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●                     Advisor for Visual Impairment

●                     Visual Impairment Mobility Trainers

●                     Educational Psychologists

●                     Psychologists and members of Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)

●                     Paediatricians

●                     Consultants Paediatricians

●                     Medical specialists in Epilepsy

●                     Audiologist

●                     Dentist

●                     Dietician

●                     Education Transport staff

●                     Speech and Language Therapists

What training have the staff supporting my child with SEND had or are having?

Foxfield School believes it is essential that all of the staff have the relevant skills and knowledge necessary to meet the various needs of each pupil and to provide current best practice. The School has been assessed as an Investor in People for over 20 years in recognition of its commitment to providing ongoing training for its staff.

Below is simply a summary of some of the training that the whole staff or particular members of staff have undertaken over the last two years:

All staff receive regular and ongoing training on:

●                     Behaviour Management including safe holding and physically supporting pupils when required (Team Teach) *

●                     Safeguarding and Child Protection including recognising the particular needs of children with SEND* and The PREVENT Duty.

●                     Health and Safety*

●                     Fire Safety*

●                     Manual Handling

●                     Epilepsy, Epipen & Asthma Training

●                     Sensory Integration

●                     Reflex Integration

●                     The Thrive Approach and Emotional Literacy

●                     Developing pupils’ communication skills

●                     Developing pupils Literacy Skills

●                     Autism and Attention Autism

●                     Reflective enquiry

●                     Phonics 

●                     Makaton

●                     Preparation for Adulthood

Additional training undertaken by individual members of staff or specific groups of staff;

●                     Advanced MAKATON

●                     BSL

●                     NCFE

●                     Engagement

●                     Gastrostomy feeding

●                     First Aid

●                     MAPP

●                     Intensive Interaction

●                     The Curiosity Approach

●                     Defibrillator Training

●                     Food Hygiene and handling

●                     Pool Lifeguard Training

●                     Rebound Therapy

●                     Mini bus driving

How will my child be included in activities outside the classroom including school trips?

Foxfield School is a highly inclusive provision. All pupils, regardless of their special needs or disabilities are included in activities both inside and outside the classroom.  A pupil’s medical needs would not prevent them from undertaking educational visits, day trips with the school etc. All pupils can also participate in the extra curricular activities offered by the school including after school clubs and residential trips.  The school works in close partnership with colleagues from Health to plan for pupils with complex medical and health care needs so that they can participate in the activities offered to other pupils at Foxfield, including addressing particular staffing issues where necessary.

The same inclusive approach generally applies to those pupils who demonstrate particularly complex and challenging behaviours.  Such pupils, whose behaviour can be very disruptive, violent, self injurious or hazardous to themselves and others, are still included wherever possible in all that Foxfield can offer. Classes that meet the needs of such pupils will still participate in activities outside the classroom and school and the pupils gain a lot from experiencing and working  in different environments.

The only exception to this inclusive approach at Foxfield is where staff genuinely believe that a pupil would be at serious risk if they were to participate in an activity outside school and the risks of participation outweigh the benefits.  Where this is the case every measure will be made to try to minimise the risk, including negotiating with parents, carers and other professionals to see what realistic, practical measures can be put in place to enable that pupil to participate. This will always be on a case by case basis but the school will do whatever it can to enable the pupil to safely participate.

The following genuine examples illustrate the solutions that have been put in place to enable particular pupils to be included in activities outside school, or where the risks were considered too great.

Issue 1: Pupils with profound and multiple learning difficulties join a class but have life threatening conditions and parents are concerned about their health deteriorating suddenly and them being far away from familiar medical services.

Solution 1: The class’s residential trip was simply planned and undertaken at an Outdoor Centre within Wirral to enable the children to be taken to the local, familiar hospital if an emergency arose.

Issue 2: A pupil wants to be included with his class on a residential trip in North Wales but the Health Care Assistant who works with him in school cannot do so overnight or outside the Wirral boundary.

Solution 2: Arrangements were put in place and agreed with the child’s parents that the School Nurse and another medical professional would travel daily to the residential centre in Wales to undertake the boy’s necessary health checks. School staff had some additional training so everyone was confident in meeting the child’s needs safely and adequately throughout the week.

Issue 3: A pupil wants to attend a residential trip. He is Oxygen dependent overnight but not during the normal school day.

Solution 3: Specific school staff going on the trip are trained in setting up and administering the child’s oxygen overnight. The equipment needed is delivered to school and taken to the centre by staff; however, oxygen requires specialist transport so arrangements are made for it to be delivered directly to the residential centre and collected from there at the end of the trip.

Issue 4: A pupil is known to be very reluctant to eat or drink anything outside familiar surroundings. The school and their parents want their child to join their class on their 5 day residential trip. Staff plan and negotiate with the child's parents how to manage the risk of them not eating or drinking while away from home.

Solution 4: An agreement is reached that staff will monitor the child’s intake very carefully while they are on the trip. A risk assessment plan is agreed by which the parents will be informed of their child’s intake each day and a decision will be made for the child to go home early if they are neither eating nor drinking. On the day of leaving the child’s parents ensured the child had plenty to eat and drink before leaving home. The child did not eat or drink anything more that day while at the residential centre and parents were informed. An agreement was reached that parents would come and collect their child if the same happened throughout the second day. School staff did all they could to persuade the child to take in fluids and food and by Tuesday evening the child began to do so.  The child was therefore able to stay and complete the trip with all their peers.

Issue 5: A pupil displays very violent outbursts on occasions at home and in school.  The child is assigned extra staff support in school and their behaviour is well managed. The frequency of incidents has reduced but they still occur at least weekly.  During incidents in school however, due to the size of the child and the degree of aggression they display, staff from other classes have to come to assist in supporting the child and his peers on a regular basis until it is safe for them to leave. 

Solution 5: The class staff become very skilled at understanding the child’s emotions and some of the triggers for their aggressive behaviours. The class team devised a plan and risk assessment on how to carefully enable this child to be included in activities outside of school and on the class’s residential trip. If in any doubt about the child's safety or that of those around them they restrict their normal educational visits to the local community so that the child can still participate but additional staff support from school can come to the scene to provide assistance if necessary. After negotiations with the child's parents an agreement is reluctantly made that it would be unsafe for all concerned for the child to attend the residential trip as their anxiety would be heightened in unfamiliar surroundings, which is likely to lead to outbursts of violent behaviour and there would be no other staff on call who could come to offer assistance during any incidents.  The child therefore remained in school for the week with favourite staff working with them and a programme of alternative, enjoyable activities was provided for them.

How accessible is the school environment?

Foxfield School moved into a new specialist school building in 2015. This should be fully accessible to anyone who has mobility problems, is a wheelchair user, has auditory or visual problems or has other disabilities. There are adequate disabled toilets and changing facilities throughout the building.

The school successfully meets the needs of pupils with complex or profound and multiple learning difficulties whose first language is not English. Where needed advice and training for staff is provided by a translator or from another specialist service.  Parents can be provided with school reports and other key documents in a translated format and a translator can be used to support them in meetings with school staff.

How will you prepare and support my child to join your school, transfer to a new setting or to the next stage of education and life?

The school has a variety of systems in place to support pupils during the important times of transition into, throughout and from Foxfield School. These include; 

●     A highly detailed transition process to prepare new pupils and their parents and carers for the transfer to Foxfield. The Headteacher invites parents in to meet with a member of the management team to discuss their child and explain how Foxfield would meet their needs, along with giving the parents or carers a tour of the school.

●     Staff from Foxfield visit feeder schools to spend time with prospective pupils and staff who know the children well.

●     Our Family Liaison Team meets with parents and staff from feeder primary schools to provide continuous support during the summer break and beyond.

●     Pupils come from the feeder schools on a series of half day or full day visits to Foxfield, supported by staff from their primary schools. They get to tour the school, meet staff and other pupils, learn where their classroom will be etc. transition activities are carried out to suit individual pupil needs. Some pupils are identified as benefiting from an enhanced transition. This involves an increase of Foxfield staff visits to the primary school and an increase of visits for the pupil to Foxfield on a more regular basis. 

●     All new parents are invited to attend a meeting towards the end of the summer term at which the curriculum is shared and parents get a chance to liaise with Pathway Leads and their child’s new teacher and/or Teaching Assistant.

●     Pupils may weave into other classes and/or pathways to suit their needs and spikey profiles. 

●     Opportunities for socialising and peer learning may take place prior to transitioning to their new class group. This is to establish relationships with peers and potential new staff.

●     Pupils will visit potential further education settings and colleges with familiar staff to prepare them for life after Foxfield. Staff from these settings may also visit Foxfield and liaise with staff that have extensive knowledge regarding pupils.

●     Beyond the initial transition into Foxfield, a central part of the school’s curriculum from 11-19 is independent living skills and preparation for adulthood. This develops each pupil's skills and understanding as far as possible for them to be more aware and self-reliant in adult life beyond school and less dependent upon others.

●     The school’s Management Team works very closely with pupils, their parents or carers and other partner services to explain, consider and plan a transition to an appropriate post school destination. Many pupils progress onto different types of further education or training and the transition to this is planned to best meet the needs of each individual. For some pupils this may include accessing continued support from health or Social Care Services.

How are our resources allocated and matched to my child’s needs?

Foxfield School is a Local Authority maintained special school. As such the LA control admissions to the school and delegate resources according to its local funding formula for High Needs Provision. The school receives a delegated budget that combines an element for the number of places available at the school along with an element of top up funding based on the actual places provided at that time for pupils with different degrees of need, for example places for pupils with Profound difficulties are funded at a slightly higher top up level than places for pupils with severe learning difficulties. In addition, some pupils may be in receipt of Exceptional Needs Funding which the LA is responsible for approving, following application.

The School’s Governing Body then has to manage the delegated budget annually in a way that best meets the needs of all of the pupils in the school. Fairness, equality of opportunity and appropriateness of resources are key issues that Governors have to consider in setting their annual budget, the large majority of which is spent on staffing.

At Foxfield the central consideration is to ensure that each child is in a safe and suitable class that is appropriately staffed and has the educational equipment and resources required to meet each pupil’s needs.  Foxfield differentiates its class sizes and the staff ratio within these to ensure that they are appropriate for meeting the needs of all of the pupils. There is not a standard class size or staff:pupil ratio across the school and this ensures that the staffing resources are allocated to best match the needs of each pupil at the school. The Governing Body annually considers the range of class sizes and their staffing, along with ongoing consideration and planning of the overall staffing and other resources required and used by the school.

Where Foxfield receives additional targeted funding for specific purposes, including additional funding for a pupil to receive 1:1 Teaching Assistant support, Pupil Premium funding for pupils in receipt of free school meals or for Looked After pupils, this funding is used to provide additional support for the intended beneficiaries.

How is the decision made about what type and how much support my child will receive?

Wirral Local Authority decides, in consultation with parents, carers and school staff, which pupils it places at Foxfield School. It also assesses the needs of the pupils and specifies these in the child’s Education Health and Care Plan. The Local Authority would then place a child at Foxfield in the belief that the school had the resources required to meet their needs.

Once at Foxfield the school staff takes responsibility for planning the class groups, the staff ratio and the physical and educational resources required by the pupils.  They also plan to meet the needs of each pupil within the resources that are available and in response to the requirement of the child’s Education, Health and Care Plan.

Staff actively and regularly consult parents and carers along with a range of other professionals who know the pupils to try to put the best plans and provision in place to support each child.  Parental views and input is encouraged throughout a pupil’s time at Foxfield and staff specifically ask parents and carers for their views on the plans and provision made by the school as a part of the annual review process.

Who can I contact for further information?

The best first point of contact with the school would always be the Headteacher. She can provide you with information about the school and discuss if and how

Foxfield could meet your child’s needs. The Headteacher can provide lots of information about the school in written form or she can direct people to parts of the school’s website. She also encourages potential parents or carers to visit the school to see its provision and to learn more about the work of the school, its pupils and staff.

Once a child has joined the school parents and carers are still welcome to contact the Headteacher or other schools leaders at any time.  They are also encouraged to have an ongoing dialogue with their child’s main teacher through the Class Dojo communication platform. This enables parents and staff to share views, ideas and questions about the provision planned and made for a pupil and to how successful it is in meeting their child’s needs.

The health professionals based at Foxfield can all be contacted directly through the school or contact details can be passed on for parents and carers to get in touch with one of the other professionals or services that work with the school.

The Local Authority’s Children and Young People’s department should be contacted regarding any specific issues concerning the process of assessment and identification of Special Educational Needs, the production of an Education Health and Care Plan, or about questions regarding the funding of provision at the school.

Can staff get extra help from experts outside if they need to? (e.g. advice and training on medical conditions)

As described previously, Foxfield School contains a multi professional team who work closely and in conjunction with a wide variety of other professionals and services to ensure that the best possible planning and provision is in place to meet each pupil’s needs. School staff actively seek additional advice, support or training from these external experts and professional partners and use the information gained to improve the provision on offer. School staff also believe however that often the greatest experts on a child are their parents and carers and so seek and equally value the extra help and information that they can provide.

 To be reviewed July 2026