Lewisham Borough secondary schools.

[Schoolthing25]

What secondary school would you send your child to.if your in the Lewisham area? And what ones would you say to keep away from.

I'm a bit early as ds is going into year 5 in September. But im so worried about it. He has autism and is working at year 1 level although he's just coming to the end if year 4. So I may need to think about SEN schools as well . But would like him in main steam really. He does have an EHCP.

No private or independent schools please 🙏

A little bump hoping for a few replies.

Whereabouts in lewisham are you?

I don't really want to say what part

It's difficult to answer the question then as the schools will admit based on distance in most cases. If you don't want to say where you are exactly, can you name a school you're looking at?

No one can really say. You could have an excellent school now but something could happen in the next 5 years and it would not be the right school for your child. Equally, you could have a school that’s terrible right now, but in 5 years could massively improve.

If your child is working at the level of someone in year 1 (ie the age of a 6 year old) going into year 5, can I ask why you would prefer him to be in mainstream rather than a specialist provision?

I was asking about all of the secondary school in Lewisham really anyone who has experience of a school in the Lewisham area .also my son has an ehcp so he's more likely to try in lt0 a school of my choosing

If you’re not aware of it already, look into Brent Knoll in FH - special school for autism and social and communication difficulties - and whether he’d meet the criteria for entry. There’s also Greenvale, although I believe that’s for pupils with very significant impairments - but worth investigating. You may feel right now that he’d be better off in mainstream, and he may well be, but it’s definitely worth having all the information and options available to you.

Oh yes I'm definitely looking at the Sen schools as well not ruling them out

I'm not ruling the sen schools out I will definitely look . But some main streams may have a good seno. Also I spoke to one of the TA /121 that's worked with him quite alot . And she said as long as the senco is good it would be good if went to main stresm as some sen schools protect them from the world a bit to much. And she thinks it may pull ds backwards socially.

I'm going to looking at both do not ruling either out

The only Lewisham school I have experience of (ie I know boys that have gone there) is Forest Hill Boys.
General vibe is "it's ok".
That's not very helpful I know.
Remember even though you live in Lewisham borough you can apply to schools in any borough.
You need to look at more than a school.
How will your child get there? Walking distance or bus? If bus - would your child be ok with doing that independently? London buses during school run times are busy busy with 100s of teens being loud and it's not the nicest experience.
Is a school run by an academy chain? They have different ways of how they run and do things - some are stricter than others. Some have very strange philosophies. Some are completely useless for SEN.
I think your child sounds like he might be better off at a SEN school. Again you can look out of borough. You can also look at private sen schools because sometimes the LA will fund children going to a private one if it best suits their needs.
Good luck on your search.

Thank you . My dd gos to sedgehill. My oldest son went there to . In the last couple of years they have become very strict and sobe of their ways seem pointless and just put to much pressure on the kids . I had wasted ds to go there but now I'm not so sure . But again their sen department might be good.