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He's very sensitive and can get withdrawn emotionally/mentally.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

I haven't said it would. Im saying what senco have told me at the primary school and what one of the secondary schools told me when I spoke to them.

Its madness that we have to fight so much. Sometimes I feel like they take the piss because they know they can.

What did you mean by local SEND ?

I would challenge a Senco saying a child working at Y1 level at this age wouldn’t get into specialist provision. It depends what there is around and you can aske for schools that are out of area. I would be very surprised if a normal secondary could meet need and deliver that plan. You need them to say they can’t. Book appointments, explain that you want the plan following to the letter - they won’t be able to do it.

An organisation - like SENDIAS or an alternative such as SENSOS.

Oh I see. Thank you I just found something simlar. I have heard of sendias I will look at that to .

Your DS sounds an amazing intuitive young man and an amazing friend.
If he is working at Yr1 I would go and have a look at specialist schools / ones with a specialist satellite centre at the very least. Mainstream used to generally only take up to 3 working years below, however due to a lack of specialist schools mainstream are being made to take more students. realistically the teacher will likely struggle to accommodate amongst 32 students per class, so will be LSA to assist. LSAs generally help up to 8 students in a class, so help will likely be diluted. Make sure you are in good contact with the SEN department to ensure your child is getting the best care, but be prepared it will be intermittent at best. LSAs are great and work ridiculously hard, but there isn’t enough of them, enough resources, they’re on around minimum wage term time only, very few can afford the wage and want the position especially in Secondary Schools.
Yr7 and possibly 8 he may get through, before / after this he will likely struggle to keep up and his confidence may dip. Also worth considering the size and sensory conditions of a large secondary, crowded corridors etc. Even walking into school can be enough for some, let alone the noise, crowds and sensory overload. Look for a school if possible with more out buildings so reducing the time and number in corridors. Behaviour, homework etc he will be in the same boat at everyone else, consider if this will help or hinder him (hint some schools offer core subjects only homework for some students / homework extension / lack of equipment passes, ask them about this). From Yr9 some students start to really struggle, you may hear about students giving up and not wanting to go to school (EBSNA), without sounding alarming I would rather you have all the facts before making a decision. Time is of the essence have a look around specialist schools, there is often funding for travel but usually you have to apply before March for the following academic year.
Specialist schools still offer GCSEs and their results are good, lower class sizes and better ratio of staff. Please don’t think specialist schools have a stigma, they are often a place where they finally thrive, shine and feel a sense of belonging. They leave and often start mainstream college.
If your EHCP has been put as mainstream it can take a little while to put to specialist, so if you’re leaning to this best to get active to this. Also spaces in specialist schools are hard to get and even harder to get after Yr7 intake (there isn’t enough specialist schools by a long shot).
If he does stay in mainstream, look to his strengths, does he excel with woodwork? If so consider asking a family friend to help him learn some key skills for possible DT GCSE. Does he enjoy cooking (Food Tec), Art, Sports (PE), all long term possible business skills, yes they’re not easy, but the experience may help. Positives is if he thrives with supportive friends this may help. Keep activities up like Scouts, Sea Cadets, climbing / whatever he is good at.
Schools have just taken a 20% cut in funding apparently, SEN budgets are always struggling and LSA support is thin as of the low wage and conditions, so they’re always looking to employ people if their budget allows. So careful what schools promise you, your EHCP brings funding to the school but your DS is paramount here.
good luck.

Reduced homework load can be included in the EHCP if it is required.

LSAs generally help up to 8 students in a class

That depends entirely on what is detailed, specified and quantified in F of the EHCP. If more provision is detailed, specified and quantified in F of the EHCP, it must be provided and can be enforced.

Kindly… the children in the bottom set tend to be those who don’t want to learn and are disrespectful and disruptive. I’ve seen it happen. If that’s all the school is offering you, it’s not the right place for your son. He needs a nurturing environment where he can be supported to be the best he can be.

Oh I didn't realise that thank you

OP I'm appalled that your son's current school is so cavalier about him moving to mainstream secondary while working at Y1 level. How on earth do they think he will access the curriculum? Bottom set is for children who need a bit of a boost towards the upper sets or have ESOL or are working towards Cs and Ds and Es (2/3/4) at GCSE, not children who are working seven years below where they should be. He has been horribly let down by his primary school. They should have got an EHCP for him well before now and he should be looking at a specialist school - if only for a few years before returning to mainstream.

If he is working at Y1 level now then there are three possibilities - one is that this is his level and he needs to be in a specialist provision working towards functional skills. Two is that he is capable of getting modestly good GCSEs and his primary has badly let him down and is about to let him loose in a secondary which won't be able to plug those gaps so he won't get what he should. Three is that he is more capable than the school thinks and they're ignoring him.

Specialist is not a bad word. My child is likely to go to a specialist autism school and it's not because she's incapable - it's because she's extremely capable in the right environment, and mainstream is not the right environment.

I’m not sure why you’re being told your child won’t meet criteria for a specialist setting. This is exactly what the specialist settings are for. You’d perhaps need to find the correct one. My nephew goes to one, y9 now and he sounds lower ability than your son and also autistic however the majority of the children in his school seem to be working above that level. Another friend’s son went there too. He left without still being my able to read and write and no formal diagnosis either. Lovely lad who’s got other skills. But then I work in a setting where we have autistic learners who are more developmentally delayed than how you describe your son. Mostly non verbal, challenging behaviour with the majority and also working many key stages below their age. Our school is an outlier though and we often take from other specialist settings that can’t manage them. But the other settings all sound like they have children similar to yours. So definitely worth checking out the settings in your area.

The school must make adjustments if you’re wanting to stay in the mainstream. But you need to call an early annual review and have things written into the EHCP such as him not being expected to complete the same level of home work as his peers. Supportive homework clubs are great though. My DD is autistic and just finished GCSEs. She struggled with homework - more the concept that school work should only be done in school. The send department ran daily homework sessions - mainly aimed at the lower ability children but mine attended just so they could complete it at school with someone around if they needed help. She doesn’t have a learning disability and works at the average ability for her age. The school have been great with reasonable adjustments and she doesn’t have an EHCP. So having a school that’s supportive is really important.

Good luck with whatever you decide, but don’t rule out sen settings.

I think you are being very naive to think that an autistic child working at KS1 level academically will manage in a mainstream secondary school.

My child is academically very able and attends a specialist school after trying a few months of year 7 mainstream and having a breakdown from the pressure and that was with a tin of adjustments and a properly specified and quantified EHCP.

It doesn't sound to me like your current SENCO has a clue what they're talking about!

Sorry, I haven't RTFT, but wanted to chime in with my very similar sounding experience!

To cut a very long story short, we managed to get our son a place at a wonderful private school, and while we had to pay initially, once he was in and we could prove it was working perfectly for him, the funding was agreed because he has an EHCP. We refused to send him to the school that was listed in the EHCP, and instead sent him to the private. It was a gamble, because if the funding hadn't been agreed then there is no way we could have paid the fees log term, but we decided to take the risk and fortunately it paid off. We took the LA to tribunal and argued that none of the schools we were being offered were acceptable for him (they had actually all officially said they couldnt meet his needs anyway!), and our case was settled 4 months before the tribunal even happened.

This is a very very short version of a long battle, but ultimately we got what our son needed and he is thriving. Basically what I'm saying is that if private is out of the question because of finances (not sure if that is the reason, just assuming because they are prohibitively expensive!), then this may not necessarily be the dead end you think it is. Please feel free to PM me if you want more details or anything!

Sorry, edited to add that this private school in particular isn't a specialist school exactly, but over 50% of the children who attend have some sort of SEN. I don't think that all private schools would be a good option! But there are ones that exist that are. My sons school are the kindest, most inclusive, nurturing school I have ever experienced.

Ok, I’m going to be brutally honest, but your child is going to absolutely drown in MS secondary. He is currently working at half his chronological age. This would more the qualify him for a learning difficulties school. Your SENCO is talking nonsense, and likely employed by the LA, that is desperately short of special school places. There’s a couple of MLD schools around here and they only require you to be about 3 years behind. (They’re obviously full and then some mind.)

Your EHCP is not great, and clearly written by the LA, who holds the purse strings; it will have likely been written to keep him in MS rather than to meet his needs.

There should not be strengths in section B, and the strengths that are in your son’s, as is so often the case, are not genuine strengths: ‘good relationship with adults’ what about the peers? That’s a basic expectation for a 10 year old! Was there something about works with with support? That’s not a strength; he should not need support, which is special educational provision and belongs in F.

You probably need a full re-write to make it reflect your son. The EHCP should not be a pleasant read at all. You can put strengths and what a wonderful child they are in section A, but not B as strengths minimise and dilute needs.

You still have time to get a specialist school in place for yr7. Have you visited any within an hour from you? I’d speak to some, and they’re normally very good at pointing you in the right direction if your child isn’t right for their school.

If you can afford it, I would book a private EP, that does tribunal work, as you will likely have to appeal. This will help understand what DS is working at year 1 level.

Oo, I wonder if our children are at the same private school. 🤣 I think ours predicts 70% ND. It’s very different to any other independent MS!

Also, have a look at charities like SOS!SEN and IPSEA. Both have a lot of information, and offer a helpline for advice. SOS!SEN has a lot of webinars and also have a number of volunteer run walk-in advice centres, and if you can get to one of them, they are absolutely amazing. (Take a copy of your EHCP, technically they can’t check documents there, but the volunteers will often do a bit, or will want to check something in it to better advise you.)

Oh I wonder?! I love it so much, they have brought out so much confidence in my son and he's so happy. We tried so many different primary schools and I feel like each one just failed him so much, it is so nice to finally have him happy and thriving! We're now saving for our daughter to go there too, she doesn't have SEN so wont get any funding, but I just love the environment so much!

They should have got an EHCP for him well before now

OP’s DS’s EHCP isn’t new. He has had an EHCP since at least 2022 according to OP’s posts on this thread. Maybe even before since she hasn’t said when he first got an EHCP.

Its all so complicated. We can't go upto an hour away that's to far. I don't drive either. The transport for SEN is not what it seems. It says if a closer school could have taken your child but you choose a school further away you will have to pay for transport.

I get what your saying about ehcp and the review one. I mean DS telk the TA wgat he wants to say TA write it down abd ds copy's it. Thats nit been mentioned I mean he's writing small words but that's it.

Im never going to get a full rewrite now im thinking that could take ages.

Im thinking maybe look at sen and mainstream? But then im not sure if im going to be told the truth by the schools weather it's sen or mainstream.

If the school is named in the EHCP but the LA refuses transport, you can challenge their decision.

If the school is named in the EHCP with a caveat about it being parent preference, you can appeal the EHCP, and then challenge the transport refusal if necessary.

The maximum recommended travel time for secondary is 1hr15. Although some travel further.

It isn’t too late to improve the EHCP. It does need improving regardless of whether DS goes to MS or SS.

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

I hope that is a typo OP.

You have an entire year to look at schools and find the place he will be happiest.

A child working at level 1 will find it very difficult to access the secondary school offer. That might have an impact on their emotional well being. I’ve taught secondary pupils working a that level, with very focused and targeted support, but after a year or so, special school has been the recommendation.

If you can visit special schools and determine which would be more likely to meet your child’s needs, you might be able to avoid disruption by having to move from mainstream to special, when a placement is unsuitable.

Sorry I missed this post on have never heard of them. But I will look it up see if there is one near me.

I dont have a year to look at schools 🤔 do I?

I have dyslexia the neutering comment has already been discussed. Although I can't say it wont happen again as im likely to forget .