Glasgow/East Ren Secondary Schools and Dyslexia

[Spongesecret008]

Do most secondary schools provide good support for pupils who have dyslexia and dysgraphia or is the support quite varied. What should I be looking for in a school to know if it will be supportive? I think ds is getting good support at his primary school but I do worry how he will cope at secondary. Does anyone have any experience of having a child at high school who struggles to write and is behind with reading. What are the most important things I should be looking for in a high school?

Different local authority but following this thread with interest as I have a DD moving up to secondary school in August who has dyslexia and dyscalculia. What is important to us is that all teaching staff are aware of her additional support needs as she won't tell them herself. Simple things like helping her at lunchtime as she will struggle with mentally working out how much lunch will cost in a busy queue, ensuring she gets a locker (not enough for all pupils) as she will be using a netbook and other tools so needs somewhere to keep them. Her primary are spending time with her and other kind children who they have identified as requiring enhanced transition. I've been told I will be invited in for a meeting next term so hopefully they will be able to reassure me then. My experience at primary level hasn't been great though, had to push for years for testing, learning support specialist constantly being used for covering other classes so not being able to support DD etc so TBH it can only get better!

There is so much to worry about. Lunch times will be one of my main concerns. And a locker is something my DS will need too. He will need help to organise himself. I hope everything goes well with your dd's transition to secondary school flipping

in order to benefit from any support offered in East Ren schools you will need to be a resident - getting a placement request accepted in ER is very difficult and getting worse with all the house building going on

I know, thanks. He is in an East Ren primary but his catchment schools are Glasgow.

Spongesecret008
Hi, know this is an old post but wondered if you managed to find a school? My son is 9 and is severely dyslexic and I’m starting to really worry about secondary school and how he’ll cope. Did you manage to find anywhere? Also wondered if you knew of any parent groups as I think it would really help to talk to parents in a similar situation? Thanks x

@FlippingBottleFlippers just a small part of your worries but I wouldn't think lunches will be a problem - nearly all schools (all the ones I know of anyway) don't use money for lunches, they have a card that is topped up so as long as you put a bit extra on she will never run out or need to add up. Ds has a go-Henry card so can use this in local shops again without needing to manage cash - though strangely, despite dyslexia and very weak maths skills, he seems to manage money really well in general.

(Am not in the west)

Thanks, DD is now an S4 and we face a whole other set of worries regarding her support needs. She coped with lunches but regularly needed her card topped up early due to over spending but that is probably a common issue! Recently we have had to fight to ensure that she got the correct amount of additional time for assessments due to the changes in timetabling required for Covid-19 compliance.

On reflection her experience of support within the earlier high school years was pretty good. Recently due to staff changes it's not been great and she still doesn't like to speak up.

Good grief how did I miss the date on your post? 🤦🏻‍♀️

whereisthewine hi I am the original poster. My placing request was accepted for the East Ren high school and my ds is very happy there. He is much happier at high school than he was at primary school. I started worrying about high schools when he was in primary 5. I was very, very worried and can't believe how well he is getting on.

I know of a great support group. They have been very, very helpful to me over the years. It is Differabled Scotland. They are on Facebook and twitter. They are amazing.

Whereisthewine I should have said that the support group is for parents who have children with ASD/ADHD/Dyslexia. So it is not only dyslexia.

flipping it is not good you are having problems with support at such an important time for your dd. But it sounds like you are doing a great job speaking up for her. It must be a worrying time for you.

My ds is in the early years of high school at the moment so not feeling any pressure regarding assessments yet. I do worry that he is quiet and won't speak up if something is wrong and also he is not doing his assessments on a computer because it means leaving the classroom and he doesn't like to be different. I am hoping as he gets older he will change his mind about this as he will definitely test better by typing and not writing.

thanks so much seeingthingsdifferently really appreciate you getting back to me. Will check out Differabled 👍