Mild Dyslexia at selective schools in London esp Forest Snaresbrook

[Hausfrau1982]

DS is currently sitting 11+ exams. He was diagnosed with (relatively mild) dyslexia earlier this year, although he doesn’t require adjustments apart from off-white paper and a blue transparency for reading.

I got an email today from Forest confirming he has 25% extra time awarded in the entrance exam, however the tone of the message is making me a bit twitchy. Does anyone have children at the school and can say how they’ve experienced it with SEN?

The confirmation email said it was “important they were clear” it was a rigorous and fast-paced curriculum and he would be expected to cope with their challenging academic setting and be self motivated and autonomous.

The heads recommendations from DSs prep were for Westminster, City and Highgate and his scores have consistently been within that range (spelling is weaker but he does really well otherwise on comprehension and creative writing etc). We really aren’t bothered by a big name school as we think kids thrive most where they are happy so we’ve gone for 2 on that list that felt supportive, 2 “back up” schools and Forest. All the schools we chose felt like a good fit for DS, but something about the tone of the message from Forest feels off. Can anyone shed any light on the realities of having a child with mild SEN in an academically selective school? Are schools that claim to be inclusive lying? Will it count against him in selection? Will they be supportive if eg he needs to use a laptop when he’s older?

All lived experience is welcome! I hate this process!

Oh dear! That’s not encouraging and I’m sad to hear that’s the messaging at any school for any 5 year old. :(

It does feel jarring and I will be exceptionally careful if we receive offers as an assumption you would off role a child because of their SEN doesn’t sit well with me. I could never imagine messaging like this in any workplace I’ve experienced and my I haven’t come across this in education before - my (much more severely) dyslexic younger brother went to Oxford to read computer science this year and has never heard anything like this! It’s feels very old fashioned to assume SEN means you’ll fall behind (particularly if you’ve selected children on ability).

@Ftctvycdul just seen you’ve withdrawn your message. I hope I haven’t upset or offended you in anyway and wish you and your daughter well 🌺

I’ve messaged you. Don’t want to put too much here as it maybe outing!

Most independent schools (selective or otherwise) will have a clause in their policies giving them the right to withdraw a place. I suggest you look at the SEN/Learning Support Policies for any schools that you are considering. However, it is extremely unlikely that a place would be withdrawn for a child with well compensated dyslexia. IME, if a place is withdrawn, it is more likely to be linked to behavour. Here is Forest School's policy www.forest.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Learning-Support-Policy-1.pdf

Thank you @womananddog I have no issue with that. All schools have polices but no other school has chosen to emphasise that the points Forest have linked to declaring SEN.

My son also has Dyslexia and Dysgraphia but he would not be eligible for 25% extra time as I understand it is not severe enough. Is it the case that it is not mild Dyslexia if he is eligible for the extra time hence the concern by the school? Also if he does not require any adjustments apart from those mentioned, why is he getting 25% extra time?

@femalecyclist10 all I can say is 25% was a recommendation from the assessors report so we submitted the report where requested as part of application.

I don’t have a frame of reference beyond the report or advice from his prep who have known him for the last 4 years and use the term “mild”. I do know that DS has an unusual profile. I remember the assessor saying that the way he presents isn’t proportionate to the challenge he experiences because he’s probably found work arounds. But that doesn’t take away from him having greater challenges and having to work considerably harder to get the same results than if he didn’t have them.

If he is getting 25% extra it will mean the following:

At the time of writing, these are as follows:

• 25% extra time. This is useful for students with slow processing speed, slow writers, working memory difficulties, and who need time to read/re-read. Students should have two below average scores (standard score 84 or less), or one below average score and one low average score (85 – 98), in two different areas relating to speed of working, e.g. reading or writing speed, processing speed, or memory

Mild dyslexia may mean different things to different people. My son's scores are 85 and above so he does not get the 25% (in spite of being two years behind in some areas related to his dyslexia and up to 6 years ahead in others related to maths/non verbal reasoning). Good luck with choosing a school. It's difficult to know which school is best for them but I would listen if they have raised concerns as to me it means they cannot accommodate for his Dyslexia.

Thanks @femalecyclist10. That’s the conclusion we had reached and the PMs I’ve had from other parents confirm that the particular school I mentioned in the title isn’t great for dyslexia or inclusion. I don’t want any of my children in a school like that.

I don’t really know the mechanics of the diagnostics but I think you may well do, so in case it’s of interest I dug out the assessors report. He does have 3 scores below 85 in the summary table (one is 73 ie well below average) but he also has a good chunk in excess on 121 (well above average) and 2 above 131 (very high). If I use his school report to describe what this looks like day to day his spelling is 2 years behind, his reading age is 6 years ahead and his CAT score for VR is 130. I think school describe it as “mild” because he is in the top set for English and broadly comparable to other bright children who don’t have dyslexia.

Hi there I wondered about the outcome of your post? We are in the process of coming up to 11+ exams this year and looking at which school Forest Chigwell etc would suit a dyslexic child the best.

Hi there

I did extra due diligence with the schools we applied to when we withdrew from Forest and was pleasantly surprised about how open and supportive they were - eg saying we didn’t used to be great but we’ve invested in doing better, these are the types of thing to expect and these are outcomes. Im not too fussed about league tables but found the bigger names academic schools had a much better attitude and values around SEN than Forest. And I had more confidence in their pedagogy and quality of teaching as a result. DC got offers from all 4 schools we applied to.

I don’t know about Chigwell as that’s too far out for us (Forest would have been a long coach trip), but I’m happy I trusted my instincts on Forest. I had a few DMs about negative experiences for dyslexic children and spoke to a friend of a friend with a child there who is dyslexic. I won’t pass on 2nd hand reviews as I’m guessing at some point it’s Chinese Whispers but I would approach it with greater caution than other schools.