Challenging behaviour Meeting with school before starting

[Bex333]

Hello,
My son is 11 and starting senior school in September. My son can be difficult in school talking and is easily distracted. We have made a pact that senior school will be a fresh start and he is positive about the school. I had a meeting with his senior school without him and I felt that they had pre judged him before meeting him. We now have another meeting next week and my son will be there. I'm concerned that he will feel that he cannot escape this label he has been given. Although when I asked the school this they said they do not label children. Has anyone had any experience of this? Any advice would be greatly received.

I would hope that the school is wanting to put get as much information as possible so that they can put as much support as possible in for him starting in September. If he finds managing his own behaviour difficult in primary, he will need support to get it right in secondary. It is not necessarily a bad thing - if the school want him to be successful then they need to put stuff in place.

Has he had any assessments from professionals - Educational Psychologist, Paediatric Assessment, Social Communication, etc? Has he been identified as having any SEN?

Hello, does your DS have any kind of diagnosis?

If not it is important to know how they are going to support him in school. I would meet with the SENCO and pay close attention to how they talk about meeting his needs and supporting him in school. If you are already feeling negative vibes then that is important and it might show this is not the best school for him.

I made the mistake of sending my DS to a mainstream secondary school despite misgivings when I met the SENCO. In hindsight I should have listened to my instincts. My DS is now in a special school which meets his needs. He is autistic with ADHD and when overwhelmed could be challenging.

Ideally your son needs someone to support him by posts of visual reminders that is now listening (not talking) time.

What distracts him in class? My son was very distracted if the classroom was too noisy for example. In those lessons he barely took in anything he was being taught.

Is it worth you looking at a couple of other schools to see if the feeling and ethos are more positive?

"Lots of visual reminders" not "posts of visual reminders".