Dame Alice Owens if your child has additional needs

[orangeblosssom]

The head of SEN is abysmal. He has very little knowledge about conditions such as ASD or ADHD.
The headteacher mentioned in an open day in the past, that the school is only for academic children and not for kids with special needs which is major red flag.

The fact that people can be academic and have additional needs is not catered for.

Neuro diversity is not acceptable in this school.

Sorry, is there a question in there somewhere?

I saw the headmistresses video on the online open evening when we were in lockdown , I was horrified about their attitude towards SEN .. i'm surprised they can call themselves a state school.. just awful.. If your child has a special need just don't send them there

Does there need to be?

This is how some schools get way with de facto selection.
They tell parents of kids with SEN that they aren't a suitable school, so the parents self select away from them.

Anecdotally one of the 2 comps in our town does this, and the other has a good reputation for SEN, which means it gets a bit swamped.

In fairness, DAOs is not a typical comprehensive. It's always been super selective, concentrating on Russell Group uni and with a damned difficult entrance criteria. I'd doubt children with special needs would be happy there.

If they get government money .. SEN children should be having their needs met

My child got in via the academic entrance exam.
A person can be very intelligent and have additional needs. Einstein may have had ADHD.

So SEN children cannot be academic? Go to any Cambridge College and you will see plenty of autistic students plus Einstein would probably be deemed SEN. What a nasty, small minded assumption to make.

Neurodiversity describes the variation in the
human experience of the world, in school, at
work, and through social relationships. Driven
by both genetic and environmental factors, an
estimated 15-20 percent of the world's
population exhibits some form of
neurodivergence.
1-3 Neurodivergent
conditions, including attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism
spectrum disorder (ASD)4
are overrepresented
in STEM fields.

People with ADHD can often be very creative and think out of the box. In mathematics, they may be able to solve problems in novel ways.

Unfortunately, the attitudes held by the head and SEN lead are not about being inclusive and celebrating neuro diversity as a positive.

OP, I think you are being unreasonable. You chose to apply to a school which focuses on a particular type of child but then moan when your child does not fit in with its model and it won't meet your child's specific needs.
That is what many selective schools do. Much better to send your child to a comprehensive where there is a much wider range of children.

Why should she send a very bright but neurodiverse child to a local comp? Why shouldn’t her child have a seat at the table of a selective, highly academic school?

Such a backwards way of thinking.

Such a backwards way of thinking.

I think the backwards way of thinking is our super selective elitist education system.

This school is only partially selective state comprehensive.
There are children who are accepted via sibling policy and through local catchment area.

So SEN children cannot be academic? Go to any Cambridge College and you will see plenty of autistic students plus Einstein would probably be deemed SEN. What a nasty, small minded assumption to make.

No, that wasn't meant to be a small minded assumption. I know how DAOs operates. it is not the typical comprehensive. Children with any special needs are not made overly welcome - neither do they have all their needs met. In short, they are ignored. I have a special needs (autistic) daughter. I don't make nasty assumptions about any child - I know how difficult it can be. Whilst my daughter, for example, could have equalled any mathematical achievement, she would have been totally overwhelmed by the noise and sensory aspects of any large school. Factors like this are misunderstood.

Why shouldn't a neurodivergent child who is academically able go to a school that is very academic? That is how their needs get met. It is for the school to meet their legal responsibilities around support for SEN. Completely unacceptable to suggest that academically able kids should be excluded from reaching their potential in an environment geared up to that because the school can't be bothered to do what it is legally required to do.

Why shouldn't a neurodivergent child who is academically able go to a school that is very academic?*

I am not saying they shouldn't- I think it's appalling that some schools refuse to cater for the needs of the child and get away with being so open about it.
However, whilst we have a system that allows schools to select and pick a certain type of child then these schools get away with acting in this way.
I don't live far from the school and some of my DCs friends have been heavily tutored to get into the school, many of the parents are attracted by the type of child who attends.

In Dame Malice, 65 children are admitted via the academic route. There are 200 in a year.

Just because a child does an exam to get in, it does not mean they cannot have additional needs.

It is often the case that during transition periods, moving from year 6 to year 7, that these conditions get diagnosed.

The headteacher indicated she did want kids with SEND in the school during the open day and many parents will respond by self selecting a different school.

What happens to the children who have additional needs and their diagnosis is not made until later on in secondary school?

These kids do not have their needs met by the current SEND set up.
The SENCO lead does not have up to date training and does not advocate for these kids. They are blamed for their symptoms.

Children then develop school instigated trauma and as a result school refusal.

What happened to inclusion and diversity?

You are right and not right. Any school not interested to have a trouble pupil.
First of all, ask yourself how will feel you child with ASD and AHDH in the school with PAN 200. Will he/she have a place in the school where he would hide? Where child will sit, what kind of attention you expect from teachers? How children will react? Any cases of bullying such children? Maybe small PAN is better? Even how school built is important for such kids.
When you know weaknesses of your child, you will know what ask from SENCO. Even your doctor can send some instructions to the school. And if needed a psychologist can be invited by the school.

Trouble pupil! I have no words 😢

Unfortunately, yes. This is what our family went through. Schools treated our child as a troubled pupil. It took us more than seven years of fighting before we were heard. Schools preferred to exclude from all activities and punish with detentions, then change own approach.☹️

In a perfect world every single school would be super inclusive but the reality is some are clearly not welcoming of sen students .it's wrong but at the same time I wouldn't knowingly send my child to one expecting them to change . It would be far too high risk strategy for my child.

Oxford and Cambridge have exceptionally high numbers of students who are Neurodiverse. Every school should and must be inclusive.