Need opinion on Blossom House School

[Marium21]

Hi. I was hoping to get some views on Blossom house School ( Motspur Park) . My son is 8 years old and has ASD. He has a severe speech delay due to the fact that he had glue year twice and only really started talking after his second operation close to his 6th birthday. He is verbal and can talk in short sentences. His reading, writing and congnitive ability is above average. He currently goes to an enhanced learning provision (ELP) in a mainstream school and although he really enjoys the structure and class setting , the ELP does not have a strong speech and language focus and this is holding him back. His EHCP consistently mentions that he is delayed and needs intervention but the school do not specify how much therapy he needs, likely because they cannot provide it. We currently pay for a SLT to go into school every week but can see that it’s not enough. A friend recommended Blossom House school . We visited them last week and he passed the initial assessment. Based on what we have read, we feel the school would be beneficial for him. However it’s very expensive (40k per annum) and we have been told to prepare for a long battle with council to fund it.
I wanted to get input from mumsnetters if they have had any experience with the school and whether they would recommend it. If your kids or anyone else you know went there, did you see a big improvement in their speech and communication? It’s a big decision for us and I would really value your input.

I suggest you move this to the SEN children board - they will be super helpful on this.

Yes move to SEN but lots of helpful mums on here who want to keep far from Sen threads after finishing their battles.

We were in a similar position to you, blossom house looked amazing but was just that bit too far. Your son sounds like he would do well in one of the I can Schools but that’s even further out of london. You can DM me for info if you want, we did lots of appeals and have lots of salt in school now as well as higher rate DLA to fund private sessions.

40k isn't expensive for a specialist independent school. You may well have to go to tribunal but with professionals reports making recommendations that cannot be delivered at a closer/cheaper school, you should have no issue getting Blossom House named. Also look at other specialist independent schools, including residential. You need to be certain that the placement you're fighting for is the best option for your child.

Find a Facebook group called Educational Equality and request to join. You'll get excellent advice and support on there from other parents who have been in the same position.

Thanks everyone. I posted on the SN section as well but didn’t get any responses. Is there a different board? I’m a bit new to mumsnet hence don’t have experience in how best to navigate . I will join the Facebook group . Any other tips on approaching council will also help. So far we are jus planning to tell school that we are considering the provision so that they can authorise the 3 days leave that we will need for his assessment . I will need to figure out how to approach council if he does get in. Since he is relatively high functioning otherwise I think residential might be too much of a change for him. Both my husband and I have jobs in London hence cannot look at schools further out unless we get transportation. Our first impression of Blossom House was positive as it seemed to fit his needs well but need to do a proper visit and speak to some parents to be sure .

The SN boards on here are very quiet these days.

If the school named on your son's EHC Plan is the nearest that can meet his needs, he will be entitled to transport provided by the LA.

I know residential seems like a huge step but my highly academically able DD1 found residential a really positive experience. She's now in a tiny MS boarding school doing GCSEs. Even if you decide residential isn't right, it's helpful to have considered all of the options and for everyone to know you aren't asking for the most expensive provision available.

Just saw this. I don't know the school but it all depends on what state provision is available locally, and whether his needs can be met adequately. Here they have a specialist unit attached to a primary school and a secondary school (both mainstream) specifically for asd who cannot have their needs met in a mainstream classroom but are of average lot higher intelligence, it won't be cheap per student but less than £40k I'm guessing as it shares everything with the school. To get a school named generally their existing school will need to state they cannot educate them. But look into the options, talk to the senco and his care coordinator

We have the 3 day assessment this week so will know a bit more on how the different steps work. There will be decisions needed if he get offered a place . We want to see Abingdon house as well. I’ve heard it’s very good also .I spoke to his private SALT and she said that a setting which is language and communications focused will help him for sure . Ditto for the class teacher . He does go to a specialist provision in mainstream but while they provide the structure and smaller class sizes it seems they cannot meet his language needs ( very little SALT intervention due to low school budgets) and the class teacher said that is the key thing impacting his progress otherwise he is doing quite well. It’s a hard decision for us as he really enjoys his school and has made a few friends but we don’t want the language gap to widen more .

If he has an EHCP and is in specialist provision it doesn’t matter if the school budget is small, he is entitled to what’s in the plan and they need to request more money if they can’t provide the care and support in it.
I am glad you have a boy as both of those schools have very few girls. Also bear in mind that further up the school, Abingdon House has very few pupils and they are slightly higher on the spectrum from what we saw.

Hi Marium21, I'm looking at BH school for my son. Can I ask if your son goes there and did you get LA to fund? we wouldn't be able to afford it but wanted to know if there is even a chance I could get my son a place.

We have just started at Blossom house. Year 8.

Classes of 6-7. Lots of exercise breaks and life skills. Reduced curriculum ideal for my DS so no MFL etc.

Excellent pastoral care .
My Dd has developmental language disorder and we went to tribunal to get a place there after LA insisted on a place at Ricard’s lodge -mainstream school with tiny language base.

Hi Wobblypig,

My son has been offered a place in BH. Is your child in Motspur park?
How has this year been and provision in terms of SLT/OT.

They all have OT and SLT as part of the package and SLT friendly teaching in the standard so they have pictorial aids for timetables etc. it’s what they are set up for .

Thank you Wobblypig. I heard the school has no catering facilities. My son loves hot school lunches and they have a very good menu at his current school.
Do you provide packed lunch ?

Yes. Pack lunches.
. I don’t mean to be rude but most of us at BH have struggled long and hard to get our children the education they deserve. We had been at 2 primary schools who failed my Dd badly prior to this and then offered main stream schooling for secondary school . We needed to home school then take the LA to tribunal. 3 hearings and 10s of thousands of pounds later we got Blossom house. Many have had similar problems. The lunches were not even on our radar. We would have taken the school if they had feed them porridge all day every day.

I know that sounds mean but if you found it was easy to get into Blossom House then you will probably find it easy to get into other schools that may provide hot meals. If you have struggled to get in then take it and accept nothing is perfect even for 50k a year.

Hi @Wobblypig , so glad Ive come across this thread. Its so so difficult to choose specialist school, they are all so different. Please can you tell me what you make of the curriculum at BH, are they able to meet the needs of the more academically able pupils.?

My son 10, asd plus language disorder, is what some may say higher functioning bit still with significant difficulties. Currently in a large mainstream with hardly any provision. We have tribunal in Feb. He has an offer from Blossom House Euston but Im not clear on how well they support pupils who've made enough progress to move onto a more formal national curriculum.

Has anyone here been Blossom House and Abingdon, wondering how they compare in terms of therapies and curriculum.

Thank you for any insight you can give.

They are geared up for children who won’t be able to follow mainstream curriculum . So they work about 2 years behind and offer a limited range of GCSEs and Btecs. If you think your son will be able to take 7 or more GCSEs and pass above 4 then I wouldn’t think it would be the right place for him. There are many more academic challenging schools depending on his needs eg Moat house; Canbury house.

I have been sending my daughters to this school for a couple of years, and I am deeply disappointed with my experience. The administration seems to prioritize business over the well-being of the students. My daughter has been subjected to abuse, including being left alone and locked in a room they refer to as the "calm room."Some staff appear to be dealing with significant personal issues and are not stable enough to provide a safe environment for children. They also hide numerous incidents, particularly if your child is non-verbal. Many parents share my concerns but feel forced to send their children here due to a lack of alternatives.The government funds the school, but they don't use it for essential programs like the EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan). Instead, they exclude children, claiming they are unable to attend. They take advantage of parents' responsibility and trust. I took my daughter out of this school last year, and it was one of the best decisions I made for her well-being.If you care about your child's safety and happiness, especially in the part of the school following the adopted curriculum, I strongly advise you to look elsewhere. Sending your child here may lead to a loss of trust and security. Be very careful.

I have been sending my daughters to this school for a couple of years, and I am deeply disappointed with my experience. The administration seems to prioritize business over the well-being of the students. My daughter has been subjected to abuse, including being left alone and locked in a room they refer to as the "calm room."Some staff appear to be dealing with significant personal issues and are not stable enough to provide a safe environment for children. They also hide numerous incidents, particularly if your child is non-verbal. Many parents share my concerns but feel forced to send their children here due to a lack of alternatives.The government funds the school, but they don't use it for essential programs like the EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan). Instead, they exclude children, claiming they are unable to attend. They take advantage of parents' responsibility and trust. I took my daughter out of this school last year, and it was one of the best decisions I made for her well-being.If you care about your child's safety and happiness, especially in the part of the school following the adopted curriculum, I strongly advise you to look elsewhere. Sending your child here may lead to a loss of trust and security. Be very careful.

Pls what school did you end up sending your child ?