To think the standard of learning in a special secondary school ,will mean few pupils sit GCSEs

[Kickanxietyinthebeanbag]

We have a place at a special secondary school for next school year
When visiting we were told the students that reach the correct level can sit GCSEs
My teacher friend says many won’t reach that standard because the standard of teaching will be low in the class,.due to disruption and children being behind.
so a year 9 student most likely won’t be doing year 9 work ,because the students won’t be up to that level ,therefore won’t reach the standard needed to sit exams.
Another friend who’s child goes to that school says ,children are allowed to wander the corridors,if they don’t want to go to a lesson ,as the school wants them to want to learn ,not force them to learn.
In which case my child would choose to never attend a lesson .
I’m so torn ,on what to do
I wondered if anyone had any experience of special schools they could share .
Sorry to post in AIBU ,I just wanted to catch people who may not post on SEN boards

I also agree with AndOr's comments.

I also know that a friend' s child was struggling to learn anything in mainstream but has come on hugely in a specialist setting and has learned stuff the mainstream setting had said he couldn't.

Sorry, I see you have answered my question OP.

My suggestion would be to accept the school place. If you turn it down, the LA are under no obligation to offer anything else.

You can start a transition programme from whenever the schools re-open. If it doesn't work, you can either go to Review and look for a different placement, hopefully with the school's support, or revert to home ed. You will not need permission for that.

When we accepted the place it had not occurred to me he may not sit GCSES
Then my friends gave their opinion and I started to waver slightly.
I was concerned my son could not visit to see what he thought ,and concerned Parents can’t view when pupils are there ,I wanted to view when lessons were on ,to see if I felt he would fit ..as he needs a calm environment.
I’ve not been able to do those things I feel are important in choosing a school ,I felt I had no choice but to accept .
I do know that once he is enrolled and has attended once ,I need permission from LEA to remove,and I know that takes months ,and I would have to keep sending him while they decide .
It doesn’t help ,that is no Real choice in this area .
So I’m on here just wanting to hear opinions from others in a similar situation really ,I’m great full for all the replies

My son is very bright but unable to cope in a mainstream setting. He goes to a BSED specialist provision.
He won't get 9 GCSEs but will do a few. This is the sacrifice we've made for the sake of his mental health, which must take priority. If he wants to he can get qualifications later in life.

The school has been amazing for him. He went from 32% attendance in Year 6 mainstream to 90% in Year 7 there. He's learnt to trust adults again, has weekly therapy, has started to be able to go in shops and is 100% happier. His meltdowns are minimal now, self harm has almost stopped and he's put weight on and grown when he was so thin from anxiety before.

To us it was an easy choice. Yes he's academically capable of passing many exams but emotionally and mentally he isn't. He would, and I have no doubt about this, killed himself if forced into mainstream.

My ds went to SN schools. His teachers were amazing at judging which GCSEs he could manage what adjustments he needed and he got 4 of them in the end. He needed a lot of support in the exam itself including a scribe an invigilator own space extra time. A good SN secondary will recognise the capabilities of their students and put them in for exams they think they can pass and not force them to do ones that will result in failure.
He also did a load of functional skills qualifications which are useful and gave him a sense of achievement

You do need permission to homeschool if you child is in a special school.

He is also highly anxious and not disruptive at all.
He does sometimes struggle when the other pupils go into crisis but the school are very good at dealing with it. They remove him and keep him safe.
It's not perfect at times but nowhere will be.

I do know that once he is enrolled and has attended once ,I need permission from LEA to remove,and I know that takes months ,and I would have to keep sending him while they decide .

Are you not in England?

With respect to not being able to view while the children are there- some schools take the view that it would not be a calm environment if there was a constant stream of tours. I do show people round my specialist setting because I think parents should be able to see it, however, at some times of the year there are a LOT of requests for tours and there is not getting away from it, it is disruptive to the smooth flow in the classrooms.

Yes in England

As your DS is unable to attend mainstream school already and has obtained a place in a special school, it's sounding like he would likely be in the best place for all his needs - including letting him absent himself from a class briefly if he's finding it difficult if they feel it appropriate. They will also tailor his curriculum to a far greater extent than a mainstream school.

He's not going to be given detentions for stimming, he's not going to be shouted at and given detentions for reacting to another child deliberately annoying him, the teachers are vastly more likely to know him well and they will also be aware of his academic ability (and potential boredom threshold), so are likely to be able to challenge him with his lessons whilst also helping him to develop useful skills.

Your 'friend' isn't much help here. She could be talking about an extremely explosive child with a number of diagnoses that would never respond to being ordered into a classroom, but might, after being able to 'escape', move around and become less agitated and be encouraged back into the class. As you've said, parents aren't allowed in when children are there - how would she know?

Many who are not at the arbitrary levels expected for their age are in that situation precisely because their needs haven't been met in mainstream or they've been out of education for years. That's not a reason to say the teaching is inadequate - what was inadequate was the mainstream provision.

And one of the things children with ASD need is help to develop social skills. Not just talking, but understanding body language, tone, social cues and expectations. Whether they are high achieving academically or not. A special school is great at that.

I would suggest taking advantage of the opportunity he's been very fortunate to be offered.

Apologies, I see you do need some sort of 'agreement' to home school a child after special school enrolment. I did not know that!!

Mitzik
Yes I know ,that’s why I’ve accepted it ,but I can’t make the feelings of worry ,and that I’m doing the wrong thing for his ,education go away.
He most probably does need help with the social side Of things .he has not got a friend ,and does not want one .( school did a lot of damage)
But education wise ,he’s bright

*Kickanixety
*
I don't know which part of England you are in but I have a ds who left a special school last year , he got a Btec in sport and foundation level in Maths, his best friend at the school left with 7 GCSEs, mostly grade 5s apart from maths grade 7. His school from yr 9 split the class into ability levels .

My dd is yr 10 at a social and emotional behaviour school and is taking 8 GCSEs and predicted to get grades 6 and up , this is a girl who missed 80% of yr 9 .

So please don't believe all of what your friends say.

Which part of the country do you live in, most schools have a Facebook page or web page and you can get the feel of the school from looking at them

I’ve looked on their Facebook page ,it just talks about the school day mainly ,and what GCSEs they offer ,but not the percentage of students put in for the exams .

What do you want him to be able to do with his education?

Will he be aiming at finding a job where he is totally his own boss and doesn't have to have any social interaction with anybody?

I'd think about the long term outcome you want for him and work backwards to what would be the best immediate choice. The school/ no school decision probably hinges on how important you feel it is for him to develop socially and whether you think you can prepare him well enough socially for a successful adult life from home.

Contact the school, and talk to them about what's likely to happen when it comes to GCSEs. They may be able to reassure you that every year they have a handful of high-functioning kids who get a good clutch of GCSEs. Don't panic about whether he will get as many as he might in mainstream - better that he comes out with English, maths, science and vastly improved social skills than that he has 10 GCSEs.

I have two ASD DC, both went to specialist school (Two different ones).
One has 6 GCSEs including maths and English, a lot of effort went into maths and English), the other has 7 GCSEs and an AS, took one GCSE a year early and then did the AS in year 11.
Both were able to proceed to L3 courses at local colleges, with specialist help. Both got good exam results.

What lanthanum says

He’s absolutely fine with adults ,no problems communicating,but children ..he won’t acknowledge them at all.
So I’m not worried about him being an adult ,just need to get him through these next few years

ds1 was lucky enough to go to one of the few special schools that did do GCSE's and ended up with nine at very good grades. Other pupils (according to ds1 anyway) did not do as well but our reasoning when we chose this school was that as long as one or two pupils did in each year group then the teaching was OK.

They were also good for him behaviourally and socially particularly in later years and he is now in a mainstream college for sixth form and coping well. There were very few special schools when we were looking that offered a full range of GCSE's. And even fewer now because falling pupil numbers (thank you OFSTED) meant that ds1's schools has decided to shut its doors to pupils with HFA. We found that if a pupil wanted to learn most of the teachers were only too delighted to teach them & small class sizes meant they could differentiate in a way perhaps not possible in mainstream.

Thanks everyone I really appreciate all the advice / info .

Having taught in a Specialist ASD school, I cannot fault the provisions and how the pathways are adapted for each student. My school had a Nurture route for those who were less academically and struggled with social situations. Even within this some students would go to GCSE classes for some subjects where they showed ability. It’s unlikely that students would sit the full range of GCSEs on the other pathway. However, these schools go above and beyond with finding the right courses for students and providing a huge range of enrichment courses/activities. I’m sure you could email the school your questions for some reassurance. Teaching in specialist schools is incredibly differentiated, flexible and responsive to students’ needs, in my experience anyway.

Have you a parent carer group on Facebook you can ask the question ?

I used to teach in a SEN school. Most of the children had autism but some had other needs ranging from ADHD to MLD, and there was one class for children with more severe disabilities as well. The majority of children didn't sit GCSEs, but those who were considered academically capable were entered for the foundation tier and usually achieved a grade between 1 and 4.

The good thing about SEN schools is that the ratio of staff to pupils is so high that it's much easier to differentiate by ability than it is in mainstream, so he could be given some one-to-one support to go beyond the work the other pupils are doing. On the other hand, the pace of lessons is obviously much slower. We had one child at our school who was very bright but had severe ADHD (no learning difficulties at all), and the school were looking into whether they could be transferred to mainstream because it just wasn't feasible for us to provide them with the level of education that they deserved. That's not to say that all special schools will be like that, but it was the case at ours.

That said, and I don't mean this in a rude way at all, how confident are you that he would be able to achieve good GCSE qualifications through homeschooling? Most secondary age children, including those in special schools, obviously have several teachers who are each specialists in their particular subject area. Even as a qualified teacher I wouldn't feel confident teaching children outside my own field (science/maths). It's a lot to take on if you're planning on teaching the whole curriculum by yourself - I assume this is something you've already considered, but just wondering how you're planning to go about it?

With regards to children being allowed to wander the corridors, that would be very much dependent on the child and the circumstances. If a child was determined to leave the room we obviously wouldn't be able to physically force them to stay, but they wouldn't just be abandoned to roam around at will. A TA would go after them to try and bring them back, or to find some other way that they could do the work, for example in a quiet room on their own. If they were repeatedly leaving lessons it would be picked up on very quickly, and we would have a meeting with the child and parents about the reasons behind it and whether there were any strategies that could be put in place to help them.

A SEN school would be a great environment for him to develop his social skills while being provided with a lot of specialist support, and perhaps also a good way to help him see the positives in being outside the home environment after his difficult experience in primary. There should be a huge variety of non-academic opportunities provided as well, and in addition it would give you some breathing space.

reefedsail has good advice above re. considering what you want the ultimate outcome of his education to be. Do you think it is a realistic prospect that he might eventually want to go to university and have a professional career? If not, might vocational qualifications be a better long-term option than GCSEs and A-levels? A SEN school would certainly be able to help facilitate entry to a local college where he could be given continued support.

The LA would be fine with you removing your child to home ed. It will be saving them money.

I spend significant amounts of time in our local special schools which cater for young people with physical and learning disabilities ASD or sny combination of the sbove. Some students sit GCSES and others not doing life skills and vocational education. You will see many young oeople wandering corridors but they are normally the children with secere sensory problems who need a break. You can't teach a child in crisis.
Sounds like you have had a tough time OP. I really hope all works out well for you both.