ok...will try this again, aibu to be put off a school by the amount of children with SN?

[daftpunk]

posted this in education, (Pre-school, like the twit that i am).....my ds is due to start secondary school in 2 years so we're looking around already, i am a bit put off by a school with lots of SN children, as SN also means behaviour problems....i'm not sure if i am being unreasonable.

Can i please ask a few questions without being flamed here as it is genuine and asked out of ignorance on my part as i have had no experience of the current school system.

What exactly constitutes SN and SEN?

How does having SN and SEN affect a classroom - are there extra teching assistants or does one teacher cover the whole class?

Do schools still have divisions for each subject (eg Div 1,2 ,3 4 etc) so that children are separated by ability in regard to each subject so those that excel at maths move faster than those that don't?

We had a few people with dyslexia in my classes at school but we were separated into Divs so that each group worked at the pace that best suited them and then come exam time those that needed extra time had it allocated to them - does this not still occur?

Genuinely asking and not trying to inflame anything but am a little confused by this thread in that i don't understand all the differentiations between SN and SEN.

Thanks

Stigaloid, I have been immersed in SN and SEN for nearly two years now and I STILL don't understand it all. My son has a diagnosis of High Functioning Autism so has SN, his Special Needs lead to him having Special Educational Needs. I think it is possible to have SEN but not other SN though. As I say I am no expert.

Speaking for ds, he has a one to one TA every morning, he has his own visual time table and we luckily have an extremely understanding and amazing SENCO who is nearly always available when he needs her. There are a couple of other teachers in the school who are aware of his needs so can help him when things become difficult. He tends to find unstructured time more difficult so his problems mainly occur in breaks and lunchtimes.

I would go to the SN and SEN boards to get fuller information.

Stig - TheFallenMadonna posted this very succinct definition on the thread the other night which I think is very good:

A child has special educational needs when they need intervention above and beyond good practice classroom differentiation in order to access work, or have some other need which affects how they learn. It isn't a less severe type of SN. SN has a meaning outside of education. SEN relates to teaching and learning. It encompasses significant physical disabilities and severe autism and significant emotional and behavioural difficulties at one end of the spectrum, through everything from global developmental delay, hearing/visual impairments, dyslexia, dyspraxia, AS, and low literacy skills.

Thanks for the help ladies.

whilst people are answering questions, can someone explain PLmD AND SLD to me pretty please. I have asked before but I get confused.

LEM - no, I don't think it is my loss. I think that DP is wrong to post as she does continually to inflame and upset. I feel better for being aware of this and for taking an active stance against it. I don't think I am 'missing' anything except for perhaps the approval of someone whose approval would be meaningless to me.

I also think that your assertion that she 'tends to say what a lot of people think but are too scared to say it' is utterly misguided and, dare I say it, almost as ignorant as the statements themselves.

If waht you say is true and a lot of people do think those things, well I for one might as well go and walk under a train right now.

thanks fio
and I love the hat lady

Oh God thanks

Fio I live near you, if that helps! nearly moved to b**ington one time...you were v helpful about it.

ahem

erm yars

see that was a useful little snippet to put by wasn't it!

sunfleurs;

if you check back over this thread you might get a better understanding of what i'm talking about....i'm not talking about children with autism....i made that quite clear from the start.

Yep - thanks to all those way more articulate than I am.

I have only wafted around this thread because I can't decide if I feel more angry, sad or just resigned.
It just seems to epitomise the attitude that saying such things are just not terribly PC - a minor issue of manners rather than something hurtful.

The truth is that for most parents of children with SN it is simply a confirmation that other parents don't want their children anywhere near yours.

People shouldn't be applauded for saying such things as if it were some kind of seering honesty. It is just cruelty draped in a cloak of ignorance.

The thread may have helped open a few minds to the notion that SN is not shorthand for badly behaved. But how often do parents have to be insulted while a few learn, with ironic lack of speed, how faulty their prejudices are.

Like your post Pagwatch

Its very articulate

To be fair, DP did apologise. But for others to now come on, treat it as a bit of a laugh (she's naughty? She's a grown woman ffs not a bloody child!) and try to make out that the OP had a good point is insane.

Sorry DP for going through this again, but the OP stated that SN = behavioural problems and children not sitting still for 2mins. It then went on to make huge generalisations about sink estates and more or less implied that they have a higher number of SN children.

Where is the valid point in that? Is this really what people think but are too scared to say? How about you educate yourselves with a visit to your school's SENCO next time you get a chance? How about you sit in a lesson where there are pupils with SN?

If you are that ignorant, then do something about your bloody ignorance instead of spouting generalisations and thinking it's all a huge laugh, because I assure you, it isn't.

DP, I thought your apology was genuine, perhaps you should have left it at that? But I recognise the fact that this thread is still going, is not entirely your fault.

My ds has SEN and is statemented with bells on!!!
He is in mainstream secondary with 1:1 help and there are a couple of other statemented with children with TA support. Aswell as a couple of non statemented children with behaviour problems in his class.
A so called - and I use the term loosely 'friend' requested that when her ds entered secondary that he was not to be put in a class with any SEN children especially NOT to be put in my son's class. I found this out from another 'friend'.
Fast forward 2 years and I have found out that she now believes that her son would have had been better off put in a class with an SEN child. This is because the more SEN children the more TA support given to non statemented children with behavioural problems. Her ds has a class of at least 4 non statememted children with behaviour problems with only the form teacher to control them.

reality....your post was probably the most hurtful and offensive post that's ever been directed at me....i hope you feel proud.

wish i could reply to you reality...even just to defend myself...but i can't see that good for crying....your post just broke me completely.....i've said i'm sorry...couldn't do anymore.

I think enough people have been hurt on this thread now, deserved or not. I think we should leave it at that. We are all human behind our Mumsnet personas, don't forget that. No matter how you feel about a poster, behind that poster is another mum.