SEN school or mainstream

[TNL]

my daughter is 3 and I’ve written about her before , I’m looking for advise around making the decision for primary school or a Sen school .

my daughter is currently speech delayed ( has about 60 single words / signs reliably but this is an improvement as a year ago she said 3 words with no gestures ) delayed in her social / emotional development ( on her own agenda ) and is likely autistic. My daughter struggles to wait for the other children to finish eating and will walk off , she also doesn’t understand the concept of waiting so will leave an activity if there is no instant gratification . We are working on this . I worry she lacks the conforming behaviours reception may expect . We have input from portage , have had private speech therapy and we have nursery full on board with us which is incredibly helpful . My daughter however is as expected in all other areas of development.

how did people make the decision as to what school to apply for ? We are currently requesting an EHCP . I am absolutely terrified of her starting reception and not being able to communicate her needs , wants or if something has happened . Her understanding is good/okay , more in some areas and less in others . I also worry about the gap between her peers growing further .

my concern with a SEN school is I feel strongly she should be given the opportunity to access the general curriculum and have the opportunity to thrive regardless of my worries. I worry about some of the more challenging behaviours other children may have as she is quite sensitive and would be scared of loud shouting etc .

our other option is a primary school with a resource base , with a sensory room , its own garden , school trips and opportunities to dip in and out of the mainstream classes . I feel this would be the best of both worlds but am terrified of making the wrong decision.

can anyone with children or have had children with similar difficulties advise what they chose and how they got on etc

Is go with the resource base. She sounds similar to my twins, they were diagnosed with Autism at 7 and are now thriving at a mainstream secondary with a good SEND department in my job I go in to lots of special schools and ehils they are absolutely right for lots of kids my 2 wouldn't have the opportunities for sports, music and dance (all of which they are good at) that they do now.

Primary resource base sounds like a good place to start.

If she's 3 she's unlikely to have an EHCP in place before she starts school. Depending on your area there may not be the choice for her to access an alternative provision without an EHCP in place which may mean you don't actually have a choice.

Has anyone suggested delaying school start by a year?

I would go for the primary with a resource base (though only if she actually has a place in it. Most resource bases are allocated by the council SEND teams not by the school itself so don’t presume she will have access to the resource base, make sure she does).

fundamentally this is a graduated approach and from there she will either go into mainstream full time, stay in resource base provision with some mainstream or it will become clear she needs to go to specialist full time. It’s the best option as it keeps all options open whilst meeting her needs at present.

It’s not unheard of for children with high SEND need. Given it’s supposed to be a 20 week process, then applying now means it’s entirely possible.

She is a summer born baby so we have deliberately left enough time for the EHCP process to go through with extra time . All the professionals are in agreement and are confident she stands the best possible chance of getting an EHCP . All we as parents can do is try our best and advocate as hard as we can . I have been extremely fortunate that our nursery are exceptionally good and have been implementing strategies and did all the necessary referrals when she was 2 . Maybe your area may be particularly difficult .

Thank you for that , I will make a note to make sure it’s all very specific. Ofcource that’s all EHCP dependant . I just want to make sure if we are granted one I have made the decision of which school is named / asked for

Oh that’s reassuring to hear . May I ask , did they have any speech difficulties and if so did you find they got better with starting reception ? Along with understanding etc

I don't know how much variation there is in different areas, but here you could definitely get it through by next September. I started DS's in January and it was in place before he started school in the September.

At primary mine was SEN class in mainstream school. Most learning took place in the small class but they joined the others for art, sports, trips, etc. Best of both worlds.

I think it is far more about the individual schools rather than just looking at type. Special schools in particular vary a lot. Have you looked at the possibilities and spoken to parents? The advice sought during the EHCNA will (should! But sadly LA reports are often poor.) help you understand DD’s needs and what support she requires. If you look at a base/unit, you should also look at different ones because they can run very differently to each other. For example, in some pupils are expected to mostly attend mainstream lessons and in others they spend most to the time in the unit/base/provision.

There is enough time for an EHCP is things go smoothly for you. However, you do need to be prepared for the possibility that you don’t have an EHCP by the time DD starts school. LAs regularly act unlawfully by refusing despite being faced with watertight evidence and forcing parents to appeal.

Thank you , I would love the opportunity to speak to parents with children of a similar ability but unfortunately I’m so new to it all I haven’t found the others nor do I know where to look . I’ve spoke to some friends who used to work in a few local Sen schools . There so so much to factor in isn’t there !

I have a particular primary in mind and I haven’t been but I have been a video tour . It looks very promising but there is so much that is unknown . Nothing is ever easy

Yes speech delay identified at 2 year check had SALT intervention until about 8/9 did get better in fits and starta don't really have learning needs though academically they are ok it's more social/language and then a small amount of physical/medical stuff as they were prem. They still both have needs and an echp but these are things like nurture groups, quiet place to eat lunch, leaving class early to transition when quiet etc. they are managed well in mainstream

Try contacting your local parent carer forum. They may run parent groups. If they don’t, they may be able to tell you of any others locally. They don’t necessarily have to have DC with a similar presentation to be able to tell you some inside information/personal experience.

I fought for mainstream throughout because my dd is autistic but highly intelligent, i viewed the sen school suggested for her at 5 and they weren’t learning anything (she could already read at age 10 level) then again at 12 they wanted to put her into a special unit and the unit didn’t do GCSEs - she has 12 at a*!

you have to work out what your child needs, but also remember things can change and they may need to switch school type later. I’d start with mainstream though if no cognitive issues

That’s really helpful thank you , she’s not behind in her learning although her language delay may create a learning gap . I really don’t want to take away the opportunity for her to thrive in a mainstream, yes with extra support first. Like you say things change so much as she is improving each day , yes not as much as some but she is continuing to make good improvements which is see as a positive!

can I ask , did they recommend a school type to you ? I got told they had to remain non bias and wouldn’t recommend a type of school . Only tell me her needs and I would need to make that decision

My child is starting an SEN school as I feel its the best choice for them, although we did also look at mainstream schools. Definitely contact any schools you are interested for
open days/evenings when you can look around.

We applied for the EHCP also at age 3 and had it back just before xmas and DC is starting school in September so you’ve allowed yourself plenty of time.

The LA’s reports won’t state a specific school. However, reports should state more than needs. They should cover needs, provision and outcomes.

When you have the reports, if you read between the lines, you can see what the LA’s reports are recommending is required. For example, a maximum class size of 6 can’t be provided in mainstream. SALT and OT embedded through the whole school day is unlikely to be possible in MS.

Having said that, you have a right to a mainstream education if that is your preference unless mainstream would be incompatible with the efficient education of others and no reasonable steps could overcome this.

Unfortunately, many LA reports are poor.

DD (asd) didn’t talk until 4

She went into mainstream and school and us agreed if things didn’t work out by Christmas, we would look at SEN options.

The mainstream environment made her blossom. It was a wild few months.

I will say, High School was MUCH better in hindsight in terms of support for her, they were always one step ahead.