Admissions & Transfers
The Campbell Children's School Admissions Committee considers nominations from the treating therapists at Grandview Children's Centre. The Admissions Committee is comprised of Grandview’s Medical Director, the Clinical Coordinator, the Campbell Children's School Principal, and the Speech/Language Pathologist.
In order to be considered for school admission, each child must meet all of the following criteria:
- must be a client on Grandview Children’s Centre caseload;
- must be eligible for at least Junior Kindergarten Program (4 years by December 31);
- must have ability to participate in and benefit from the treatment program provided by therapeutic services (O.T., P.T., and/or SLP);
- must require development of strategies and/or adaptive equipment to be able to function in the district school board classroom setting;
- parents/legal guardians must be in agreement with the Campbell Children’s School Admissions Policy regarding attendance at school, and demonstrate their acceptance of this by signing the Admissions Policy Agreement.
- A child may be admitted for a short period of intensive therapy following surgery. Referral must come from the Grandview Children’s Centre therapist.
Speech Admission Criteria
In order to be considered for school admission, a child with a primary diagnosis of “communication disorder” must meet the following criteria:
- must show potential to improve with intensive treatment;
must have:
- oral motor difficulties (dyspraxia) and/or
- phonological/articulation difficulties;
- persistence of at least three early developmental processes (assimilation, weak syllable deletion, fronting, stopping of early fricatives, consonant deletions);
- idiosyncratic errors.
Children who are not considered appropriate candidates may exhibit:
- receptive/expressive language delays (as primary area of difficulty);
- global developmental delay: where a program of consultation, home program with/without intermittent 1:1 therapy would be more appropriate;
- significant behaviour problems requiring individual educational assistant support
Transfers
Transfers to Home School Board
Information is shared in preparation for the child's eventual transfer to his/her home school board. The CCS Liaison teacher works with the families and the home school boards to make plans.
Admissions Committee meetings are held in Feb./March. Children may be re-referred by the team if their therapy needs warrant an additional year at the school.
A Transition Report is completed by the CCS team of teachers and therapists for all students who will be transferring, and is shared with parents in preparation for the Transition Meetings in April. The Transition Report details the strengths and needs of the student, as well as diagnosis, if applicable.
At the Transiton Meeting, information is reviewed and updates presented by the school team members. Home school board representatives attend and, if placement has been determined, staff from the receiving school may attend. Parents are an important part of this meeting. If therapy is to be transferred to the Central East Community Care Access Centre, they will send a representative to the meeting, who will explain their services and complete the necessary paperwork to initiate service.
At the end of the school year, a School Climate Survey is distributed to all families to solicit information that will help us to continually improve the services of the Campbell Children's School program, including the transition process.
The CCS Liaison Teacher may follow up with the receiving school after the student transfers, and is a resource for parents. There is also a reunion in October, staff focus groups with the receiving school boards, and feedback provided at any time by the parents to the Principal or School-age Therapy Team (if the child is still on Grandview's caseload). This information is valuable in helping us to ensure successful transitions for students transferring to the home school boards.