Where are the nice, kindly, non-pushy primary schools?

[debs40]

Where, oh where do you go to avoid pushy primary schools who prize academic ability but are inclusive and who care about the 'whole child'?

Any good news stories?

I have a square peg in a round hole little boy and I need to look at options. He is 7, possible AS, coordination problems, but very bright and he is struggling to keep abreast with the pace of an acdemically driven school. It is also a battle to get them to accomodate his needs, as minor as they are.

We're in Salisbury. Would look at Hants/Dorset...any ideas welcomed really?

Have you looked into church schools? Ds is at one at the moment, they care alot about the children and it's very nurturing. I'm in the East Midlands though so you'll have to hunt for one near you. You don't have to share the same faith.

Dorset

I am so happy with the one DD has got into but would have been equally as happy with 2nd, 3rd choice or even the rest of the cluster primary schools.

Village school too. Too small to be pretentious although it's a lovely school and they meet all the targets. Avoid any school well known for good results, outstanding Ofsted or that people move into the area for.

I should think if you visited some schools and talked to the Head for 15 mins you would very soon get a feeling for what their priorities are.

Where in Dorset are you?

We have lots of faith schools in Salisbury but some are still very competitive and I am thinking, long term, there's not much down for DS in a selection based secondary education system.

Village schools sound good.

Near the place where there is a hole in the rock, very famous and a cove. Just on the edge of the Isle of Purbeck.

DD's school does weekly walks, goes down to the beach, they have a list of local volunteers to help with trips, they use the range wardens to take lessons outside.

Aaah, I know... How lovely!

Need to think of how DH will work from there! Currently working an hour away from Salisbury on outer edges of London burbs

SE London has some inclusive, creative, non-pushy primary schools too! The one I teach at is exactly that and we have a couple of children with some sort of ASC in each year group (we're a two-form entry school).

agree with tootootired - sort of a reverse ofsted approach - so avoiding schools that had above average attaining kids at entry, low levels of pupils with SEN etc. outstanding ofsted on its own doesn't inevitably mean a raw deal for kids with SEN, some great schools are v. good at catering for the individual pupil.

Debs40 have you looked at Greentrees?

Ofsted outstanding rating. Is it not very academically driven with lots of forces families wanting to push their kids through the 11+?

SE13 - that sounds good. Just to have a school which has some idea of what it is doing with ASD children would be good!

You are miles away from where we are but I can tell you that there are schools out there that welcome and nurture a child with ASD as my dd is at one now.
On paper it's not a school I would have looked at because it's in a deprived area and a new build amalgamating three schools.
I was advised by Autism Outreach to take a look, I did and well was really impressed and dd is thriving.
Do you have autism outreach involved? Do you know other parents with ASD children? The best recommendations come from people with inside knowledge in my experience.

Thanks. Autism Outreach are supposed to be seeing DS later this month but they are very previous about talking to parents. It's a service for teachers. I have had to insist on having a chat as the teachers know bollocks all so what are they going to talk about! So, I can see that might not be so productive.

The only other person I know in a similar situation has a child who is a school refuser but who cannot move schools because their other two children attend there.

I'm thinking we might have to leave the area altogether.

Oh, I did ask the Principal Ed Psych about ASD friendly schools and she suggested the one I'm at! I think there is a knowledge gap at our school but it's the lack of openess and inclusivity that drives me mad. They think I'm being too demanding because I ask to be a informed about decisions about change etc because they don't understand that this is normal practise for a child with ASD.

It's just becoming too hard.

It's a pity you're not in East Sussex, Lewes New School is a lovely independent school which would be right up your street

My asd children didn't or don't go to the local school that their NT brothers and sister did even though it was a brilliant school for them.
Horses for courses so they say.
I think what you want for your NT child might be totally different to what an ASD child needs.

FiveGoMad...I've just had a look at the website of the school you might be talking about and ...wow! You are lucky. Even just seeing an inlcusion policy on the website is impressive