Admission & Referral

Harmood School is Camden’s Special School for secondary-aged students with an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP) whose primary need is their social, emotional and / or mental health needs (SEMH).

We offer a high quality provision for up to 40 students who are otherwise unable to access mainstream provision. Our integrated multi-agency approach, combined with a broad and flexible curriculum, ensures that every child can succeed.

Admissions information for parents and carers

1. Admission to the school is by referral. The referral must be made by the SEN Team in your local authority.

2. As we are a Special School, all our students must have an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP). If your child has an EHCP, you can request that your local authority SEN case worker makes a referral to Harmood School. This referral process is called a consultation.

3. When a local authority case worker sends us a consultation, our school will respond within 15 working days (from the date it was received) to say whether we think we can meet your child’s educational needs.

3. Overall, the process usually takes from 3 – 5 weeks, provided there are no complications. Sometimes our Referral Panel might request more information about a young person before we make a decision and this can slow the process down.

Students with Educational Health Care Plans (EHCPs)

All students must be referred through the Statutory SEN process. Schools should call an early Annual Review of the student’s EHCP and request a placement change.

Students are then presented to the Referral Panel by Camden Local Authority SEN Assessment and Case Coordinator, to be discussed as a consultation.

Please note that our Admissions Policy includes a list of useful paperwork that can help the process.

Students WITHOUT Educational Health Care Plans (EHCPs)

Where appropriate, children from Camden schools whose EHCP for SEMH has not yet been approved may be allowed to attend Harmood, if they have been offered a place on the Heath School roll whilst the EHCP is pending.

This decision is made by the Harmood / Heath Referral Panel, which is chaired by the H3 Head of Inclusion. The panel’s decision is final. If the EHCP is granted, the child will move onto our Harmood school roll.