Looking for private school with SEN in Brighton/Hove area

[chuilc]

Hi,
My 10 yr old dd was recently diagnosed with Dyscalculia, poor working memory and slow processing speed. We are moving to the Brighton/Hove area this Summer and would love to find a nurturing and supportive independent school that has a good SEN department. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I don't know about the provision for dyscalcula, but in looking for a school for my dyslexic DS, his prep school head suggested we look at Bede's school and Seaford College which would both be possible from Brighton I think.

My daughter who is dyslexic is currently at Hurstpierpoint College and their LS department has been outstanding with her for the past four years. They have a superb team led by a lady whose own children have SEN so she totally 'gets' everything. I could not rate them highly enough. Definitely worth talking to.

agree re Hurst, brilliant! would also look at The Drive Prep School in Hove for any additional needs.

Lancing Prep at Hove is a fantastically supportive school & I cannot speak more highly of it. I'm biased as my DS went there. He chose Bedes Senior at year 9 over Lancing College & that's an excellent school. The support on offer was second to none. We declined a scholarship to The Drive Prep for DD some years ago & we've since heard of two others who were offered scholarships there. Both accepted but pulled their children out within 18mths. We declined the scholarship because it didn't feel 'right' plus DD, who like her brother had dyslexia, would of been in a mixed reception/yr 1 class of only 7 pupils. This didn't give her an adequate opportunity for friendships. DS has friends who went to senior schools at Hurst & Sion, which is in Worthing, the next town to Hove. Both schools have prep depts & also there's Lancing Prep at Worthing. I know they're all good with mild SEN so you have a lot of choice. Almost forgot Brighton College (& prep) which has a special unit, however we found the school a little too pressurised for us. Seafood College may seem a reasonable distance but it means travelling through Worthing & the traffic is a nightmare. We discounted this school for that reason.

Hope I've helped & not made your choice more complicated

Forgot to add Brighton & Hove High. That's an all girls school & I don't know much about how they support SEN. It's a more academic school, but it's worth looking into if your child is particularly bright. Also consider Roedean. It's where my DD went & like your child, she also has processing & memory issues alongside her dyslexia. The support she was given helped her enormously.

Do not discount the state options. You might end up with the right one for your child?

Totally agree re Lancing Prep - Hove and Worthing, both brilliant.

Shoreham College (in southwick) is great school also :)

Steer clear of Brighton & hove high school, it's awful, the prep school is great due to the superb head however the senior school is dreadful, the head recruits newly qualified teachers as they are so much cheaper and she is very defensive if you complain. The staff have no respect for her as its more a case of if your face fits rather than if you are the best person for the job.
The senior staff members are weak and not respected by the pupils, parents and the majority of the staff.
Several of my DD's friends were there but as soon as they gave notice for their DD's the pupil and the parents were basically dismissed and ignored.
Steer clear of this school, it's such a shame as it was one of the best schools in Brighton years ago.
Lancing would be my first choice

Brighton College has one of the best SEN centres in the country. I'm a student going into the Upper Sixth there and have many friends who use the centre on a regular basis. From what they say the staff could not be kinder and the facilities they have are excellent.

BC does have a reputation for being pressurised but speaking from personal experience I have not felt this much at all and certainly not in the way that others on this website have speculated about how the school operates and treats its pupils.

I was a fairly average student at CE, I only got one A* and the rest were As and Bs. There were people with much lower CE grades than me and despite this the school helped us all to do amazingly well at GCSE. This was not through pressure but through dedicated support by teachers who are some of the most hardworking people I have ever met in my life. They are particularly supportive of those with SEN and will organise extra clinics and out of time table lessons for pupils free of charge if they feel they need it.

If it's not too late I would definitely consider BC for your child. My experience above is of the College but if you are looking at the Prep or Pre-Prep you might need to check the website as I didn't attend those parts of the school. If you have any more questions I would be more than happy to help.