SEN in Secondary School

[Louise78100]

Hello,

We are starting to look at secondary schools for our DS. He is Dyslexic, and currently gets 1-1 support. While he is intelligent, he is behind academically in English. We are based in Surrey, and hear 'state schools are better for SEN'. I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has a dyslexic child in either the private or the state sector, at schools in this area, and what your experience has been. In addition, has anyone got children at St John's in Leatherhead, Halliford in Shepperton or Salesian in Chertsey as these are the schools we have started to look at. Many thanks in advance.

How is the 1:1 provided? Do you pay then or are they part of an EHCP?

Hello, we pay. It’s been a real battle to get any support, and so have funded everything. The Dyslexic testing, and the tutor. We are currently in State primary, so looking to get an understanding how it will be in secondary. I hear anecdotally ‘it’s better in secondary’. However no one seems to be able to give any more detail than that.

Whether SEN support is better in primary or secondary depends on the schools involved. If you haven’t already, speaking to the SENCOs would give you an idea.

You should apply for an EHCNA as it is very unusual for a state school to agree to parents paying for 1:1 support. There is no guarantee a state secondary school would allow this, and even if they did no guarantee they would continue to allow it, especially if e.g. there was a change of staff.

As above. You need an EHCP assessment immediately. Apply via the template letter on the IPSEA website, do not go via your county form on their education page. You have a steep paperwork curve ahead but it’s doable.

You would be best to ring round the sencos of the schools….

St Johns is harder to get into than haliford.

Potentially you could name the school on the EHCP but it will be a fight from the LA which will take a long time - plus lots of independent reports to back you up.

Depends how many hrs on the 1 to 1 support as you might need to fund the first £6k / 13 hrs in an independent school …. plus school fees… plus difference in support needed vs how much the LA will pay for the LSA unless it’s all sorted within EHCP.

The independent secondary is exceptionally competitive - buses travel for miles so you have to compete against the London children too for the schools within surrey ….

Thanks for this. I think how I explained his support wasn’t right. We pay for a dyslexic tutor for him. Rather than 1-1 within school lessons. Sorry for the confusion.

I have a DD in Y9 in the state sector who has moderately severe dyslexia and also has hypermobile fingers.

She didn't learn to read until she was nearly 7 and she cannot spell except phonetically. She also massively struggles with foreign languages.

Primary tried things like Toe-by-Toe which didn't help at all. However they did pay for two lots of very in depth testing with an EP which means we at least know exactly where the problems lie.

In terms of support, we haven't had much till this year - mainly because Covid meant most of Y7 and part of Y8 were in lockdowns and also because DD doesn't want much.

We taught her to touch type during Y6 and she started secondary with a laptop for everything (now switched to iPad with keyboard and a pen so you can photograph the board etc).

School have been brilliant in terms of being very behind her using as much tech as she needs, they don't worry about her spelling at all (more interested in what she's writing) and in making sure she's in the right sets for subjects. There is also no pressure on her to read loads of books (she'll tend to watch a film version or use audio books instead which they are happy with.)

Languages are mandatory at her school, but she has been allowed to drop them and instead has extra maths, English and science (not remedial, just tailored to help her achieve her potential).

DD is pretty good at advocating for herself, and so far we haven't needed to ask for anything extra.

Depends on the school. Some private schools are amazing with dyslexia, others aren't. Just like state. Can you afford private? Have you looked at Moon Hall School? Bruern Abbey in Bucks?

Agree very much luck with what local schools, state or private, offer.
DS1 with ASD and dyslexia had an awful time in local state primary, they were not interested which was mainly as there were multiple others with greater needs and ds1 has no ‘behavioural’ problems. He has thrived in a small local private school who are very supportive despite also being very academic.
will be going onto a small (500 kids) private 13+ school who offer similar flexibility and pastoral support to current school

i think if 1:1 is needed or more significant difficulties an EHCP is likely to fund, state might be better for those pupils

My DS is dyslexic (and has other needs too). DS had a 1-1 in primary school and was provided with a laptop - it worked pretty well.

When DS moved to secondary things were really difficult. He wasn’t allocated his own laptop until the second half of the autumn term year 8 (despite having it in his EHCP and the school being aware before he started in year 7). He wasn’t given the 1-1 hours the school were receiving funding for and when he did have a TA they were shared with another student (who had no funding and different needs). I had a constant battle with the school! DS then really started to hate having a 1-1 as it made him feel different, but he still needed support.
The problem with dyslexia is that many schools will say that all lessons are dyslexia friendly so it’s hard to get extra support.

DS started year 9 at an independent specialist dyslexia school (funded by our LA) and it’s been a breath of fresh air. I would really recommend looking at crested schools crested.org.uk/.

Do you have an EHCP & all the right support information to get into Salesians? I know friends have had the right support & it worked out very well there, but then one who felt they haven’t so swings and roundabouts (they didn’t leave the school though). It is a very large school with a big intake so you may have to consider whether this would impact any decisions?

I’ve not heard much about support provided at Halliford - the only experience I’ve had is a friends son because he wasn’t too academically bright he was sort of left behind and not much offered to help him push his potential. She wishes she saved the money and got him into a state school in the area.

Thank you all for taking the time to get back to me. All this is really helpful. I will ring around the schools and ask questions around the areas you have said have been a help, and issues you have raised. So I really
appreciate this feedback.

Have you considered Box Hill, Moon Hall or Seaford college?

We are going to look at Moon Hall and Box hill, but Seaford is too far away.

Hello,

It might help to look for some advice from charities that specialise in supporting children with SEN. I found Seashell Trust had some great blogs on their website which were really helpful. The blog article 'Choosing a school for a child with special needs' might be useful for you to take a look at.

I hope this helps :)

Hi there, might be bit too far but look at Radnor House, Twickenham. They cater very well for dyslexic children, my son's best friend being one of them. Lots of specific tailor made programs to help them to learn in their own way. 😀

Can you give any further indication of what school was awful and which private school has worked well please? In the difficult situation of deciding between state and private for our LO with ASD. Many thanks!!

Does he have an EHCP? If there's no EHCP, then even if a school promises 1:1 support in Y7, it could be removed at any time.

I would really strongly suggest trying to get an EHCP in place before secondary if you can. You probably need to start ASAP, because if you leave it until e.g. Easter of Y6, it likely won't be in place by the start of secondary school.