16-10-2025 Choosing a Primary School for your child with additional needs

Are you trying to choose a primary school for your child with additional needs?

Our Voice Parent Forum hosted two Zoom information sessions for parents and carers, in conjunction with Enfield SENDIASS and the SEN Team on Wednesday 8^th October and Wednesday 15th October.

The sessions looked at how to choose a primary school for children with additional needs, and expressing your preferences for children who have Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). We will talk about what the process is, how you can get information about primary schools and what to look out for when making decisions.

 You can view the presentation here, along with a short Question & Answer summary. 

If your child was born between 1 September 2021 and 31 August 2022, you will need to apply for a primary school place by 15^th January 2026, ready for your child to start reception class in September 2026. This workshop will be particularly useful for parents of children in this age group, but you may also wish to attend if your child is a year or so younger, so you can start thinking about the choice of school early.

Key information and dates: 

·    For children with an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP), the deadline for confirming your preference is 17^th October 25. You will be advised of the name of the school the LA is proposing to name in Section 1 of the EHCP on 15th February 2026. 

·    For children without an ECHP, applications must be submitted by 15^th January 2026. School places will be offered on 16th April 26 (after 7 pm) and you will have until 30th April 26 to accept the place offered. 

·     Schools hold open days/evenings usually during October and November, so you can find out more  – check with individual schools for details

·    You can see more information about the standard process (including options to defer for summer-born children) here and in this booklet.

·    If your child has an EHCP, the SEN Services team will get in touch with you to discuss the process.  

·    For more information about all special schools and other specialist provisions in Enfield see the Local Offer for SEND here. 

Other information and resources

You may also find it useful to look at these resources for preparing to start primary school.

• Enfield Communication Advisory Support Service (ECASS) Rising to Reception programme is aimed at parents and carers of children with communication difficulties. They usually provide a programme of events from about November to March about starting primary school which you can sign up to attend and the information and signing up links will be added to the website. The website also has lots of useful information about starting primary school including a range of presentations from previous years' events.
• Information about starting school on the Contact website here 
• Family Corner – starting school
• SENsational Tutors – Big ideas for little learners transitioning to big school
• NCCA – Suggested transition activities for moving from preschool to primary
• TTS Group – 9 top tips for managing transition from nursery to school