moving to oxford - autistic daughter..

[RainbowBear]

I am about to wrench my family from London and move to oxford this summer. MY dd is slightly autistic (not statemented) and has some social communication difficulties. she will have one year left of primary school and then secondary. cannot decide where to live. cherwell school looks great but I worry it is very big and will suit a sassy, confident child, not my dd who will be totally overwhelmed with price. ideally would do state school, and think often special needs provision is best here anyway. Ideas? we will probably rent for a year before we buy, so school catchment area is all...Matthew Arnold school looks good, but catchemnt area a bit fiddlier... would love any insight or advice. wil also post on special needs thread.

Cherwell is a BIG school. Great, but large and catchment is actually very tight.
Have you thought about moving somewhere like Eynsham (Barts is a very good school, though I don't know about their special needs provision)

tbh, it depends on where you want to live in Oxford, if you're buying or renting, and what your price range is. Is private an option?

private possibly an option but I would like to stay with state - for moral and financial reasons! but never say never...

I had thought of eynsham but been cautioned about the traffic getting into oxford and I assume I will work there at some point.. husband working in north oxford/ wolvercote area.

thanks for getting back to my diverse set of queries, appreciate it. we plan to rent before we buy though if we find something quickly we could buy. also need to find a primary to take both kids first.. which is in the secondary school catchment area - so this first decision, of where to live, (rent or buy) is crucial for the whole school panning out thing..
I currently live in London in a great community - kids in and out of each other's houses, quite old fashioned in that respect and I love this. so a good community feel is top of my list I suppose..

Traffic from Eynsham can be a nightmare tbh, but it's only about 6 miles out. If you're heading for north Oxford area then it shouldn't take more than half an hour (I come in from Witney and do it in 45 mins most mornings)

interesting, thank you. What is Witney like? someone told me it is "up and coming" which sounded like fun..!

Its a market town, but a bit more interesting than somewhere like Abingdon (in my opinion). We really like it, despite the commute into Oxford (which is the only downside as far as we're concerned).

There's also a grammar school there, which might be worth looking into. One of the secondary schools has an outstanding OFSTED as well.

By the way... this may not be your top choice at the moment, but you may be interested to know that there is an active home educating community in the Oxford/Abingdon area, with all sorts of activities going on for different ages. My daughter is the same age as yours and is always busy!

If you find an area which you like but where the primary school has space only for your son, or if it turns out later that secondary school isn't a good match for your daughter, home education might be an option to consider. It can also be a short-term arrangement in a crisis, e.g. if your daughter is very unhappy at secondary school and you need a stopgap solution while sorting out a different school.

Good luck with the move!

Thanks both Saracen and Jareth the GoblinKing. great names

the thought of spending more time with my daughter (with home educating) is terrifying - however it was something I was very interested in before I had kids, and I take your point about places having space for one child and not both. She does like the structure of school and routines, and I desperately need a break from her sometimes, as she can be quite intense and frustrated (with me - she is no trouble at all at school, saves it all up for home..)

Yes, I can imagine! My older dd was rather hard work and she isn't even on the autistic spectrum! Still, some of my friends who have children with ASDs say that once the main source of stress in their lives has been removed, they become much more pleasant to be around and having them at home all the time isn't as bad as they'd feared.

I'm sure it's still no walk in the park, but maybe not so bad as it appears.

Anyway, I hope you find the right way forward and both of your children land in places where they are happy. Good luck with the move!!