We offer open afternoons twice a month for parents/carers to come and visit the school, one for primary enquiries and one for secondary enquiries. At the initial enquiry stage we do request no children accompany their parents on these open afternoons as we try to keep disruption to our current learners to an absolute minimum. Your child would get the opportunity to visit the school for an assessment day, if appropriate. A parent / carer must book on to an open day and due to high demand for these days we recommend booking as soon as you can. For further information on dates, times and how to book please visit the open afternoons section of our website.

Your child must be between 5-19 years old, have a diagnosis of ASC and have an Education, Health and Care Plan in place in order for us to consider an application. You can also be in the process of applying for an EHCP; we will accept a draft, proposed or initial EHCP.

That Gretton School has space in an appropriate class/peer group. The learner must have a diagnosis of autism; due to the variation in diagnostic terminology, learners may be diagnosed with an autism spectrum condition (ASC), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), or Asperger Syndrome. The learner must have a proposed or final statement of special educational needs or an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). The learner being of average or above cognitive ability (and in addition, academically no more than 2 years below their chronological age expected levels); That all those with parental responsibility are in support of the placement and in agreement with the strategies and ethos of the school. Continued support of those with parental responsibility and partnership with the school is essential for the success and viability of any placement; In the case of a boarding referral, that the learner's needs can be met by the boarding provision; That the learner may be private (including international) fee paying or local authority funded. Referral circumstances of private fee paying learners will be at the Headteacher’s discretion.

Currently, all our learners are funded through the individuals’ Local Authority, please contact your Local Authority if you are considering a placement at Gretton School. If you would like to be considered for a private fee paying placement, please contact the admissions team in the first instance to discuss further. All private fee paying learners will be at the Headteacher's discretion. Private fee paying learners will also need to be considered through our assessment process.

Our boy to girl ratio is approximately 80/20% which is the figure we have to report to the DfE; however, there is a cohort of learners at Gretton with trans or non-binary identity. We offer our female learners a weekly girls’ group where they can get together and all female students have access to female teaching assistants and teachers on a daily basis. Our female learners feel fully supported and, where appropriate, we will keep female learners in the same classes. The number of female learners being placed is quickly increasing, including a continued high increase in enquiries for female learners.

We have a boarding provision at Gretton which provides our learners with a 24 hour curriculum from Monday – Friday, 38 weeks per year. Our boarding provision offers warm and homely houses during the week in term time, and our experienced and well-qualified team care for boarders and make sure that they feel secure and settled. A maximum of two or three young people live together in a house or bungalow within the school grounds. Every young person has their own bedroom, which we encourage and help them to personalise, and shares a bathroom that has a bath and shower. Each home has spacious communal living areas, a dining room and great kitchen facilities. The gardens and grounds are safe and enclosed, and the young people enjoy using the large fields around the school, the trampoline, football field and playground equipment. The young people take part in the day-to-day running of their home to prepare them to live independently. The tasks they might typically be introduced to include: preparing meals, washing up, doing their laundry, shopping and learning how to budget for food. The young people are learning throughout the waking day and we encourage them to organise and participate in a variety of educational and recreational activities that support their individual education plans and reflect their particular skills, talents and interests. These include, football, cultural evenings, visits to social clubs, computer games, swimming, and any other personal activity the student may wish to take part in. All boarding staff pride themselves on providing the pupils with real life experiences, helping them to build positive memories that they can take into their adulthood. Our ethos is: ‘we are here to look after someone else’s loved one, and we will do our utmost to help these children to achieve in life, and support their family network.’

Applications can be made by contacting your Local Authority, and asking them to consult with Gretton School by sending the young person’s final or draft EHCP, in addition to the supporting documentation referred to in Section K of the EHCP. We cannot accept any parent led referrals at this time. Following a letter of consultation and receipt of paperwork from the Local Authority, the Assessment Team will review the documentation and respond to both parties with whether or not we would offer an assessment day to further determine whether or not we can meet your child’s needs. For more information on our admissions process please look at our Admissions Policy for further and more detailed guidance.

No, we work closely with several different Local Authorities. Most of our learners come to school by taxi, distance may be taken into consideration at point of application. If the journey is too far, our boarding provision may be explored. Gretton School note government issued guidance that the travel distance from home to school as a general rule should not exceed 45 minutes for primary and 75 minutes for secondary learners. We appreciate that due to the limited nature of SEN provision that longer journey times may be unavoidable. Also, journey times may be longer for boarding placements, as travel will only be at the start and end of each school week.

We have small class sizes and high staff ratios. Often with one teacher and two TA’s present in the classroom for support.

Yes, we have Occupational Therapists, Speech & Language Therapists, Art Therapy and an Educational Psychologist and a Clinical Psychologist on-site too. If your child has therapies listed in their EHCP’s and we have offered a placement, we will provide it all in house. For further information on our Therapists and what we can offer please visit our Therapy page.

Learners can study towards attainment at GCSE and A-Level, as well as other accredited qualifications. They can also gain nationally recognised vocational qualifications. We plan every learner's learning and development individually. We offer a broad and balanced curriculum at every stage, and adapt this curriculum to reflect the changing needs of individual learners as they progress through the school, and according to their individual talents and interests. We use a wide range of recognised autism spectrum condition approaches to support learning. There is a strong emphasis on a multi-professional approach. To see what subjects we currently offer and what results our learners have recently achieved, please visit the Education & Learning page of our website.

Yes we do have a uniform at Gretton School. Learners are encouraged to wear our plain white polo shirts for primary, or grey polo for secondary (with the Gretton logo on) however the school can be flexible around an individual learner's sensory needs. Learners can therefore wear what they feel comfortable in, as long as it is appropriate for the school setting. We encourage learners to wear appropriate footwear that is comfortable for them. PE Learners are not required to change uniform for PE, and can take part in the clothes that they are wearing. However, we do encourage them to change, as they will be doing physical activity and get sweaty! Forest School Learners go to Forest School in any weather (unless unsafe to do so) so waterproof clothing is advised appropriate for the season (e.g. hats and gloves). Footwear for muddy conditions is advised! Learners can keep their forest school clothes at school if they wish.

Transport is to be organised by parents/carers after the LA and parents/carers accept the offer at Gretton. If you would like support we do have taxi companies we would recommend.

Once Gretton have received a letter of consultation and paperwork from the Local Authority, the Assessment Team will review the documentation. From this we will either decline, if we think we cannot meet needs, or offer a visit day to explore the referral further. The Assessment Team will contact parents/carers initially to offer a date for the Assessment. Closer to the date, they will send out further information such as a schedule for the visit and photos of key staff. For more information on our admissions process please look at our Admissions Policy for further and more detailed guidance.

The Assessment Visit may include, but is not limited to: A tour of the school; A meeting with a member of the senior leadership team; Education activities based around Maths and English; A classroom observation; and, where applicable a boarding assessment;

The Assessment Visit is usually a morning or afternoon, starting at 9am or 1pm respectively. The timings of the activities - as per the schedule - are flexible based on learner need.

Learners visiting Gretton have had different educational experiences leading up to the visit. Therefore, Gretton School are very sensitive to these experiences and aim to make the Visit Day as informal as possible for the learner. Therefore, we refer to this day as a 'visit' in the presence of the learner, rather than an 'assessment', as to avoid causing any undue anxiety. We take the lead from how the learner responds and engages on the day specifically.

Gretton School works with each family to enable their learner to feel comfortable with the expectations of the visit. Hopefully allowing them to - as a minimum - get to the reception area. We will always discuss with the family if they feel the learner is able to access the School on the day, part of these discussions may be as to whether a second visit is appropriate. Gretton School are aware of the varying levels of anxiety this new situation can trigger, and offer flexibility where appropriate in the schedule of the day. For example, some visit days will end after the tour. Gretton School give every opportunity to support these learners to attend a Visit Day, potentially over two dates. However, should the learner be unable to attend or access the building, we would then discuss with families whether this is the right setting for that learner.

We only see one learner per visit and their accompanying adults. As it is only one learner booked per session, unlike the Open Afternoon tours, we can allow a second adult for support. This can be extended family members or educational professionals.

Generally, we will tour the school and meet the senior leadership team together as a group. Then we take the lead from the learner. We always ask if the learner feels comfortable with their parent/carer waiting for them in the reception area to complete the activities, and they are always supported by a member of the Referrals and Assessment team. We reassure the learner that they can always pop back to see parents/carers if and whenever they need. We always make sure the learner is okay with moving on to the next part of the day and go along with what they want. If they ask for support from their parent or carer, we respect that and agree to it.

Enrolments take place all year round, they are based on learner need and availability. All learners start on a transition plan.

A transition plan is your journey to become a full time learner at Gretton School. Learners will start on a reduced timetable and days in school, which will increase on a gradual basis. The dates and times will be provided in a visual calendar once the placement has been confirmed. Some learners transition into school within 4-6 weeks whereas some students require a longer transition period. The aim of the transition process is to gradually introduce learners to the new class (learners, staff, new environment, structure, timetable for example) but also allow time for the learners within the class to adjust to the new learner. It is also an important time to start building relationships with key staff within the school, as well as within their class group. At Gretton School we have learner with a wide range of needs so we have to take this all into consideration. During the transition, staff will work with learners to help them learn about the school and for staff to learn about the learner. While we realise this can be a difficult time for parents/carers managing childcare, the transition allows the learner uptake time for longer journeys and tiredness, while getting used to a different environment and is integral to supporting a successful placement here at Gretton School.

A typical transition plan lasts 8 weeks. This is the time it takes to progress from a part timetable to full time. We appreciate that this can be a difficult period for parents & carers due to childcare, but it is vital to a successful placement.

Generally, all transition plans last 4-6 weeks. However, in some instances they are subject to change, and may need to be adapted to meet the learner's needs, and days/hours of attendance increased or decreased accordingly. We are mindful that some learners have been out of education for a long period of time meaning that the transition period can be longer than 4-6 weeks, in order to help learners re-acclimatise to the educational environment. Whilst we can extend the transition timeline for learners based on need, it is not common practice for us to decrease the transition timeline unless there is a specific health need that requires this. Transitions plans are carefully crafted by our Transition Officer who takes into consideration both your learner and those of our current cohort; therefore, dates are predetermined and cannot be customised. With any change, the Local Authorities generally require a minimum notice of 10 working days to make any changes in taxi times. Please be aware that this may differ from one Local Authority to another.

Once a learner begins their transition into Gretton School they are on-roll. Therefore, they are entitled to receive free school dinners and snacks served daily by our dedicated kitchen team from Connect Catering. Learners are welcome to bring their own packed lunch if they prefer, provided it is nut-free, in accordance with our school's nut-free approach. Please take a look at our menu on our website and see the choice and variety on offer for our learners on a three weekly rotation.

Gretton School is not responsible for the transportation of learners to and from/school. It is the responsibility of the parent/guardian to submit the paperwork to their Local Authority to set up transport for the learner, as part of the placement. It is for parents/carers to communicate with the Local Authority in relation to any transportation that needs to be put into place. To ensure timings are correct, it is the parent/guardian's responsibility to share the learner's transition plan with the Local Authority and ensure this is confirmed in advance of the learners start date. Please note that there are currently delays in the processing of transport applications by Local Authorities. We kindly ask that you address this matter with the utmost urgency to ensure a smooth and timely transition. If parents/guardians choose to provide transport independently, mileage can be claimed from the transport team within the Local Authority.

A transition plan is your journey to become a full time learner at Gretton School. Much the same as with a day learner, learners will start on a reduced timetable and days in school, which will increase on a gradual basis. The dates and times will be provided in a visual calendar once the placement has been confirmed. Some learners transition into school within 4-6 weeks whereas some learners require a longer transition period. With boarding learners, staying at Gretton School overnight begins immediately, and over the course of the transition period the amount of nights spent at Gretton increases weekly. The aim of the transition process is to gradually introduce learners to the new class (learners, staff, new environment, structure, timetable for example) but also allow time for the learners within the class to adjust to the new learner. It is also an important time to start building relationships with key staff within the school and boarding houses, as well as within their class group and boarding peers. At Gretton School we have learners with a wide range of needs so we have to take this all into consideration. During the transition, staff will work with learners to help them learn about the school and for staff to learn about the learner. While we realise this can be a difficult time for parents/carers managing childcare, the transition allows the learner uptake time for longer journeys and tiredness, while getting used to a different environment and is integral to supporting a successful placement here at Gretton School.

At Gretton School, attendance is closely monitored in alignment with each learner's individual transition plan. For example, if a learner is scheduled to attend two mornings per week, and they are present for both, their attendance rate would be recorded as 100%. We track attendance based on the agreed schedule and in line with our attendance policy, ensuring that learners are supported throughout their transition.

Yes. To begin the transition period you will be invited to attend a Pre-placement (Welcome) meeting. Both you and your learner can attend this meeting in which you will have the opportunity to meet the class team as well as the Transitions/Referrals Team. The meeting is very informal and gives us a chance to make sure all essential paperwork is completed and offer you the opportunity to ask any questions you may have about the placement, the provisions or your child's transition to school. If your learner wishes they can bring any questions to the meeting. This meeting must take place before the transition plan begins.

Lunch is from 11:50am - 12:30pm at Manor Farm, and 12:25 - 1:00pm at the Rectory. Our rotating, three-weekly menu can be seen on this page We include lunch as part of the school offer. However, students are welcome to bring their own packed lunch if they want to. Served daily by our dedicated kitchen team from Connect Catering, ​a family owned and run contract caterer, creating fresh bespoke food with fabulous service at your site every day. We are able to cater for dietary requirements, and publish the menu on our website, under the section ‘Education’.

After school, no. We run various lunch clubs and activities. On Fridays learners have a ‘Special Interest’ afternoon.

The school day starts at 9am and ends at 3:15pm. However, learners can arrive from 8:30am for tutorial and registration.

As a general rule, no. Learners are the centre of education here, the teachers move. Unless it is a specialist lesson that requires a specific room eg. science, food tech, PE.

No, we do not have bells. Transition between lessons is led verbally by staff.

There is some movement between sites if the learner is able. Learners will be escorted by staff and this is predominantly for secondary learners going to our primary site. If a learner is unable to move between sites adaptations will be in place.

Yes, we run an in-person and online Parent Forum for current parents and carers of learners at Gretton. It is a wonderful space for parents and carers to connect with staff and each other! Each session includes staff-led discussions on school activities, plus time for your questions. The sessions are led by one of our HLTAs, Donna Richards and run on the first Tuesday of each month during term time, 2pm-3pm. Topics are announced in the weekly newsletter alongside a link to join the meeting.

We do not offer 52-week boarding facilities. Our boarding is available Monday-Friday during term time only.

Our accommodation is situated on our Manor Farm Site within the gated school grounds.

Our accommodation comprises of individual bedrooms for learners within a shared house environment. Support staff are available 24 hours a day, and there are a varieties of activities for learners to engage with in the evenings.

Yes, we have a member of support staff on-site 24/7.

Learners take part in activities such as going out for dinner, to the cinema or climbing - based on their individual interests. They are able to spend social time with other residents and learn independent living skills.

Yes they can do but this will depend on the young person's needs and a risk assessment.

Yes, we group learners who are similar in age.