Athena School

1. An EHC plan

   Places at schools like this usually come through an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. If your child doesn’t have one yet, you can ask the council for an assessment yourself.

2. Visit and ask questions

   See whether the school feels right and whether it can meet your child’s needs. Our list of questions below can help.

3. Ask for the school to be named

   Tell the council that looks after the plan (often Essex council) that this is the school you want, and ask them to consult it.

4. An offer, and the council’s agreement

   As an independent school not approved under Section 41, it doesn’t have to accept a place: the school has to offer one, and the council has to agree to name it in the plan.

• How many children are in each class, and how many adults?
• Which therapies happen in school (speech and language, occupational therapy, physiotherapy), and how often?
• What training do staff have in my child’s needs?
• How do you help children who are anxious, overwhelmed or in distress?
• How will you keep in touch with me day to day?
• How does home-to-school transport work?
• What happens at the big changes: starting, moving up, and leaving at 16 or 19?
• Can my child visit first, or have a settling-in period?

Ticks stay on this device, so you can use them on the day.

Inspected in June 2024. Inspections from September 2024 to November 2025 graded each area but gave no overall grade.

• Quality of educationInsufficient evidence
• Behaviour and attitudesInsufficient evidence
• Personal developmentInsufficient evidence
• Leadership and managementInsufficient evidence
• Sixth formInsufficient evidence
• SafeguardingEffective

Independent school standards: all standards met.