Transitioning services

Our in-house team develops individually tailored transitions for young people moving in and out Oliver House School, which are always built around the pupil’s needs. We pride ourselves on our thorough transition planning for both residential and day students, however we maintain a high degree of flexibility to ensure we can be responsive with this process when a quick admission is required.

Transition planning at Oliver House School is highly personalised. If a young person is not able to access school straight away when they arrive, we will focus on building relationships in the home first and then transition children into school when they are ready. Likewise, if a young person is keen to be in school straight away, then we will ensure that this happens.

Transitioning into Oliver House School

Pupils transitioning into the service will usually have an assessment with staff from the school (assessments for residential pupils also usually involve staff from the proposed home). Depending on the individual’s circumstances, they can visit Oliver House School, or staff can visit them where they are currently living. This process allows us to be sure that we are able to fully meet the young person’s needs before offering them a place. Our multidisciplinary team also meet to discuss the best way to introduce the young person to the service. We then sit down with parents/carers to prepare a thorough transition plan in consultation with them.

Here at Oliver House School, we understand that parents are often anxious about how their child will settle in, particularly if their previous placements elsewhere have gone wrong. For that reason, we commit to a process of thorough planning for each and every child, with as much involvement from parents/carers as we can from the outset. Oliver House School is committed to honest and open communication with parents/carers, including how we will manage challenging behaviour. This gives parents/carers a chance to ask any questions they have and to put their minds at rest that their child will be well looked-after.

Moving on from Oliver House School

For pupils moving on from Oliver House School, we create a tailored package of support for transition, based around the individual’s onward pathway. Some of our young people will be aiming to attend college to further their education. We are able to support them with this through agreements that we have in place with the local college to take our young people to experience the college environment with our support, before leaving Oliver House School. Other young people will be looking to access post-19 education through specialist college routes and we have previously helped some of our pupils transition to Arden College in Southport.