I'm going to see a school tomorrow, what should I ask/look for?

[mummyloveslucy]

Hi, my daughter has some SEN's, she is roughly 2 years delayed developmentally and isn't properly potty trained.
She's in the last term of reception at a private school, but I can no longer afford it and feel she might benefit from being in a class with children with a more mixed ability, as all the girls are very bright in her class at the moment.
Anyway, one of my friends has reccomended this school to me as she says it's very caring and has a similar ethos to the school she's at. I spoke to the head who seems really lovely, so I'm going with my husband tomorrow. Our daughter will be at school.
Is this the best thing to do ? She loves routeen and I don't know if it'd confuse her, seing lots of other schools. She might love one that dosn't have a place, then she'd be upset about leaving her school.
I'm not sure what to ask. I know their OFSTED report wasn't all that great but it said how much they were improving and the SEN's children make good progress. It also mentioned that they were a very caring, nurturing school and have quite a high level of children with SEN's.
My main concerns are, will she make friends with her speech problems, it's hard to understand her if you don't know her well.
And will she get bullied or teased? Thses are my biggest fears.
She is such a loving little girl and is very sociable but she's also very sensitive and I don't want anything to harm her confidence.
I just want her to feel safe, secure and happy at her new school.
So how do I put these concerns in to questions?
Also what should I look for in the school ?

I think you will probably think of questions as you go around to be honest and if the head teacher is as good as she sounds you shouldn't really be left asking too many questions. I would want to know what they do to help children who find friendships hard, for example do they have a friendship bench they can go to in the playground, or do they run any communications groups for those children who do find it hard to get along socially with their peers. It would be good to know how they deal with any bullying that goes on and how effective they feel this is too. What will they do to ensure she is able to integrate coming into a class of children who have spent a year together. It may be they have more than one class there per year in which case they may mix the classes up each Sept and that could help any new children to fit in a bit more easily too. You should also talk about the specifics of your daughter's SEN and ask them if they have dealt with children with these issues before, and what support they feel they will be able to give her and what may cause them problems. How will they overcome any problems if they forsee any?

I hope you will be pleasantly surprised by the school. I'm sure I have posted to you before about my DD with her speech issues and how pleased we are with her state school and the support they give. I can not imagine a private school (based on the two we did look at) being any better at helping her, and quite possibly being less helpful. Good luck!

Thank you.

You could ask if you can speak to other parents with SEN children at the school.

My bf son has Aspergers and their school has a half termly coffee morning for the parents, sometines with a person to talk tot, like benefits advice.

Hope the visit goes well.

Thank you.

I went today, it was a ver caring friendly school. She did say that she'd need to have a statement to recieve extra help. (I'm not sure if she could get one, as the EP said she wouldn't)
I'm undecided really. I think if I had to move her, then I'd probubly choose that school but I haven't seen any others to compare, so I don't know.
I'll keep looking for now. Things have taken a turn for the better financially, I've just started a new job, so maybe I won't need to but I'll still look just in case.

Congratulations on the new job.