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Independent prep school & Autism

53 replies

Marmitepeanutbutterandhoney · 12/03/2018 20:04

I am having an absolute nightmare trying to find a prep willing to take my DS who has an EHCP and an autism diagnosis. He is high functioning and has no learning disabilities, he does however have anxiety.

I have been really saddened that so many schools will not even entertain the idea of having him.

We have always wished to educate privately, but at the moment we have no options. Does anyone have a child with ASD in a prep and are happy?!?!

OP posts:
sugarplumfairy02 · 16/03/2018 14:17

anyone have any idea of places for 14 year old above average autistic girl other than Limpsfield Grange. Struggling at mainstream private high school.

MeanTangerine · 16/03/2018 14:41

I used to work in a private school.

It didn't select on ability (bright
/musical/sporty kids got bursaries though) and had a relatively high proportion of kids with SEND (still less than state sector). Yes, schools want kids who will make them look good to other parents, whether that's perfect GCSEs, being charming at Open Day or representing England in sport. But they also desperately need money, so if you can pay, you're in (except at some extremely high demand schools).

In terms of paying for additional help - if a child had a statement/EHCP then LA funding could be used to pay for 1-1 support, and parents were free to top that up, if they wished, e.g. a child had 10 funded hours and their parents paid for 1-1 the rest of the time. More ad hoc help wouldn't be charged for.

In general, senior management were supportive of children with SEND. They got in EPs and worked with parents and tried different strategies to help with behaviour management. However, they didn't have much knowledge re: SEND and they didn't fund much training for general teaching staff.

Some teachers were lovely and innovative and put effort into helping. I'm extremely sorry to say I heard some very unpleasant comments from other teachers in the staffroom "Why does he have to be in my class? I didn't come to the private sector because I wanted to teach the special kids" and worse.

In the state sector I've seen sensationally good schools and teachers, and also the other end of the scale.

You can't really generalise about state or private being better for kids with SEND. It depends on the kid and the SEND and the schools and the individual teachers.

FoolandFitz · 17/03/2018 19:03

Hi OP, my DS goes to an independent prep school. There are 5 children in his class alone with various levels of ASD (including DS) and plenty in other years too. The school has been fantastic in bringing on his social skills and managing his anxiety.

There are a few independent schools out there that are inclusive but we found that it's very rare. A lot of the children in DS's school have moved from other independent schools.

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