Our ARC is called The Rainbows

Our Provision

Our ARC provision has nine spaces commissioned directly by the Local Authority for complex autistic pupils. All our pupils have a primary diagnosis of autism made by an officially recognised team of specialists who ‘have the skills and competencies to carry out an autism diagnostic assessment.’ (NICE Guidelines).

Our pupils have co-occurring needs such as significant learning delays, communication delays and sensory processing differences that impact daily on their ability to access the learning environment and curriculum.

All our pupils have an Education, Health and Care Plan with autism indicated as their primary need. They will also have other areas of need identified.

The provision detailed in their EHCPs will identify the pupils need for:

• Very high levels of additional adult support throughout the whole school day including transitions, lunch and play times.
• A small, carefully constructed environment to manage the social, communication, sensory and learning needs of complex autistic pupils.

A personalised multi-tiered curriculum approach designed to meet the needs of autistic pupils who are all working consistently and over time below or extremely near to the start of the national curriculum.

How is Mill Lodge ARC different from an ARP?

The pupils that attend our ARC have all their learning and social time delivered within the ARC provision. Our ARC pupils need the stability of spending their whole school day in the unit to access the opportunities and curriculum they require to remain engaged and regulated. This is different to how pupils experience their day within an ARP provision. ARPs are within mainstream settings and allow pupils to access both specialised support and the wider school community. The children typically spend part of their time in the ARP and part in mainstream classes.

I am interested in my child attending Rainbows ARC – can I apply to you directly?

You cannot apply directly to Mill Lodge ARC or office to be allocated a place at the ARC. There is an official process that must be followed. However, if you think your child is appropriate to be considered for a space – they must have:

• A diagnosis of autism
• An EHCP which identifies the need for this type of provision.
• Specialist provision agreed on the EHCP.
• Be working over-time consistently and significantly below national curriculum expectations; therefore, require a personalised multi-tiered curriculum approach.

Please note: We expect that our pupils who attend Mill Lodge ARC will transition to secondary specialist settings due to their complex needs.

How would my child be allocated a place at the ARC?

The Local Authority’s EHC Panel is the only agency that can allocate an ARC place. The Panel will decide whether a place in an ARC is the most appropriate way of meeting a pupil’s needs. Below is an example of how this may happen:

1. The child's current school states that they cannot meet the child's need during an EHCP review.
2. As part of the EHCP review, the child's current school provides evidence, along with advice from external professionals, as to what provision the child needs.
3. The Local Authority holds a panel for professionals to review the evidence and either agree or disagree that the child needs a provision that is more than mainstream. Specialist provision must be agreed. If the panel agrees:
4. The Local Authority will consult with our ARC.
5. The ARC will review the child's EHCP and state whether they can meet the needs of the child as outlined in section F of their EHCP and if they have any spaces available.
6. The ARC will respond to the local authority and if the ARC can meet the child's need the team will contact parents to begin a transition to the ARC.

Please note:

Our pupils thrive on predictability and routine. Due to this and the frequency of requests by interested families we do not offer visits to the ARC as it can be to the detriment of our pupils. Please look at our virtual tour and curriculum pages to help you get a better idea of our provision.

However, if the local authority has agreed that an ARC is the correct provision for your child, we would be happy to accommodate a visit.

For further information on provision please visit the local authority website, solihull.gov.uk by following the link below:

Solihull's Additionally Resourced Provision Website