Worried about ds going to secondary

[Imagoodperson999]

Ds will be going into year 6 in September. Im really worried about him starting secondary school. He has autism is on an ehcp. He's had his ehcp updated recently. He's working at year 1 level.

He's very sensitive and can get withdrawn emotionally/mentally. He will completely close down and won't/can't communicate.

SENCO have said he will be ok at mainstream secondary. With support and neutering.

I find it hard to believe a secondary school can be understanding of him . Have the time and patience to listen to him and be neutering.

I have spoken to one secondary school which my dd still gos to and my adult son went to. They said Ds would be put on the lowest level which makes sense. Home work must be done. The thing with this is they do sparkx? Sorry I may have got the name wrong and if they don't get 100% right they get detention.. so ds will get punished for not knowing answers . He also can't obtain information very well . So he could have been helped with the answer in class but he won't remember that by the time he gets home. And that would be in school at well so he would come across as if he's nkt paying attention. He can't start hus work on his own so he will just sit there and not communicate.

He's ok socially with friends.

But also I know SEN school would not be suitable for him.

I just want him to be happy . Not scared of going to school. Not punished for having special needs.

Home education would not be suitable and private is out of the question

Does his EHCP refer to any learning disability?

Have you looked at all the special schools, including those out of area and independents (which can be funded via the EHCP) within travelling distance (typically considered 1hr15 at secondary although some travel further)? Why do you think SS won’t be suitable?

Sparx maths is very common tasks get allocated and you complete you can get multiple times to get it right. It’s all online and it has videos for each question to show you how it is done

you aren’t suppose to sit with them but I do!

If he is still working at year 1 level, the mainstream secondary schools may say they can’t meet need.

Do you have resource bases locally?

What does his current plan say about the support he needs in section F?

I am sorry but I just read 'support and neutering' and thought that would be a bit extreme!!
Hope your son is okay, it is a worrying time for parents.

I’d be looking for another school. Lots of the ones I’ve worked in have specialist SEND departments where kids are in small classes rather than being bundled in with the masses

I teach mainstream but we have a satellite centre of a special school attached to the school. Is there anything like that near you?

Thank you for replying.

Im going to screen shot his ehcp plan.so it's easier. It will take a few posts as I can only do so many pics.

I will remove anything overly personal such names of schools etc .

I have added pics of the plan. There is a nit needs changing that says he can advocate for himself. There's no way he can do that.

OP, is there a possibility of a specialist setting for him?

Senco say he wont reach the criteria for it. His needs are not heigh enough. I dont think it's suitable for him either. Its like there's no middle ground.

I hear you, I’ve had similar with my son. I also agree there is a big gap in settings for children like ours. What I will say is that my son has settled well at secondary. Like you, I was utterly terrified and we had a very bumpy start. However, he’s had a lot of support and is doing well. My advice is make yourself known to the SENCO, you will have a meeting before he starts anyway (or at least they should organise that and if they don’t, then insist they do). Find out what groups and pastoral care they offer. My son’s special interest is trains and they have a club for that that really helped. Keep advocating for him and he will learn to do that for himself along the way. Good luck, I know this is a really scary time!

Make appointments to see SENCOs of schools near you taking EHCP and ask how they could meet his needs. There should be a secondary somewhere with resourced provision. Find out where it is and go and see it and see if it’s an option.

Ask around locally, where are the really nurturing secondaries, my DD’s is renowned for its nurturing rep and it has a physical resource unit, but also has a base for those that struggle and they offer Lego therapy etc. Ask questions like what alternative provision do they offer especially as he goes up through the school and what might he be able to access.

Sounds like a good idea thank you. I may take ds with me to.

Hi. I’m an ex teacher and I used to work in a secondary school. Most secondary schools have a number of children similar to your son.

in many schools they have a separate class for them, sometimes known as a nurture group or support group. His EHCP is clear on his current levels and so this will not be a surprise for his secondary.

Sparx maths isn’t suitable for children working at ks1 levels. A reasonable adjustment for your child would be not doing homework if the school do
use Sparx maths for all classes. This is very common for children working at your son’s level and if you speak to the Senco should be able to be put in place.

when you look around secondaries, ask about nurture/support groups, ask about reasonable adjustments for homework.

does your son have any physical needs eg toileting, help eating etc?

Have you investigated all the SS within travelling distance, including those out of area and independent? They don’t all cater to the same profile. In what way don’t you think they are not suitable? Unfortunately, some schools incorrectly tell parents their DC wouldn’t get SS named, so don’t basis your decision on that.

Have you looked at other mainstream schools? Not just ones who have a resource provision/unit, but also any that have a nurture group or transition group.

The photographs are from the AR rather than the needs/provision in the EHCP itself - look at B&F in the EHCP.

Unless the secondary school can definitely offer a separate group for you child I’d look elsewhere. I’ve seen too many children like your child who just get put in bottom set for everything where they don't have any help or support and ultimately underachieve. Every child should be in the setting that helps them flourish.

I spoke to senco at dd school because we have spoken a couple of times and sort of know the school.

She said they do have children that are at the level ds is. Ie reading basic 3 letter words for example.

She told me they do use sparx for his level. I thought that seemed odd.

I mentioned about home work. Because ds finds school so hard to manage mentally and emotionally he needs a good amount of time to regulate himself. Because school is constantly on his mind. She said all children are expected to do homework. And there's a home work club after school.

At this school if children are due to give homework in on a friday . If it's not handed in by Wednesday they are made to go to the home work club.

The reason im thinking about this school at it feels like better the devil you know. Also his friends are likely to go there.

And to be fair when dd was struggling mentally they did cut her home work. Abd they have supported her mentally and offered counselling etc when me/dd has said shes struggling.

What does this mean. ?

AR rather than the needs/provision in the EHCP itself - look at B&F in the EHCP.

The school told me this is the EHCP and the one secondary schools will go by

The photographs you posted are from the annual review paperwork rather than section B (special educational needs) and section F (special educational provision) of the EHCP.

What do B&F state?

I think he can still flourish in bottom set. It's not set in stone that he stays bottom set and since he's working at year 1 level there's likely to be lots of room within bottom set for him to succeed within his own personal goal. There's always ends if year tests meaning their sets can change.

Where you say about no support. This happend in year 4 for ds his EHCP was not being met . He was ignored very little help. He was shouted at told its not good enough. He's learnt nothing at all. He's now coming to the end of year 5 and is still effected by year 4 still tells me stuff that scared him. He's shitting himself for year 6 because he's so worried about what teacher he may get. I really don't want that to happen in secondary.

Personally, I wouldn’t send him to a school that’s saying they will enforce homework no exceptions. In my experience the support offering in reality is less than they big it up to be so if they already state they won’t make reasonable adjustments regarding homework I’d avoid!

With DS1 he only lasted 6 weeks before school asked me not to send him in anymore, after that he went to a special school. It was infuriating as it was entirely predictable and I told them exactly how he would behave (shut down and non communicative) but they assured me they could meet his needs and promised all sorts. When he started the support was not forthcoming and I was told they like to have a period without support first as they find many children swim without it. Sadly my DS was a sinker and the support wasn’t put in place before he drowned.

We have since relocated (purely to find a better school) and DS3 started in Y7 this year - entirely different experience. The school had lots of support out in place from the start and rapidly increased it when things weren’t working. They suggested no homework for now as it’s too much, and when we do start they plan to introduce it gradually. There’s a support base he can go to at anytime if he gets overwhelmed. He was spending every lunch and break there but now will sometimes go with friends instead. The last 15 minute of everyday he goes to the support base to have a debrief about how his day went. He’s in a nurture group that does stuff like Lego therapy weekly. The nurture group go out on extra trips like canoeing. It’s been a much better experience.

Sorry im confused. Will take be within the paper work I have shown here but maybe missed doing a pic. Or would it be in different paper work ?

@perpetualplatespinning is this what you meant. This is from 2022 though.

The last 2 photographs show one part of section B and one part of section F (along with one part of the outcomes in section E).

The provision in F is rather woolly. It needs to be detailed, specified and quantified in F. For example, how many sessions, how frequently, how long will the sessions last, what size group…

Section B and section F will be in the EHCP. Look at what is in the current EHCP. The EHCP may not have been amended since 2022. They aren't always amended following annual reviews.