Five key steps
Step 1: Considering a move
Either you or your child’s special school can suggest a step into mainstream when it is felt your child is ready for a wider educational experience. This plan can be raised at your child’s Annual Review as something that could happen in the future, or you or your child’s school can suggest a transition by raising this outside the Annual Review.
Through these discussions, your child’s special school SENDCo will refer to any relevant assessment information, for example, supported by the Valuing SEND tool, to help you make an informed decision about a move to mainstream. Your child's views will also be very important.
In addition, your child’s SEND caseworker, or a caseworker from the Pupil Reintegration Team, will offer you more advice about how your child's needs could be best met in a mainstream school.
Step 2: Identifying a mainstream school
Once you and your child have decided on a step into mainstream, your child’s special school SENDCo or headteacher will contact the Pupil Reintegration Team at Lincolnshire County Council. They will invite a Pupil Reintegration Team Officer to come out to the school to meet with you and discuss what type of mainstream school you are looking for the support that will need to be in place and any other relevant information to support the transition.
No consult paperwork will be sent at this point. The Pupil Reintegration Team will contact the mainstream school that you have in mind to confirm availability and the next steps for your child’s enrolment. They will also be able to support with identifying any other mainstream schools that you may not be aware of or thought about. The Pupil Reintegration Team will confirm with you once a mainstream school place has been agreed, at first just for a trial period.
Step 3: Planning a smooth transition
To ensure the move to mainstream school is as positive as possible, the Pupil Reintegration Team will organise a transitions meeting. This can be held at either the mainstream school or the special school, whichever you prefer.
The purpose of the transition meeting will be to set out some agreements so that everyone knows what everyone else is doing to ensure the move is a success. Everything, from the new uniform and how to get to the school, to what support will be provided so that your child feels safe and supported at their mainstream school, will be planned out.
You may also wish to do your own research, such as visiting the school or speaking to other families with children who attend the school to better understand their experience.
Step 4: Progress reviews and dual registration
Once your child has started their move to mainstream, the Pupil Reintegration Team will regularly check in on how things are going and will arrange a review of the transition plan every six weeks.
At any point, you have the option for your child to return to their special school. Equally, you may want to try another mainstream school and the Pupil Reintegration Team will support this as well.
For the first six months, your child will be dual registered at both the special and mainstream schools, which means that your child's place at the special school will remain, and they can return if necessary. After the six months, only when you are fully confident that your child’s needs are being met in mainstream, your child will be removed from the special school’s register.
Step 5: A successful transition
At the end of the transition period, the special school will hold a review of the current situation to ensure all parties, and importantly you and your child, are happy with the arrangement. This review will be supported by your child’s SEND Caseworker along with the Pupil Reintegration Team, to confirm the ongoing support provision needed to meet your child’s needs in their new mainstream school, or agree a return to special school, if necessary.
