Any moved schools for teen for friendship issues?

[stclair]

And was it better or no change? Dd13 is autistic and finds making/ keeping friends difficult but I fear the same would happen again if we moved her. She wants to move.

We did at end of year 8. Not just for friendship issues, though that was part of it (the teaching was rubbish too). Moved from v large London comprehensive to all
girls private. Great move.

Depends if you're moving her to a more supportive environment with access to more interventions etc. There are some schools that have brilliant SEN support for girls like your daughter, with SALTs running group therapies teaching the kids how to read social queues and how to keep friends. This is often schools with a high SEN population or smaller private girls schools.
If you're just moving her to another of the same, she'll end up even more miserable as she'll feel like a complete failure. At the moment she can probably blame the school in part. If she goes to another one where it doesn't work out, a lot more of the blame will be aimed at herself I suspect.

Thank you both. @Dodgeitornot this makes sense. She is currently at an academic all girls private school and I don’t know where to go from here. She’s in year 9. We are in London, are there any schools you know of that would fit the criteria you mentioned? She was only diagnosed 6 months ago after a disastrous start to secondary.

Very academic private schools are probably less likely to have effective systems in place and extensive knowledge of SEN issues, because they’re focused very much on the academic aspect. The two aren’t mutually exclusive, but I’m not sure that’s recognised by some schools.

It sounds as though she needs somewhere with excellent pastoral care and interventions suitable for young people with autism, in recognising social cues and positive interactions with peers. Would that meet her academic needs though.

I think you’ll need to spend time researching the options in your area and visiting if possible.

@stclair It would be helpful to know your rough location/possible areas she can commute to with ease.

@Dodgeitornot we are northwest London but just inside zone 2 so quite central.
@Bluevelvetsofa thats exactly it. School is trying but I think they are learning on her!

Probably too far away but St Margaret’s in Bushey or Sherrardswood near WGC are meant to be great with SEN.

Dear @stclair : did you find the school you are looking for? My DD is also really struggling with friendships and we are looking for nurturing school with good SEN support. We are based in north london ( Golders Green) but we are open to move for the right school,

@Kmohazzz hi, I will PM you