school provision to meet a child's needs, parents and guardians are invited for a tour of the school. The child is then invited to attend an assessment if you agree that Meath School may meet your child's needs. All children requesting placement at the school will undergo a thorough two day assessment at Speech and Language UK Assessment Centre. This provides a detailed understanding of the child’s needs and the kind of provision that is right for them.
Please note there is a fee attached to the assessment and this can be carried out at the request of the Local Authority or parents/guardians. We have a Supporting Families Fund in place to support with the assessment costs where families meet our household income criteria.
Admission Assessment Enquiries
Please complete this form if you would like your child to be considered for placement at Meath School. Please include your child's first name, age and relevant information and/or diagnoses. The assessment team will be in touch with next steps (this may take up to 7 days due to the high number of referrals we receive). Alternatively, if you would like to attach previous documents you can email the assessment team directly at assessment@speechandlanguage.org.uk