Has anyone chosen private/alternative school for dyspraxic child, how has it helped?

My DS2 moved to a private school in Y3 (for reasons other than his problems). They had an SEN dept but it was extra, and really geared up for dyslexia, which he doesn't have.

The plus side was that all the kids sat in rows facing the teacher, which really helped him. At his state primary they all had different tables and moved around a lot, which he found horribly distracting. There was a higher expectation from the teachers, so his handwriting and everything improved.

The downside was that as he reached the top of the school the differences between him and the other boys really became apparent. Science was delivered lecture style. He was supposed to "make notes" but just couldn't manage. He was the only boy in the class not invited to his best friend's party- in a small class you can invite everyone.. He had problems with sport because the others "weren't playing properly".

All our problems started with the retirement of the Head and the appointment of a much younger man with children at the school, so perhaps things would have carried on OK otherwise?

I think it comes down to the individual school rather than particularly private.

My ds is 10 and has dyspraxia ,dyslexia ,dysgraphia any othre dys you can think of except dyslexia!!He was at a relatively small very caring independent until this summer and i have them to thank for him being so happy and to a large extent unaware that some of his problems are in fact a "problem"!The ethos sounds very like mbs and we were very happy,however by this time last year it was becomming obvious that the gap as widening again between him and his peers ,apparently this often happens in year 4 and 5 as they are expected to start to build on the basic skills and there is less time to focus on these and together with the school we started to think about other options.

He moved this Septmeber to a fantasic prep school which is a Specialist school for dyslexics dyspraxics and as the head puts it the occiasional fragile child.The best thing is that he has a much bigger peer group and they are all hugely supportive of each other .Also the big difference is the lack of withdrawal teaching,in mainstream in spite of how good the support was he would have to go out for one to one then when they come back they have missed something or his maths support would be at a differnt time from the rest of the class maths and so he would be baffled by some of their maths however carefully the SENCO and class teacher worked together.At his new school he is in a class of 6 for maths and english on ability based assessment (set 1t for english...he was so proud!),then they put two classess together for the rest of the subjects ,he also gets 1:2 tutorial once a day for an hour which is tailored closely to his needs.In addition they do a lot of games and activities chosen in many cases to help them with specific skills eg karate,swimming ,gardening,walking etc.

we found good information on the good schools guide but also the crested website which lists specialist schools and those with specialist units etc.Also would recommend visiting schools as in my experience the Head has huge amounts of useful information that you can tap into

Ruth Kelly's is Bruern Abbey I think - a boarding school.

Of course, Marina made the point I meant to - which is that non-selective private is where I'd look first.

Browns School

Browns, no. I think Ruth Kelly's is a mega expensive one in Bucks or Wilts, it's west of London for sure.

Wow that is expensive

Is that the one that Ruth Kelly sent her dc to?

There's a school called Browns in North Kent, and it is supposed to be an excellent place with the prime objective of helping boys with dyslexia, dyspraxia and other related specific learning difficulties back into mainstream education as soon as they are ready.
So people do clearly make this choice Honoria, but as bink says, it really, really depends on the school.
Ours seems to support children with this sort of SLD very well I have to say - class sizes and a good SENCO are responsible for this. It is a small non-academically selective independent school which is not results oriented. It does seem to help children with a wide range of academic ability reach their potential at 11 plus.

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Just to echo the "it depends on the school" consensus. Many private schools either don't have the requisite experience & understanding, or (the more cynical view) just aren't interested in square pegs of any kind - but there are quite a few which are not only accepting and experienced, but positively welcoming. The Good Schools Guide is I think quite reliable on that - there is a special sub-guide on SN provision.

As to "specialist" schools - my ds is at one (a SpLD - "specific learning disability" school) at the moment, and it's done him lots of good - particularly in giving him emotional peers (the social alienation issues we had before completely resolved), and in making physio and OT absolutely top of the agenda (an essential, I now think, for children like him).

But the fees are eye-watering - that has to be taken into account, as if time at a school like that is a sort of therapeutic intervention, from which you move on to a more mainstream school - which we're hoping to do now.

Now why do you say them, in particular?

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Oh yes, definitely do it tomorrow and have a large glass of wine now.

MB. It is a stellar school isn't it? But you don't deserve anything less it should be said. [loyal]

Also I imagine a weight off your mind knowing that they are happy and catered for at school?

You don't teach there do you? No, you teach in a secondary school. [talks to self, takes off specs, polishes them, blinks at the blurry room]

sorry, not on the south coast!

I wish that they could clone it. they have done so well by ds.

In the summer he told me that he was really worried about going up to the prep site (they have lots of different teacher, have to move classrooms etc). But he loves it. The staff relaised tat he would find the transition difficult and put things in place to help him cope.

they have been equally good with helping dd cope with dh's diagnosis (ds doesn't know that dh is terminally ill, just that he has cancer)

Yes, do that. Good plan.

I think though that it can seem as though it is all the boys in the class who are playing football and running around. And then you look more carefully, and there's Jonny, the one in specs who doesn't 'do' football and then there's Whathisname who gets his feet muddled sometimes and always loses his jumper, so you have to make a move on them, even if your ds hates them! Do you know what I mean?

Oh no HG please don't misunderstand me. I didn't mean you should toughen up.

I think you fishing around for a good environment for your ds is really important and proper.
But it isn't easy seeing things like that happen, I know, I've been there!

I'm not sure DS2s school is right for him. It is a private school. And its very organised which works well actually, but it's a bit, oh I don't know, just wrong.

Yes, where are you? I'm coming too.

to give you an idea of the school ethos.

at the preprep sports day, one little girl fell over in a race. the boy running next to her stopped, picked her up, and they held hands and finished the race last together!

To a huge round of applause.

It is that sort of school.

Oh HG that is rough.

It is tough. I think go and have a look around. I'm not sure there's a school in the country where some boy doesn't say 'we don't want him, he's too slow' but your chances might decrease slightly if it is a smaller class and the school has a good provision and ethos towards your son.

Like MB's school.