Schools where kids with adhd have good outcomes

[Stuckrecord]

Can anyone fill me in on what a school with good support for kids with adhd looks like? I don’t know whether my expectations are unrealistic but our school has - overstretched senco you can never get hold of, teachers that seem to think adhd can be cured by detentions and little understanding of the condition, seemingly no connection being made between their sen and academic potential (my kid called stupid by a member of slt the other day) and no intervention unless you practically go in there and tell them what to do yourself.

Surely there must be some schools out there getting it right? If your kid has good support and is doing well academically, what sort of things are they doing so I know what “good” should look like please?

My DD gets good support by mainstream teachers in mainstream good comp. Doing v well

To be fair some of the classroom teachers seem pretty good although it’s inconsistent. The structures around that don’t though (send support and management team) and it’s those things that are frustrating to deal with. Do you
meet your senco regularly?

Is your child medicated?

My DD is medicated - her choice.
We have had one mtg with SENCO.
Her teachers are all aware. It occasionally causes an issue & they'll drop us an issue to inform us. Mostly it's just tolerance that she may behave in an ADHD way. They cut her slack. But she still gets sanctions if rude etc

@Stuckrecord I can not ever in my wildest moment imagine our SLT calling my child thick. She was in lower sets until medicated & supported but is now flying in too sets. We have challenging days but all her teachers get the fact that's she's v bright but wired a bit different.

@Marchsnowstorms Same as my DD. I agree with you re sanctions.

I think if your child is unmedicated OP, it makes high school really, really difficult. Unless they're in a specialist school, all the will in the world won't change the fact mainstream resources are finite, and some things that are really helpful eg wobble chair etc, are just too embarrassing at that age. Time out passes are helpful but are so disruptive.
There is also a really difficult line to draw when you have ND kids. It's difficult to know when to just leave them to deal with sanctions and when to step in. In life they will have to deal with the consequences of their shortcomings due to their ADHD, it's better they learn good coping skills now, even if that means a few detentions along the way.

Id say our teachers overall are amazing. We are a big city comp. They genuinely seem to care about kids as Individuals. Mass

Mass

Massive thing for me is that they email re any concerns immediately then we agree sanction

The stupid thing shocked me as well but this teacher is a really unpleasant character and there have been a number of instances where my kid has been belittled and nasty things said to him that I wouldn’t expect a teacher to say.

Just started medication. Mainly because I could see his academics falling behind. The school didn’t seem bothered about this though, which surprised me. They seem happy to let kids under perform as long as they sit there quietly and don’t take their blazer off.

Completely accept that some sanctions are called for and I always tell him to take those things on the chin. But other times there are things they do that just seem petty and vindictive and then I have to waste time trying to deal with them.

The number of kids on the sen register is very low. Maybe that’s why they aren’t great. All the kids I know with adhd seem to have a difficult time at school.

Maybe things will improve once the medication has really had a chance to work <sigh>

What year are they in? Are they very settled. The very low SEN might be because parents don't choose it as a preference as too rigid in approach.
That's the case with three schools near us. One has seperate SEN units, one has great support without the special units & one is very strict and a bit brutal. Don't rule out a move

They are y8 on only recently diagnosed (y7 was horrific). They are very settled unfortunately as I would consider a move although some options (eg private) now removed from us because of falling behind and a blighted behaviour record. How would I find out about the support in other schools, is it best to ask around or go and visit? Would a ehcp help? (although chances of getting one I know are low, I’m thinking I should at least try to prepare better for the future and pressure ramping up again in gcse years)

The behaviour record can now be explained however..and meds should help a lot. My DD was only diagnosed in Yr7 and meds have transformed her school performance. I'd ask around and maybe call any other schools and see how they respond to a request to visit or have a chat.
I'd be challenging existing school as to how they are going to support him.
ECHPs are b hard to get in my area

I think ehcps hard to get here too but I’m happy to try if I thought it would help. I’m really hoping the meds will turn things around - early indications are positive. I feel like I’m constantly challenging the school but it’s exhausting and sometimes feel like I’m banging my head against a brick wall. The problems are top down (as I said individual teachers seem v good generally), right from the attitude of the Head, and I don’t know if I can influence that.

The head sets the tone & direction.
The comment about accepting under performance as long as they behave indicates to me that average / under performing but quiet children aren't their priority. Focus on high discipline pushing academic excellence maybe which can translate to a focus on just the gcse grades not actual children.

I would guess that parents who suspect their child is ND or quirky or actually are diagnosed, have not chosen this school as their first choice. Just a hunch.

overstretched senco you can never get hold of

As a senco, I would say this is down to funding. I don’t get sufficient time to do the job in. I am part time and still teaching so it probably can be hard to get hold of me sometimes. Every spare second I get-I am faced with hundreds of emails to wade through. It’s a job which in my school, like many others, brings no additional money-so despite years of experience, I am pretty disillusioned and am looking to leave. Nobody internal wants to replace me either.

So, look at what release time the senco has.

This seems exactly it. In fact thinking about it I know of one parent with a ND child who actively avoided it. I couldn’t understand that at the time - it has a reputation for being an excellent school - but now I see it. It’s only excellent if you meet their definition of good.

Thanks for replying I completely agree it’s funding. When I’ve spoken to the senco she’s been brilliant, she’s just not being given the support by the leadership to do her job properly. We all know how much admin goes into Sen issues so I was staggered to find out the senco was teaching a main subject as well as being a senco in a big school. It shows the lack of respect the position is given. I’m sorry this is your experience too :(

Schools that are good with SEN/humane tend to attract more DC with SEN as word gets around.

If you look at the Ofsted reports for all feasible schools in your area, they say number with SEN on roll and also comment on how well SEN DC do there (this info will often be a few years out of date; but it's a start).

Go on the websites of the ADHD charities. Find local Facebook groups for parents. Ask for school recommendations.

EHCP - plan on it taking a minimum of a year to secure. In most areas, you have to go to tribunal to force them to assess and then again to force them to issue. We applied in October and our tribunal is being heard early April (that's just to assess...) Evidence is needed from the school. It's hard to do if they don't support (not impossible though).

I will say though I teach several DC with ADHD and obviously I have to use the behaviour management system - I have to think about the other DC in the class. I would never be mean to them but it is really difficult when you're constantly interrupted trying to teach and when you're aware that e.g. missing a chunk of every lesson and virtually every homework is going to have a direct impact on their exam grade (not so serious for KS3 fortunately).

@Stuckrecord that's defo the situation near me. I was put off the school near me as it felt like children had to be robots & fit their mould only. I didn't know that DD had adhd at the time but knew she'd hate that approach. Others with 2-3 children avoided it as their children were all unique & different and they realised that didn't seem valued at Uber academic focus school. Our school is strict but does treat the children as individuals too & respects their voice & differences.

Could you share what that looks like?

@Phineyj I agree re behaviour. I think meds make a huge difference and I sigh when parents don't want to at least try them as teachers have a huge job to do and 29 other kids to get through work with

I would definitely look at another school. I have a DD with SEN. We put her in the local outstanding academy after private prep. It was a disaster. The school actively managed her out. They don't want SEN and their profile shows low level numbers. After another move she ended up in a village school with 27% SEN but kindness at its core. That's what you look for not someone banging on about GCSEs. Our DD is medicated for anxiety but is now in her first year at university. Had she not gone to this little village school that welcomed her and worked with us including arranging counselling to get over the trauma of the first school we would have had a poorer outcome.
Top performing schools actively discourage SEN children. There is the good schools guide and the schools guide and ffs don't choose a 'outstanding' establishment. Try 'not fine in school' Facebook for more help.
I wish I had applied for a EHCP. It offers protection from sanctions. Carrot and stick doesn't work on ND people. A lot of educationalists forget that. Good luck.

I have an older child at same school and largely happy but there has been a change in leadership and ethos seems to have moved to a more robot/draconian approach since.

Agree that it must be hard to have my kid in class at times but sending him out to teach others seems to be evidence of need of greater support so wonder if school should be helping get more support in place to benefit us both (via ehcp).