Please recommend private boarding school with ADHD support around London

[DzSev]

Dearest mum,

My family resides in Switzerland and considering a boarding option for our son in England. He has been diagnosed with ADHD in the 3rd grade and is taking medication. He is a very smart boy and kind, did well at school previously but recently completely lost his motivation.

Most importantly, his self-esteem and confidence are extremely low, has completely lost his self-belief and I am very worried about my son. We would really value a school that can build his resilience and determination, build his confidence to achieve social and academic success. At the moment he chooses to surround himself with inappropriate crowd and we desperately need to remove him and put him in right environment, hence we are considering boarding option.

If anyone have any good experience with such school and is close to Gatwick or Heathrow, please be kind to recommend. It does not need to be a special school but is open with ADHD, and supports such children. It would be 9th year and full boarding, at least to start with. Thank you so much, your feedback is appreciated.

I don’t think extracting him from his support network will do much to bolster his self esteem to be very honest!

Children with ADHD are far more vulnerable to addiction and poor decision making.

Keep him close by and support him through his emotions on a daily basis.

Doesn’t sound like boarding school is suitable for him, he needs family support. Unless you could get him into a special school but they’re usually incredibly expensive

Yes we are looking into special schools too of course.

Sorry to hear your Son is struggling! There are some great boarding schools around London, I think you want to make sure you pick one that isn't too high pressured and instead pick that has lots of activities that your son could get involved in outside of the classroom to help to build his confidence/self-esteem. And of course one with good SEN support that understands ADHD. My daughter has ADHD and school got suddenly very hard for her (despite being very bright) from Year 9 onwards so I can emphasis with what you are going through.

I'll ask some friends for recommendations. There's one boarding school that springs immediately to mind where a friend of mine's son has gone to, it's very neutering & inclusive and he's been happy their: Shiplake (Henley - not far from Heathrow). https://www.shiplake.org.uk/

Good luck finding somewhere!

Also here's another one worth looking at, takes a different approach to some of the others and has great reputation. Strong creatively (if you son is creative?) Bryanston.

https://www.bryanston.co.uk/

In the U.K. our state schools are significantly better at supporting additional needs than private. A private special school may be your best bet

If you are in Switzerland there is a Facebook group called Parenting Children with Disabilities and Neurodiversities in Switzerland.
it’s a great supportive group.
Some of the International schools eg ZIS are good for students with adhd.
Boarding school I cannot recommend - from experience of ND friends. Children often feel abandoned (even if that isn’t the intention) and struggle - either at the time of later

@DzSev , there is a boarding school section on MN, go back to the education section and you will find it and it mentions lots of schools for ND.

If you have a massive budget try
Bruern Abbey otherwise consider Bede's near Eastbourne but you need to visit and carefully assess the other pupils to see if it's the right environment.

Bruern Abbey is only weekly boarding though?

Yes sorry Bruern won't be any good.

Hi dear,
im also going through the same. Considering Boarding school in the UK for my 14 year old for next year. He has ADHD and dyslexia. We’re really struggling academically to try to find a school that can give him the right support with non of the added pressure, and focus more on creative and sports.

can you share the list of schools that you’ve come across?

much appreciated

If your DS is already 14, then you are going to struggle with finding any school willing to take him unless he has turned 14 in the last 3 months and is currently in Y9 - even then you will be looking for an occasional place.

Boarding schools generally start in Y9 or in Y12 and it's unusual to start at other times.

If your DS is currently in Y10, then no school is likely to accept him into Y11 as he will have missed almost the entire GCSE course by that point. If in Y9, then watch if the school runs a 2 year or 3 year course.

I have a 14 year old DD with high IQ, ADHD, dyslexia and an very strong interest in music/arts and zero interest in STEM, so have an idea of what you are looking for.

Private schools that cater for academically able kids are results focused and most are somewhat allergic to SEN and especially any SEN that might have behavioural issues. The very mildest of dyslexia, or high functioning ASD where they are just slightly eccentric but super brain boxes at maths is about what they were up for.

Schools that were potentially open to SEN that we found were Bedes, Rugby, Frensham Heights, St Edwards Oxford.

All of those should tick the arts and sports side for you - except possibly Frensham (which is a bit of an odd place).

You might have a look at St Chris in Letchworth.

Thanks for the recommendations dear. I will definitely look into it. I am still new to the UK education system. My son will be moving from the Middle-East, saudi; and the grading system is slightly off by one year. Yes he is 14 but is actually 1 year behind, and currently in grade 8, which I think is an equivalent to grade 9 in the UK . I hope they don’t admit him based on age, but based on actual learning level.

Will do. Thanks dear 🌷

The UK tends to be very much geared to actual age. A lot will depend on his birthday.

It can be a big problem for boarding schools if they are too much out of year group and especially for Sports which are very much by age. It's more common for private schools to accept children who are ahead of their peer group than those who are behind, but you'd need to speak to individual schools on a case by case basis.

If he turned 14 between September 1st 2023 and now, he should be in Year 9, if he turned 14 between September 1st 2022 and August 31st 2023 then he should be in Year 10.

I realise this is an old thread but wondering how you got on @DzSev ?

I came across your post as I'm searching for the same kind of school for my child.

Are you aware of the Ecole d'humanite in the Bernese Oberland?

Hope you found somewhere that's a great fit, but if not, the Ecole is a really amazing environment in general and also for SEN. Friends with DC there are extremely happy to have found the school.