Referrals to Horizons Academy Bexley can made for one of the following placements for pupils who are not being successful in a mainstream school:

• Short-term 12 week placements in our Primary provision (capacity 20 pupils)
• Short-term 8 - 16 week placements in our KS3 provision (capacity 30 pupils)
• Short-term 12 week placements in our Medical needs provision (capacity 7 pupils in KS3 and 10 pupils in KS4)
• Long-term placements in our KS4 provision (capacity 20 pupils in Year 10 and 30 pupils in Year 11)

Before a place is agreed, referring schools must ensure that there has been a graduated approach to supporting the child and that every avenue has been explored to help the child to be successful. It is equally important that both parent/carers and the schools themselves have explored means of support that could help them to help the child to be successful.

Forms of a graduated approach may include (this is not an exhaustive list):

• An assessment of the child through in-class observations and action plans developed to support the child and the school further
• Access to interventions e.g. Therapy
• A ‘Team Around the Child’ (TAC) meeting, adopting a multi-agency approach
• A referral to the Early Intervention Team (EIT)

To make a referral each school must complete a referral form providing evidence of a graduated approach (as highlighted above), a risk assessment and a Boxall profile (KS3 only) and send these to horizonspanel@bexley.gov.uk by no later than the Thursday before each Horizons referral panel which takes place fortnightly on a Wednesday afternoon. 

The panel is chaired by the Local Authority (LA) and membership includes representatives from:

• The Early Intervention Team (EIT)
• Children’s Social Care (CSC)
• Youth Justice Service (YJS)
• A Headteacher on rotation at each panel

The panel also includes the following members from Horizons Academy Bexley:

• Headteacher 
• Head of Bexley Outreach
• Head of Student Services

At the panel all referrals will be reviewed on an individual basis and lead to one of the following decisions being made:

• Pupil will be offered an ‘in-school’ place at Horizons Academy Bexley
• School, parent/carer and/or pupil will be offered Outreach support
• Pupil referral will be deferred pending additional evidence being provided by the referring school and/or referrals to other agencies e.g. Education Welfare Service, EIT etc

Letters will be sent out by the local authority informing schools of the outcome.

If a pupil has been offered an ‘in-school’ place at Horizons Academy than the parent/carer of the child will be contacted to arrange a ‘Pre-admission’ meeting by the Head of Student Services at Horizons Academy.

If a school, parent/carer and/or pupil has been offered Outreach support than contact will be made by the Head of Bexley Outreach.

For more information, please contact our Head of Student Services at michelle.lawrence@horizons.lseat.org.uk who will be more than happy to help.