SEN school in Belfast

[Jacknel]

Hi everyone,

Our family is planning to move from South Africa to Belfast in January '19. However, finding an appropriate school for my 9 year old boy with SEN requirements is proving to be quite confusing and difficult. I do not know anyone in NI who can field my school related questions so I am hoping there are some mumsnet people who can help.

Our son is currently in a private remedial school as his speech development was severely delayed - he only started speaking coherently when he was 6 years old. Added to that he has some concentration difficulties; is dyspraxic; has some working memory issues and is a moderately anxious child. What this means is that his reading and writing is behind that of his peers, and I imagine when we move this will be even more pronounced given that his peers would have started school a year or two earlier than him (children only start school in RSA in the year they turn 6).

While he has learning difficulties he has a high IQ (as assessed by educational psychologists) and has no social, behavioural or physical difficulties.

Can anyone shed light on whether a child like him is likely to be a candidate for a "special school" or would he be placed in a mainstream school with SEN support? I am concerned that from what I can see many of the "special schools" seem to cater for children with quite severe and/or global difficulties which would not be appropriate for him. Yet, I am not sure if the support offered in a mainstream school would be sufficient...?

I came across the website for the Haberton Special School. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge of this school? Or have any suggestions of any other special schools, or mainstream schools that are good at offering SEN support?

In terms of location, we would find accommodation close to whichever school would be best for my son. I think my son will be going into Year 6.

Finally, does anyone know if moving in January - in other words half way through the school year - is going to make it particularly difficult to get a placement at a school?

There are schools for moderate learning difficulties, Longstone in Dundonald is one. I'm not sure about the ones in Belfast but I don't think Harberton is a moderate special school.
There is plans to merge special schools in Belfast and replace them with a mega school. This is being fought by parents atm.

The school I'm in has pupils joining at all times during the year.

I am not an expert by any means,but the type of difficulties your son is facing sound similar to those of children who attend mainstream school with my 7yo DS, and their school very much caters for the children individually.It is a mainstream state school,but I am not sure if all state schools would offer the same level of support.What part of Belfast are you moving to?

Hi....unfortunately the system is clunky and slow. A placement at a special needs school here is only allocated with a statement of special needs which can take 6-12 months. You might need to enrol your child in a nearby primary school until this is sorted. A statement will either give you a place at a special needs school, or 1-2-1 support enabling your son to stay within mainstream. 1-2-1 support within mainstream is often better for a child with a higher IQ but with other learning difficulties, the special needs schools usually cater for children with greater learning disabilities. (I’m over generalising here and other posters may have better knowledge of this). When you are thinking of post primary, Priory Integrated is thought of very highly, it is a mainstream school with a unit for children who need more help. My advice to you would be to email the education authority and ask them for specific advice, or phone them and speak to the special education department.

Would you be in a position to pay for a specialist independent school or would this be a local education authority?

If the latter, you need advice from someone who understands the Northern Ireland SEN Code of Practice to help you request a statutory assessment or similar. This process could take some considerable time after you have moved there and then you may need to appeal to get the school of your choice named.

I'm in England so pretty clueless as to how the NI system may differ from ours. Hopefully someone who has navigated it will be able to help you.

I agree with the previous poster, having worked in many special schools in the Belfast area. Contact the education authority and ask for advice, it might also be helpful if you knew what area of Belfast you would be looking to move to. In general, and this is general, the education provision in Belfast is excellent and there are many mainstream schools that could cope with those difficulties very well. Are you looking for catholic maintained or controlled primaries? As this may narrow down the options considerably.

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to respond.

In terms of location....my husband will be working at Queen's, but from what I can glean Belfast seems relatively small and we could stay almost anywhere and my husband could commute in, right? He currently travels for an hour to work here so would be prepared to travel the same in Belfast.

We are not a religious family, at all. It seems as though there is an "opt out" option at many religious school which is great, but if possible we would prefer one that has a very light touch in terms of religious instruction - whether protestant of Catholic - so as to lessen the culture shock! :) So I am guessing this would mean controlled or integrated schools for us?

Haha yeah, Belfast is small and there are many areas within an hour that are lovely. South Belfast has stranmillis primary which would be walkable to Queens and has excellent reviews. Getting an in year placement might be tough though. It's very oversubscribed. Millennium integrated is out by CarryDuff and has a good name for itself. Others in the area around queens are cranmore integrated and Finaghy Primary school. I have not had any experience of these schools however. I live in south Belfast (can you tell?! Haha) so have little experience of other areas but i do know that there are lots of excellent controlled primaries out by Ballyhackmore/East Belfast. Also Lisburn has lots of good schools but they are very oversubscribed. Get in touch with the education authority to see what they suggest if you will go school then area rather than area then school.

Thanks Thumbellini!
Going to Google all the schools you mentioned.
Since receiving input from mumsnet-ters and googling till my eyes hurt, I have started to think that a learning support unit within a mainstream school might be preferable, given that my boy has mild-moderate difficulties vs severe.

Gosh, it is quite a project to try and sort this all out from the tip of Africa!

I have tried getting in touch with the EA. Will keep on trying.

It's currently a bank holiday here so you won't have any luck until tomorrow if you are ringing. On the site that Harberton is on there are also Oakwood and Glenveagh schools which might also be a good port of call for information. They are both special schools. There is also Cedar lodge in North Belfast which would have a wider range of abilities within it.

Hi Jacknel, I think from your description a mainstream school would be your first port of call . They will assess him for an alternative if the need arises. Otherwise he will receive support at school. My own children have always been in class alongside children with moderate difficulties who have one-to-one support in class (at one stage 4 adults in a class of 30 children).

South Belfast has a plethora of excellent primaries. Check out St Ita’s in the Four winds area (‘outstanding’ assessment), St Joseph’s, Carryduff, and St Bernard’s in the Ravenhill Rd. All very easily accessible to Queen’s. All technically are Catholic schools but very light touch (many, many children attending are the product of mixed marriages so it’s not shoved down throats so to speak).
Good luck!

Thanks HappyHugs.

Its been a while since originally posting, and the research/battling/contacting continues. Will approach all 4 Catholic Schools tomorrow - have been more Controlled orientated. Thank you SO much for your help.

Def a situation as Chocolatecoin described - have to find a mainstream school that can provide for his needs while the EA does its assessment process. (I imagine this would be one-to-one classroom support.) And given that he is starting on the back foot as it is, I dont want him to fall further back at school because he isn't receiving necessary support while he waits for a statement. But have yet to find a school that will provide the support that is needed without a statement. A bit of a chicken and egg situation.

I'm not sure how you're getting on with the maintained sector but wanted to add another one to your list . St Colmans Lambeg has two support units within the main primary school. It's the Belfast side of Lisburn. It's an oversubscribed school in general but not sure about at the age of 9 or the units themselves. Might be worth a nosy.

Hi, I'm joining this late and you may have made your decision but, advising on this is what I do! Many posters are right in that your son may be placed in a mainstream (not SEN) school, not to be confused with Catholic maintained, or grant-maintained (financial title and immaterial in this case). There are a few, though not enough, special schools in Belfast and beyond, and most require low IQ and therefore what's known as MLD or SLD (moderate/severe learning difficulties). These include Harberton, Cedar Lodge and Fleming Fulton in Belfast - none of which would be suitable. Newtownabbey, a few miles north of Belfast hosts several schools similar to these, but also a school for speech and language difficulties called Thornfield. This may be a way to go, however a really good, caring mainstream school seems very appropriate. Please do not be influenced by inspection reports as the system is deeply flawed. I can give you more detail on that if you like. I have worked in the controlled, maintained, special and post-primary sectors as well as further and higher education institutions. I know St Ita's, St Joseph's, lambeg and the others. Catholic schools are not light on ethos, though many families who attend are, if that makes sense. Prayers are said daily and RE should be taught daily. Year 3, 4 and 7 place a big emphasis on the Catholic sacraments. Of course you can withdraw your child from RE on religious grounds and schools like those in Carryduff are lovely, warm schools. However, it is rare not to be part of the lessons and sacraments in these schools. With controlled schools, the amount of emphasis on religion differs depending on the school community - some are to the extreme of creationist fundamentalist and others are very inclusive and respectful of all views. Integrated schools are all-inclusive with a Christian ethos. When they began, this was one of the controversial issues but does not have any negative impact and can benefit the sector in this aspect. In areas where house prices and rents are high, integrated schools may be oversubscribed, such as south Belfast. There are not enough post-primary integrated schools so do consider this ahead of time. Without doubt, Ulidia Integrated would suit as living north of Belfast allows for excellent public transport (very busy by car...but parking at Queens is difficult anyway). It is by the coast and you have a choice of higher house prices (Jordanstown) or mid-range (Glengormley, Carrickfergus, Green island). Ulidia also is renowned for pastoral care. Although I would not encourage looking at league tables and results, as again, the system is flawed, Ulidia does have good results! In this case, you'd look at integrated primary schools in the area of north Belfast and Newtownabbey of which there are several - each with slightly different values. I can think of 4 or 5 off the top of my head so ask if you need more advice. There is also Hazelwood Integrated primary and post-primary on the Whitewell road in Belfast with beautiful residential areas off the nearby Antrim road. The website to give you information on integrated schools is NICIE.org. If your child is placed in mainstream education, he is not guaranteed to receive help, even with diagnoses. The focus on scores and funding has a big impact on provision. This is why you need a school renowned for caring for each individual child. It's very difficult to assess a school from where you are but consider asking someone to visit for you, speak to principals on the phone, email them, get a feeling for the place or, employ an education consultant who knows primary education and understand your needs and the dyspraxia/memory etc.
Reports written for your son. The right teacher and school will ensure your child thrives even if adequate support isn't provided by the state. Please always remember, that at any stage you are not happy with the care and attention your child receives and things cannot be improved or rectified with the school, it is perfectly normal to move him. Parents worry about this especially where there is anxiety, but the right school will nurture him and his anxiety will ease.
I really hope you get the right advice and that your son experiences a happy school-life where he can thrive.

Hi @blueberrybytes
Sorry to resurrect an old thread. I'm originally from NI but havent lived there in years. We are thinking of moving to Belfast but my youngest is 6 and has an EHCP (the English version of a statement) and goes to special school. He has ASD and is very clever, but he's also very vulnerable - socially more than anything. I think he'd need special provision if we moved to NI. We haven't picked which area to live in yet, but are looking at South Belfast/cultra/ards/ as far as Lisburn ish area. Any advice? Also do you know if we'd need to start the whole statement process from scratch or if his EHCP will translate?

Hi @TammyTwoSawnson,

There are quite a few special schools between Belfast and Newtownabbey ( which is the other direction, North of Belfast). Depending on the level of care and support needed, he could be best placed in any one of these. For instance, although Thornfield www.thornfieldhousesch.co.uk/ is for speech and language, many children have ASD and the associated language difficulties. Rosstulla www.rosstulla.co.uk/ is classed as a school for those with moderate learning difficulties so may not suit, however there have been one or two have gone on to third level education. You can rule out Jordanstown jordanstownschool.org/ as this is for deaf and visually impaired students specifically. Hillcroft www.hillcroftschool.co.uk/ provides for severe challenges but don't be thrown by this; a child could have severe social challenges but also be high functioning academically as per my last understanding, of course you'd need to check. These are the schools North of Belfast which I wouldn't rule out unless you need to live South of the city for family or work etc. It's a beautiful place to live as it starts the Antrim coastline.

In Belfast: www.cedarlodgeschool.co.uk is very popular for children struggling socially, I don't know how they cater for academic learners, you'd have to speak to them.
www.flemingfulton.org.uk/department is a wonderful school but caters for severe difficulties.
www.mitchellhouseschool.com/ would not be appropriate so you can also rule this out. They cater for physical and severe difficulties.
www.harbertonschool.co.uk/ could well be suitable as they cater for a wide range of needs and they are a feeder school for both mainstream and special post-primary schools.

South of Belfast:
www.cliftonschool.org.uk/ can be ruled out also.
Lakewood is tiny and doesn't have a website.
www.parkviewspecialschool.co.uk/ is in Lisburn but I don't know much about it, so worth investigating.
www.torbankschool.org.uk/ in Dundonald can be ruled out as it's also for severe difficulties.

There are some mainstream schools that incorporate SEN units or formal provision such as Lisnasharragh, Orangefield & Elmgrove but I would strongly advise a more individualised conversation based on your family's needs before considering such a school.

Depending on your child's specific needs, you may consider a mainstream primary school and the integrated sector is particularly suitable up to a certain level of need.

The bottom line though is that the EANI (Education Authority NI) would make the decision for you regarding a special school, based on where you live and the child's EHCP. With this in mind, you'll maybe consider your preference and choose where to live based on that. The same applies to the integrated sector as each school will have admissions criteria which include proximity. However as your child has already been at school, they either will or will not have places in that year group. In case you don't know, the cut-off here is 30June/1July for birthdays.

When considering other mainstream schools, your family lifestyle will likely be a consideration; social relationships, religious practice, level of diversity are important factors for many families.

As regards the EHCP, www.senac.co.uk/what-we-do is a good advice provider. There is a system by which you transfer; again depending on the school/ area it can differ in how long it takes but not to the point where it is detrimental to his placement. I don't think there is any formal edpsych assessment or anything too time consuming. Check with Senac or EANI.

www.eani.org.uk/parents/types-of-school/school-type/special-schools is a useful link
Hope this helps, any further questions, just ask.
Good luck,