Mainstream or special school- experiences please

[Lazymazy1]

I would describe my ds as having mild to moderate learning difficulties. (School is saying moderate - severe) global developmental delay, no diagnosis.
Special school around here is ofsted reg terrible ( I've visited and very chaotic and wasn't favourable).
Anyway, my initial thoughts were to keep ds in mainstream (has FT 121) just for better chance in later life with jobs and less stigma, however, speaking with another parent who says it's like trying to fit square peg in round hole. Child would be unhappy.
Prepared to move away to get a better special school for him.
What are your experiences ?

Cakescakes your school sounds fantastic. Pls can you give the name of this school or where it is? Or if you can PM me will be much appreciated.

Our son is 7 and is deaf, autistic, with severe learning difficulties. It was obvious to us that he wouldn't cope at mainstream school even with 1-to-1 support, he wouldn't be able to handle 'normal lessons'.

We fought to get him a place at an ASD specific school rather than the MPLD (mixed physical & learning dis) school. We visited both, and the MPLD was very colourful, very lively, but would have been overwhelming for our son. The ASD school is by contrast very muted and controlled, which helps him to focus during the school day. (His school was shown in "The A Word" )

Places at specialist schools are limited and are not given for life. You will need an EHCP to get a placement (you cannot get into a special school without EHCP naming it), and that EHCP is reviewed every year. So if you think - particularly at key transition ages - your child could now cope with mainstream with support, the LEA would jump at the opportunity to free a spot in the specialist school to offer to someone else.

I fought to send him back to reception. Everyone said no to start with.

I have been told that if I could prove a different school would be more beneficial over my catchment SS I could take it to tribunal. I take my hat off to all of those who have. I wouldn't know where to begin.

We are happy to move away . My local SS only has an interim headteacher( for nearly 2 years ), absolutely disgraceful IMO .

I wish those in same boat ,hope you find the answer's.

If you are happy to move away I'd start googling now! Find some forums and good luck.

I support SEN kids in both mainstream and special school.

Special Schools can be great, but Ofsted tends to go easy on them because it can be hard to judge based on the huge variability of the students. It is easy to jump through a few hurdles and look like a good special school if the head is even a little bit savy. If the school has a really bad ofsted rating, that means the school is really bad.

On the other hand, mainstream can be great for young kids and kids who can access parts of the national curriculum. Once the kids get to Key Stage 2, they don't play so much and it becomes harder to differentiate the curriculum. A child who is not accessing the national curriculum may become rather isolated.

You're probably fine to stay in mainstream through year 2, but then you may want to explore more options and not be content with either a bad mainstream fit or a terrible special school. You might need to fight.

Beautiful
You've highlighted how I need to think a little differently- it doesn't matter when (of he can) take his exams.

eggyys
I checked about the annual meeting with senco and various others re his EHCP, can it just be taken away? They assured me that wouldn't be the case, but can't take that as red. Something to be aware of.

Will do some googling for good SS.

malvin so interesting to hear from the inside and how the ofsted ratings work 😲

Thank you everyone for replying, I don't know loads of parents with children of additional needs. So really helpful to get your opinion.

My dd 6 has asd and ADHD and is in mainstream. The one Sen school round here told us they wouldn't take her as she wouldn't have a peer group. She has a ft 1:1 and enjoys school although academically slightly delayed for us it's about the social and emotional side at the moment. She's happy there which for us is a big thing. My youngest goes to school in September and is non verbal and has asd and probably ADHD too. Like I said there's not much in the way of Sen schools here. We'll give her a go in mainstream and hopefully she should have ft 1:1 so we will see. I'm accepting that we may need to move in the coming years to find better provisions for them both.

My experience is, sod the stigma, our DD has flourished in the right special school provision.
You don't have to accept the school offered; you can fight for the best one for your child.
If your child has moderate/severe LD, according to the psychologists, listen to them... they have absolutely no reason to deceive you.

It would be silly to make a judgement of "special school" vs "mainstream school" without any of us knowing the options you have. In our LA we have dozens of special schools, and they are all individually run and managed and staffed in the same way that all mainstream schools are. Some are superb, others less so. Some mainstream schools are truely appalling, some are doing their best in difficult circumstances, some will depend on the individual teacher that year, and some are fantastic.

I do, however agree with the poster who said there is a large cohort of dc who manage brilliantly in Reception, a bit less so in Yr one, and then really start to struggle by Yr2 and on into KS2.

He has an educational psychologist coming in to assess him soon. school senco had said mod-severe LD.

Can I ask which county you are in back we certainly don't have dozens of schools to pick from /

I live / work in the biggest Local Authority in Europe

That said, most urban authorities will have several. Plus lots of different mainstream schools.

I'd look at individual schools and go from there. There's someone with a child in my dcs class in year 3 and his mum said he's regressed so much but she's not fighting for an ehcp poor kid so I'm aware that we might only last a certain amount of time in mainstream before it doesn't work for us.

My advice visit the schools and see what you think. My DC is not like she was at all in reception and I never thought we'd get her into school but it's working. A friend of mine deferred her child for a year visited her local school where her other child attended (a mainstream) and found it wouldn't work for her Sen child at all. She's sending her second child to another mainstream locally. I think the main thing is where they will be happy and progress against themselves. We want the most basic bits of education like social and reading etc. The other day dd was too tired to do Spanish so they let her go and do some colouring.

Good luck and go and see where gives you a good feel.

Both my dc lasted in mainstream until the age of 8 but the school was struggling to keep them there for the last year even with full time support. Special school suits their needs better.

But I think it definitely depends on the child and the provision from individual schools. I am also a teacher in a mainstream secondary school and some children with quite complex needs have thrived and achieved.

I think you need a full assessment of his needs. For my dc it started with the ed psych and a GP referral to camhs then full statements.

I work as a Secondary TA and as much as I love my job and the young people I work with and no matter how much you differentiate work they still need to cover the GCSE curriculum which is simply too difficult for many of them to understand. Having to watch them spend 30hours a week getting more down hearted and behaviour worsen as the give up is awful. Funding for teachers and TAs is getting cut, there is less support for children and class sizes will only increase in mainstream schools.

If you can find a better SEN school I would send your DC there.

In my experience of working in ms junior schools, we're not properly set up to deal with anything more than mild learning difficulties. The HT is measured on results - and that means focusing on the majority.

Impossible to say because it depends on the profile of both your child and the local schools in your area. Attitude and quality varies enormously in both settings in our experience. Ofsted we found was not a good guide - they slated ds1's special school for instance but for him it was a really good fit. Instead we found it invaluable to visit all the options and ask lots of questions to see if the school would suit our ds's. And if they won't let you then it is definitely not the right school for a child with SN's

Special Schools can be great, but Ofsted tends to go easy on them because it can be hard to judge based on the huge variability of the students. It is easy to jump through a few hurdles and look like a good special school if the head is even a little bit savy

Sorry but I find this very insulting. My son's SN school has an outstanding rating because it thoroughly deserves it. My son has been there 12 years and I don't think you could find a better school.

I have taught kids in mainstream that should have been in special school. I have felt terribly guilty that I didn't know how to start to meet their needs. I took the class to a computer room once to do some research on the planets. A girl just typed her name over and over onto different slides and was so proud of herself. At that point, while telling her that yes it was beautiful how she's used the different colours, I did wonder why on Earth she was there :(

It's probably been said, but the pressure on special schools is as much down to them being pared right down, 15 years or so ago, rather than anything else.

Anyhow, I have 2 boys with SN.

Oldest is now in year 8. He has ASD and ADHD, strong PDA traits. not articulate, but has a huge vocabulary and is very intelligent. He can not cope with people full stop. Local lovely and very supportive MS primary was hell for him. Too many people. Local special schools really, truly honestly weren't a good fit, as the only way they could meet his needs was by involving partner mainstream schools, which would have doubled his stress levels over what they already were. In year 5, moved him to an indie specialist school for (now) SEM/ASD without even having o go through tribunal (so rare for that school!)

DS2, now in year 6, has ASD and was non-verbal until a few years ago and presents as having severe learning difficulties. With 1:1, he has thrived in the local school. No, he is not fully integrated - that's impossible. He is socially included as far as he can tolerate and is very much loved, there, and knows it! We do have a secondary special school place for him for year , though, in the discrete autism provision of an outstanding (not just according to OFSTED, from what I saw and heard) special school. I'm equidistant between 2 others - one has limited ASD provision and LA officer admitted they'd have no places for year 7 entry, as it's a 2-19 school,, but I would have been OK with him being there, as the HT is lovely (and was previously very helpful when I was exploring possible provision for DS1) and the other is just like your local - not only dire previous OFSTED, but a lot of scandal in the papers. For 8 years, we, or the local school have needed to contact them about various things and, for 8 years, they've been downright obstructive. I'd send him there only if I was too dead to home educate!

We know he's well socially included, btw, because he sings the rude versions of some songs :o

I don't know Op.

I put DS into a specialist school because of the provision he would get-- in terms of therapy. My DS has severe language needs and I knew it will get harder for him to learn language as he grows older. DS needed to be in a structured language environment and Mainstream couldn't offer that and if they did it would be very expensive.

Your best bet is to go through all of the schools in your county and neighbouring counties. Find the best school for your child - it doesn't matter what it's label is, it's about the fit for your specific child. Once you know what school you want him to go too then you fight to get them there - and it really could be a fight.

My DD went to a special school full time for most of primary. Then I fought for her to go to mainstream part time because everyone felt she should go MS for secondary. There was no way I was letting her go MS for secondary without trying it at primary, and equally no way I was risking her SS school place for a trial. However it was one of the reasons I'd chosen a SS school with very, very strong links with the MS school next door.

Everyone said there would be no chance. I wouldn't get her statemented. I wouldn't get her into the special school. I wouldn't get the ms trial. I wouldn't keep her SEN help at secondary. They tell you that you won't get it so that you accept that and give up. You need to fight.