Specialist school for mainstream school for DD2. Moor House - DLD

[Mimy728]

Our local authority has agreed to an EHCP for DD2 who is in year 6. We will need to decide about secondary schools soon and I was wondering whether we should choose mainstream school or if we can choose an specialist school like Moor house. She has been diagnosed with a DLD, and she is behind at school a year in English and nearly two years in maths. I don't believe it is a extreme case but she definitely needs additional support.

Does anybody got experience of Moor House?.

I would be grateful for any advice.

It will depend on what is in the EHCP and whether it says that she needs mainstream or a specialist school. I think Moor House caters for children with a specific learning difficulty, such as dyslexia. Does that sound like your daughter’s profile?

Thank you. I believe Moor House is for children 7 to 19 with DLD, developmental language disorder. There is another one called More House which perhaps is the one you are referring to.

Moor House (the one in Blindley Heath) is really good and a leader in the therapeutic support for DLD. Academics are good too. If you can get it, then go for it but your LEA will try and make you go for mainstream. There is virtually no support for DLD and speech and language needs at secondary. Speech therapy is life changing.

From the way you describe your daughter she isn’t too far behind and I would be surprised if the local authority would pay for more house for a child that is only a year behind or even two years.From the way you describe your daughter she isn’t too far behind and I would be surprised if the local authority would pay for moor house for a child that is only a year behind or even two years. The cohort at Moor house in general is much more behind than a year or 2 in my experience. Many would struggle to write and read as well as severe language impairment.

Thanks a lot. That's very helpful. Yes, I believe naming Moor House is probably not going to be an option and it is also a bit far to commute. I also read in the website that they have to have significant and pervasive language disorder; I don't think this is the case for DD, there is also a 1k assessment fee, that's is if the school decides to assess

Hi. We have a fabulous admissions team at Moor House School & College so please feel free to give them a call and chat through your particular case. They will be able to talk you through the admission criteria and assessment so you have all the information you need to make the decision. 01883 712271 (extension 1)

We also have some open mornings coming up www.moorhouseschool.co.uk/tours-open-mornings

Hi Mimy728, I realise this post is old I just wanted to follow up to see what you decided in the end? We have a boy whos 8 and has DLD and sounds similar to your daughter, a year to a year and a half behind in English/Maths. We have also been looking at Moor house but wonder if hes not behind enough. Its frustrating as it feels like we are somewhere between mainstream and specialist.