Mon-Fri boarding for my 16 y/o with EHCP in a remote location,..

[Cassieandteen]

Hello. DS is doing exams this year and has expressed interest in agriculture. We have found him a college in Bedfordshire so he'd need to board in the week, it's quite a remote location, his dad (my ex) thinks he's not ready, I think it could help him gain independence, but I'm worried that if the people there are not his peeps then it could all backfire. It's 5 miles from nearest town so he'd be very reliant on the campus, though his grandparents don't live far away. He's got an EHCP so slightly younger in his mind than many his age, especially when it comes to learning his way around, but it could be so good for him and the perfect time, and we don't have a huge amount of other options. Anyone got any wisdom or similar experience?

I'm assuming it is your nearest agricultural college.
Mine is at one in Hants that also takes boarders so I gave looked at the info out of general interest.
At ours they seem to look after boarders well (there should be an Ofsted report that covers it). The over 18s are separate to the under 18s, there are meal plans and activities.
Depending on the course there may be opportunities for out of hours work experience (eg putting animals to bed).

Whether he could cope very much depends on his needs however.

And it saves travel. Some buses for DD's college set off 2hrs before college. If we drive DD it takes 30mins, but door to door by bus is best part of an hour.

(In further education there is a BTEC thread that might be of interest.)

Would staying at grandparents in the week and taking college bus in from there be at all feasible?

Have they said they can meet his needs and offered a place?

I suspect your child is at the same placement as mine 😂

He doesn’t board but he has friends that do and I’ve heard nothing but positive things about it. The pupils seem to get looked after quite well. There are a number of pupils there, boarding at the expense of their local authority.

Did think of this, but it puts a lot of pressure on them, they're 80 and if they're away, or poorly, it would be too much though I am sure he can spend the odd night there and they'll be happy to pick him up/drop him off.

The college we are looking at is Shuttleworth in Bedfordshire.... also hoping we might get funded though if not it's 5k for the year which seems reasonable!

@LoveSandbanks if Hants then it will be! Mine has an EHCP (gained in y12) and I can't really fault the support they have given her since she got it. And such a lovely campus too.

It's not the nearest, that's Capel Manor in Enfield, but no boarding and would take forever from where we live. His school is a journey by public transport so being onsite would be a refreshing change. I'm more worried he won't enjoy how intense it is living & working with peers, and if he doesn't make friends, he might want to leave. I'm sure he would cope and probably flourish, but his dad is on the back foot about it all, and he himself isn't sure either!

Is it Sparsholt?

Yes for me! DD has done 3 years of Animal Care with a year out, and is now doing a Supported Internship.

Would this course be free (because it's his local college)? If so, would it be an option for him to get there by taxi? Depending on the cost of that, might be the same or less than the residential college much further away.

It's not local, it's the other side of London, it's all free as education funded til age 25 for EHCP holders. But over an hour by car. Might be worth looking into these options some more though as we all loved the place!

I have heard some quite eye-opening stories from parents who had children boarding there

It sounded like they had a lot of freedom and a lot of drugs and access to cars which they drove when they had taken drugs or drunk. And the girls were ending up in quite vulnerable situations. The mum who told me the stories seemed to think it was all part of normal life though she didn't seem remotely shocked so maybe for some people they expect this to be how their teenagers spend their time

And of course there may well have been groups of borders who weren't getting up to this kind of stuff

That sounds like a possible option 🙂 You might even get some funding towards travel expenses...
Good luck!

You could also maybe do a combination of public transport and taxi eg tube across London (usually much quicker than driving), then taxi from end of the tube to college. Not sure if he could cope with that re his specific SEN issues, but might work.

I can't comment on the specific colleges, but I think something else to consider is how structured they make after classes and evenings for the boarders and how he would do with that level of structure. Too little (for him, personally), and things don't get done that need to; too much, and it feels stifling. And also how much wiggle room there is, especially as he has an EHCP – what's the scope to provide a bit more or less structure or more flexible structure if that's what he needs?

@ArtificialStupidity !!

He's got an interview. They seem well-versed in SEND so I don't anticipate they wouldn't be able to handle him. He's unlikely to need much outside what the 'normal' intake do... issue is more convincing him that it's a good idea to live outside of home in the week.

Yes this is interesting. He has so many extra classes he's very used to a lot of structure and having to go from one to the other. Evenings I can't imagine he'd be up for doing much if they're outside and up early every day. But great ideas for things he can raise in the interview.

It's so near the M25 junction that traffic is pretty horrific until you get into the countryside part of Enfield where the college is. But there may be a solution we haven't accessed yet! Thanks for suggestions

I've heard good things, it's a bit far for us, but my best friend's daughter went there and is now a police detective!

Yes they do a uniformed services course or some such.

Why not listen to his father?
I would not send a child with special needs who is "younger than his age" to a boarding school. Could he do any preparatory course close to home so that he grows up a bit first? He could be vulnerable to predatory males.

My dc boarded for 6th form and they needed to be able to look after themselves, it’s wasn’t set up for those with additional support needs. Also whilst education is funded your local authority may not be obliged to fund out of area so look at the total cost.

OP did you know that Capel Manor College have campuses all over London? There’s a brilliant one in Crystal Palace which has excellent SEN