Best Hackney/Islington primary for HF ASD

[readingrecord]

Hi there, any advice please for a Hackney or Islington primary for a child with HF ASD and EHCP.

When I toured Shoreditch Park Primary (a long time ago) they seemed to have good provision for ASD. I've no personal experience though

My friends with kids at William Tyndale (in Islington) have said that the autistic kids seem to have a lot of support (aides etc) although I don't know whether you can get in, even with an EHCP

If the child has an EHCP naming the school, then they get a place; 'having an EHCP naming the school' is not just an oversubscription criterion like 'sibling' or 'child of member of staff'.

OK I guess what I meant was "not sure you can get an EHCP naming William Tyndale"

Thank you, Terentia and MarchingFrogs. We are actually in Hackney, although close to the boundary, so not sure how it works with out of borough schools. Any experience of ASD kids at Shacklewell, Grasmere, William Patten, Halley House, Betty Layward? Also, the indie Children's House, at a push?

It's a Jewish school so you may have discounted it, but I'd really recommend a chat with Simon Marks, if the location works.

As you have an EHCP, I think in your situation William Tyndale sounds like the best bet. They've had an incredible reputation with SEN for a long, long time ie 20+ years. Contact IPSEA for advice as you can get Hackney to pay for transport if you prove it is the only school that can meet his needs. It's important to note that parental preference is written in the law and is just as important as everything else. The only thing you'd have to prove is that the cost of him attending William Tyndale isn't an insufficient use of public funds. Seeing as it's a state school and your other options are also going to require transport, it's unlikely they'd win that argument.

Alternatively I'd look at Grasmere as it's one form entry so nice and small, if also has no uniform so no issues with scratchy polyester. Hackney has a few resource bases for kids with ASD, so that's why schools like Shoreditch Park come up, but unless your child has one of the 10 places, he will be in the mainstream school full time.

You can also name a fully independent school on your child's EHCP, and the LA will have to pay for it. You will most likely need to do this via appeal, but as you're a phase transfer your appeal will be heard quicker. I would suggest you look at specialist private schools that cater to HF autistic children, rather than mainstream independents. They don't usually have very good support in all honesty. My DD is starting at an independent specialist in Sept, and we managed to get it without appeal, so it is possible but you need knowledge on SEND law and a lot of time on your hands. Have a look at IPSEA, it's very helpful.

Is your son starting Reception in Sept 2024?

My DD is 15 so my suggestions won't be suitable for you. What is the primary need on the EHCP? You don't need to worry about travel, Hackney will need to provide that. Worry about the school.
Have you looked at the Holmewood? Private school in Haringey. Transport gets paid by LA for the vast majority and school starts from 7.
I would fight for the Holmewood in your situation. You will have priority for tribunals if it means your child is left without a placement. When is the current primary closing?

I wouldn't go for Children's House in your position. Very child led and small preps like that rarely work out for kids with ASD. They need structure, access to SALT and therapeutic interventions esp as they get older. My DD is also not ASD so I can't recommend anything from personal experience. However with a profile like your daughters I'd personally look at the Holmewood and fight for that. Once you win she can stay there till 21 if she needs to. It's quite academic but very nurturing. Not cheap in the slightest and very oversubscribed. I don't think they have any self funded kids as it's 70k. Lots of children travelling from far and wide for it.

As for car sickness, she needs meds or anti sickness bands for that as that's completely unsustainable. She needs to be able to get to the right school for her and that's not something that should be the deciding factor. I understand it's easier said than done, my DD had severe car sickness but i wouldn't discount a school because of that.

Forgot to mention, Hackney Ark have been brilliant for mental health interventions (waiting times being the only issue), so perhaps they can supplement a school with fewer inhouse specialist services, OT, SALT, etc.

To be honest, sounds like the Holmewood would be perfect for her. I'd seriously consider it, although they might not have space.

Thank you so much @Foxesandsquirrels

Hello. Late to the conversation but just to say our daughter’s profile is similar to yours. We were not having a great experience at the mainstream where she is currently and held a review to change placement. William Tyndale would not take her as they said they had too many EHCPs and too much need in her year group. The LA agreed and we decided based on this decision it is not where she belongs. We are now waiting for tribunal and have named Holmewood in our appeal. It seems like that rare school that is academic and caters to kids who are academically able with spiky profiles. I am hoping it works out. Good luck.

Thank you, Pacifica44. Does Holmewood have vacancies in your year group? They are full for Year 3 from September and said that they only take 6-7 children per class and it is unlikely that a place will become available, at least not for a year. At this stage, it looks like a high gamble to nominate in the EHCP a school with no vacancy.
Best of luck with your appeal. Please update with the result.

Have just looked into your prev posts and noted bad experiece with idependent school. Hope not CH. From the state primaries that I have seen, I would look at Grasmere. Has vacancies in Y1 and Y2. The head has just resigned though and not sure how this will pan out. Otherwise small and very nurturing.

I know an old post but wanted to add this incase anyone came here looking at children’s house for a child with ASD.
I had a terrible time at the children’s house and cannot recommend them at all. The school has a very over the top neuro diversity is a superpower attitude because they want to position themselves as very inclusive and positive in that respect but with little regard for the feelings of the individual children or the parents wishes. My son joined in January 2025 and in March 2025 the school SENDco held a class without our consent and against my sons wishes telling his peers that he had autism (we’d only just received the diagnosis and hadn’t even had the doctors report back yet) and that it is his superpower (a term we’d explicitly said we didn’t want them to use when talking to our child). My son was completely distraught and humiliated, it has had a hugely negative impact on his mental health, something he struggled with before they did this to him. He didn’t want to go back to the school after they did this and so we had to pull him out. The school have behaved so appallingly in the aftermath of this even though they had to report themselves for the serious data breach of private medical information they are trying to blame my 6 year old child for their actions. We are still trying to help our child through the emotional trauma that they inflicted on him, it’s been really hard on us all. There are some really brilliant state primary schools in the area, whilst I wish this had never happened to my son I’m glad that he is not at that school anymore. He is in a much more nurturing place now and they really care about his well being and are being incredible in their support for him through this.

I’m sorry to hear of your family’s experience, it sounds incredibly distressing. But your account of the school’s approach to SEN is wilfully inaccurate and misrepresentative.

It was certainly my experience of how the school runs their SEN department. When my son was diagnosed they said they’d talk to him about how it’s his superpower. I said I was uncomfortable with that and felt it was reductive and unhelpful for my child given his struggles, it feels like gaslighting and being over positive making it hard for them to vocalise how hard they are finding things. They completely ignored my feelings on this and not only spoke to my son about how autism is his superpower but to his whole class in front of him, without our consent.

I’m glad your experience was different, I would never want another family to go through what mine did. But dismissing my account as ‘vindictive venting’ is deeply unfair and further illustrates the exact type of minimisation and deflection I experienced throughout. This isn’t a personal attack; it’s a firsthand account of a serious breach of trust and data protection that had a real emotional impact on my child. I have every right to share it publicly, especially as the school has admitted the incident, reported itself to the ICO, and still failed to offer meaningful redress. Parents deserve to hear both sides.

Really sorry to hear about your child's experience, Ellscott, and thank you for sharing. It's really important for this kind of information not to be suppressed. Thank you for speaking out.

Absolutely, as long as this kind of information is not misleading in any way.