To want my autistic DC to start reception in mainstream?

[Ambern7]

DC gets on well at mainstream nursery but is developmentally behind peers. I am not happy with the special needs provisions in our area so have opted for mainstream with good support in place through EHCP, which we fought hard for.
However, professionals involved keep asking me if we are sure we don’t want to go with the special provisions, they have listed lots of things they think are great about the school, however I don’t think the facilities will benefit my DC personally.
These unwanted opinions have got me second guessing something I was so sure of previously. I just don’t see the problem of starting off in mainstream and seeing how it goes, AIBU?

Op child has no formal diagnosis so not sure they have ehcp

I didn’t say you can’t have an opinion. Your posts last night did have the tone of you saying not all DC can have the provision they need because there isn’t enough funding and that it is acceptable.

I don’t know how any parent of disabled DC can think it is acceptable for their DC to receive provision to meets their needs but it is fine for other vulnerable disabled pupils to not receive the provision they need to meet their needs.

If your that concerned about funding you could give up your DC’s support. I’m sure the LA will cease the provision.

There you go using want again. No one gets provision in an EHCP because they want it. It is there because it is needed.

Have you read her updates? She says the child has a fully-funded EHCP.

No lol thanks for updating me

A child with a 1:1 in an EHCP (which if you read the OP they do have. A diagnosis isn’t necessary) is not depriving other pupils of support.

You might be lucky in your area but all I’m hearing about schools is that they are on their knees. I would go with a school fully set up to give him the attention he needs.

My dd finds school a sensory nightmare, day in, day out.

Thanks the other poster pointed this out I suspect however that is what should happen bit reality for most schools it doesn't

Be great for some teachers on here to say whether this is what actually happens or not

Other DC are not deprived by another pupil having 1:1 in their EHCP. If the child with 1:1 in their EHCP wasn’t there the 1:1 wouldn’t be either.

I'm an ex teacher and no, done properly, it shouldn't.

Depends on the leadership.

It seems to be a depressingly common misconception. I hope the other parents in my DC’s class don’t think this.

I think, to be precise, that the OP has said they have a watertight EHCP, not a fully funded one.

That does make a difference. If the EHCP is not fully funded, then typically the school has to spend the first £6000 of the costs out of their own budget. In an environment where the LA must pay somewhat less than £5000 to the primary school for the education of 1 child for a year, in a small Reception class of 10, the school receives £46,000 or so for all costs for the class for the year, of which £6,000 must be spent on one child. If the EHCP is fully funded, then the class has the full £46,000.

That’s deeply iver-simplistic, but I am trying to illustrate the difference between ‘watertight and legally enforceable’ and ‘fully funded’ from the point of view of the school.

Special Schools have theirown limitations, I'd argue its a bigger leap of faith as they tend to be more closed off, as high numbers of pupils get LA transport so you don't get the school gate observations. And a cohort of majority pre-verbal will likely mean there is a lot less information coming home from the pupils.
I've known parents who've really had to battle to get the SS to deliver/update provision.

And I say this as a parent of a child who attends a Special school 50 miles away who won't be going back into mainstream regardless.

It is completely unacceptable to expect parents to place their child in an unsuitable special school because of the mainstream budget issues.

Ds3's former mainstream headteacher used to do exaggerated finger counting of the deficit DS3 was causing, telling me they were a small village school. He'd luved in that small village his whole life. She also refused to tell the LA they couldn't meet needs, so eas just constantly pressuring me to move him.

It really was horrendous

The 'first £6k out of school budget' isn't the cut and dried thing people think it is.

www.impacteducationsoftware.com/post/how-grand-is-6-grand

I know - I said it was over-simplistic. I was pointing out for a poster who said that the OP had a fully funded EHCP that this was not the case as far as I had read, and the kind of thing that might mean.

In a mainstream school your child may end up out of class alot of the day either in a corridor at a desk or an intervention room with a TA doing most of the teaching. The TA will be paid pretty much minimum wage,they may or may not be any good, they will have attended some courses on autism. In honesty your childs needs may well not be met. A lot of parents are keen on mainstream for whatever reason, but in reality special schools offer so so much more!!! Properly trained teachers, tiny ratios, sorry but you would be mad to chose mainstream over special!

but in reality special schools offer so so much more!!!

You cannot make such a blanket statement! SS is a perfectly valid choice. For some their DC’s needs are best met in SS. But an equally valid choice is MS with support because their DC’s needs are best met in MS with support.

Neither is the easy option. Neither are blanket right or wrong. It depends on the individual child’s needs and schools involved.

DS3 is happy and thriving in MS. Other than smaller classes, which at the moment isn’t a problem so long as he has the other provision he needs, he wouldn’t receive anything extra by being in a SS. He would have a longer commute/have to board. He would also not receive the same level of academic teaching or extra curricular clubs.

The 1:1 doesn’t have to be on minimum wage, unexperienced and barely trained.

Erm if my child weren't in the class,the class wouldn't have a TA. She doesn't take from anyone. Her adult is an extra for her.

In our school, if we get a child with an EHCP, we have to fund up to the first £6000. We can't afford to employ a new TA, and generally cant find any applicants for 1:1 roles so the reality is that a class TA from elsewhere in the school is moved to become a 1:1 TA. That is in no way the fault of the child with the EHCP but it does mean other children are affected. Then imagine you have 4 or 6 children with EHCPs, all needing the first £6000 funded by the school.

The solutions are all down to money - full funding from government to local authorities so they can pay for all additional support a child with an EHCP. Better education funding in general so that TAs can be offered an attractive wage.

but in reality special schools offer so so much more!!!

for a lot of children yes, but not for all. Firstly not all special schools are made the same (as with mainstream) and not all children are made the same.

for ds mainstream offers things for him that no specialist locally could.

My son is now properly supported and is very rarely disruptive.

his classmates get to be in a diverse environment and see how people with additional needs can be part of the community.

win win!

In our school, if we get a child with an EHCP, we have to fund up to the first £6000.

Legally, no you don’t.

Legally no, but in reality unless you have the time, resources (and crucially parental support) to challenge the local authority it is very difficult to get around.

Not all DC with SEN are disruptive. Even more aren’t when their needs are met. But even if they are, legally the pupil has a right to mainstream education unless the LA can prove the very high threshold for proving the pupil being in MS is incompatible with the efficient education of others, and there are no reasonable steps the LA could take to prevent the incompatibility. That is more difficult than many believe.