Don't know which school to press for?

[Schools4Everyone]

This is going to sound ridiculous. But I'm really struggling on what school to push the LA for.

My son is autistic. He needs to be in a specialist provision. We have a special needs school on our doorstep. It is Ofsted Outstanding. I know people who have children there and rave about it. I know adults who went there and rave about it. It's by all meaning a wonderful school.

However, when I visited I just didn't get the same feeling as I did from a school which is 40 minutes away. I LOVED that school and could see my little boy being happy there. That's not to say he won't be happy at the local school.

I need to put a good argument with the LA to offer me this further away school and I can do it but I just don't know if I am being silly when there is a more than adequate school close by. Due to my son's SEN he would get transport for the further away school. But the local one is 2 mins drive or walking distance from my house. I am very torn and it is causing me ridiculous amounts of stress.

The further away school will also have him until he is 19. One school for his whole school life. The other is primary only.

I need to think clearly and logically about this. Would it be unreasonable to push for an out of catchment (same LA different borough) school? Would a 40 min drive away be a factor I should consider as a negative? I can't move closer to the school either due to the cost. Please can I have some reasoned responses. I'm really struggling.

I would go to the local sen school for primary and move to the other for secondary and for me that would have been the dream scenario. He will be able to walk to school! He will have local friends and you will meet local families with similar challenges. He won’t spend 6 hours a week in a taxi with other challenging children and untrained drivers.

SS miles from home means very minimal contact with school and no community with other parents.

My son goes to a special school 40 mins away - slightly different as all the local ones said they couldn’t meet his needs because they had too many kids already, but even if they had said yes I’d still have pushed for the school he is now at. It has been life changing for him.

are there other considerations - class size perhaps? Our local LA run maintained schools Have classes of 15, my sons school have classes of no more than 5 and are done by peer groups and academic ability rather than age, which is huge for him as he isn’t being “held back” academically.

I should add, we have excellent daily comms from school and they foster a parent community too. He takes his iPad on the taxi and has some calm time to regulate himself before and after school with Minecraft etc which means when he gets home he’s ready to talk about his day and hang out with us.

In my LA, if a child met the criteria for Special school, the LA would look at the most suitable choice and fund transport to that school. If parents chose a school further away, transport wouldn’t be provided. You need to check that out if transport costs are a factor.
40 minutes on a minibus is no fun either! If your child is the first pick up, it could be over an hour on the bus, both ways. Would he cope with that? He would likely be picked up at 7.30 and not get home til 4.30. That’s a really long day for a little one

I'd definitely go for the closer one, especially as it is a good school. If it's primarily only then maybe you could move to the other one for secondary and maybe even be in a position to move closer then, or who knows what you might prefer by then.

Research the transport first... an individual door to door taxi would be very different to a multi stop mini bus taking over an hour each way.

But you aren't unreasonable to fight for the school you think is right.

Thank you all. I'll look into the transport. That's the other thing about the local school local community. It is so close and it would be lovely to have some more friends with SEN children. As my son gets older it is harder to maintain friendships with parents whose children are NT as my son doesn't play. Sad but true.

The local school is bigger. They take 20 children in reception (into two classes of 10). The other have one intake of 8 children. However, both schools will create smaller classes to meet the children's needs if they need smaller class provisions with 1:1 support.

There are practical considerations as well as emotional ones. If there are road works, bad weather etc, it might be difficult as far as the transport is concerned. The local school may well provide you with a support network of people who understand your situation. It will be easy to walk or drive to the nearby school and you are on hand if necessary.

If he goes to the local school, what happens when he gets to secondary school age? Is it automatic that he will go to the other school, or is there a different school that will be available to him which will also meet his needs?
I would also look very carefully at the transport situation - our LA, like so many, is financially struggling and the first thing they have announced they are looking at is the cost of transportation to school. I think their phrase was that they are looking to 'rationalise' the cost of school transport. To me, that indicates they are looking to cut that budget massive. If this were the case in your area, what would the effect to you and your son be?

@Bluevelvetsofa that's also been a concern for me. If I can't get to him in an emergency or if there is an accident or bad weather. The school is remote from me and this plays on my mind.

To get the further away school named in the ehcp as nearest suitable school you will need professional evidence that the closer one cannot meet need (assuming both state special schools). The LA may agree to the further away one being named if you agree to provide/ fund transport.
If it is in another LA then you may find the other LA very territorial about 'their' special school and become obstructive.