Fortismere for SEN

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Hello there, I am currently looking for a secondary school for my DS. He is on the autistic spectrum, high functioning. We have done the tours of all our local schools, some twice! Met the Sencos etc. We had happily come to the conclusion that Fortismere was the right choice for our DS, on sharing this with others within education we have been met by a barrage of negativity about how the school has a dreadful SEN department and does not have an inclusive ethos. We can see no evidence to suggest this. The Heads ethos seems very inclusive and everything I have seen of the SEN department is impressive. If there is anyone out there who has a child at Fortismere and has experience of the SEN department I would be really grateful to hear from you.

From what I've heard there is a newish SEN head who is amazing and was previously the head of SEN at APS - which has a fab reputation. It has had a bad rep for SEN true, but I think this may be changing.

Friend has a son there in Year 8 who is on the spectrum and very happy. If you PM me I will ask if she would mind me passing on her contact details.

Hi Ilovegeorgeclooney, I think I've PMed you. I'm a bit new to all this. I would really value the opportunity to see what the experience has been of someone in a similar position to us. My son is really in love with this school and it's going to be very hard to change our minds at this point. He quite likes APS but it much further from us than Fortismere. he keeps quoting favourable facts about Fortismere that he has researched on the internet!

Hello,
I just wanted to point your attention to the Ofsted inspection for which the report was published on Thursday 17 October. I am the person who made that complaint.
If your son is happy to be tidied away in the Linc department at break and lunch, then he will be fine.
I obviously can not go into details right now but let's just say that our child is in a different school. I was where you are now two years ago and felt exactly the same as you. Hope it works out for you if you decide to go for it.

hi,
I'm now on a similar situation to you guys. I'm having the same dilemma. APS or Fortismere, for an ASD child.

he is doing really well but he requires support and reminders continuously. He is not good with his concentration though, hence would miss on the key points during the lesson.
He loves creating new friendships and really trust his friends. he also loves football, maths, singing and acting. he is like free spirit. says what he want, does what he wants and does not think it twice.

I really need your opinion/advice on this. who do you think would best suit his character and his needs.
thanks x

We, for reasons as simple as: ‘the only support we currently offer is small maths and English tuition with other children that need support’. When I questioned how will her funding be used than they said there is no staff for anything else at the moment but she could do interventions after school. I think they’re trying to fix things due to the very many complaints and sudden safety concerns but compared to what other local schools have on offer their offer is pretty dire tbh. Our DD will be going to heartlands in sept. They and APS have almost an identical SEN offer which is really really thorough and great compared with Fortismere. But I do agree the head is trying to change things, this will take a good couple years though and we needed a place for Y7 this sept.

A good way to check is going on compare schools gov and seeing results for kids with low prior attainment as well as the GCSE options they have on offer.

Heartlands and APS is much more structured than Fortismere. Fortismere has a very uni chilled vibe and the site is so massive it would be easy to get overwhelmed. I would suggest going to open mornings with your child at each school. All of them are super popular so open evenings are rammed and you don’t get a great feel. Mornings are much better and having your child there helps you see if it’s for them. Also, most senco (aside from aps) are happy for you to come with your sen child for an additional tour and chat. Highgate Wood was also lovely and great but awkward for us to get to.

thank you for your advice and suggestions.
Heartlands, its a bit far for us and did not put that on the list.
APS was actually the first choice, but was not given that choice. instead he was given fortismere. Initially he was upset, like you said, its a big school and he found it overwhelming. Also, when we gave him the news that he was not accepted for Aps, he did not took it well.

honestly don't know what to, to appeal the decision or not.
and I think we only have 2 weeks to do so.

I have spoken with other parents too, who have their children in both schools, so they've seen both, but this is complicating things even further for me.

in a nutshell, from your research/talk that you have had with both school Sendco's, what were the key difference, in terms of what they provide.

thanks

I would appeal it to be honest, APS always ends up with about 16 EHCP kids a year and if you have the right grounds than it should be ok. You don't have much to lose to be honest. DM me if you want some help, I work for a SEN charity and can give you some help.

thank you, I could probably do with some help if I go down that route.

The only ground I have is that, my child has a full EHCP and we live 0.4miles from the school. don't know if that's sufficient.

That’s really unfair as it’s his local school and your child would’ve got in if he applied via normal route. I’ll PM you in a bit.

Rosiledi, are you applying for entry this September? I thought we didn't find out until offer day on March 1st?

Families who have a child with an ECHP are given their allocations a couple of weeks before the general offers day.