Help choose a boarding school for Sixth form for an overseas student with Aspergers

[iwannatravel]

Hi, my son is 15 and is in Year 10 in a British International School in South East Asia. He was diagnosed as Aspergers last year and he has no behaviour issues whatsoever and is slightly above average academically (his expected IGCSE result is 6 A/A* out of 9 subjects). His main challenges are social (he has no friends) and diet (he eats a very small variety of foods). He is very shy and quiet and does not do any sports, arts or music.

I was planning to let him do A levels in his current school but he said he wants to try to go to a boarding school. Frankly I do not think he can cope but it's a big step for him to even want to suggest going overseas to study so I think the least we can do is to let him try to build his independence and resilience. He plans to do Computer Science, Geography and either Chemistry or Physics for A levels.

We left it a bit late as I know applications close in September/ October and we have not visited any schools. Our criteria is as such-

• Smallish school/class size with a bigger number of international students
• He needs to have a single room (this is a deal breaker)
• Kitchen facilities to prepare simple meals (eg instant noodles, rice)
• Close to Heathrow/ London (not more than 90 mins by train)
• Not rural- he told me he prefers a bigger town
• Nurturing with good pastoral care but must be slightly more academic to challenge him
• Open on exeats (would be ideal)

I have looked at these schools (suggestions from an education consultant plus my own research)

1. Luckley House (my concern is the small number of boarders but seems they have extremely good pastoral care and nurturing)
2. Bromsgrove (good reviews and like it for the big Sixth form intake but it's a huge school)
3. King's School Canterbury (like the fact it's in a town and not rural plus it is academic)
4. Bede's Senior School (I think this is very rural? but again good support)

Other schools suggested by the consultant includes Canford, Uppingham, Royal Russel and Lancing College.

Or should I go the route of a Sixth form college? It has more freedom and not forced to do sports but my concern is it's almost all overseas students and it is seemed like an exam factory.

Any thoughts/ suggestions will be appreciated!

Avoid those which are predominantly day schools like RR. Christ's Hospital perhaps or Box Hill? Must it be A levels or would IB be an option? Canterbury to Heathrow is probably more than 90 mins at best.

I'm not sure if I'm about to phrase this as well as I'd like but, regarding the friends/social side of things, does he want friends or is he happy in his own company? What are his views on being forced to engage in communal events, eg house activities.

I second More House. They will know how to deal with boys with ASD. You're risking things going wrong quickly and being far away in the other ones. Don't assume because it's for SpLD they won't have clever kids. If your son is smart but needs good support with people who know ASD well, More House will be really good for him. They have some single dorms in the sixth form and all dorms have kitchen facilities.

Some of the private sixth forms might meet your requirements more easily; some have half-board/self-catering options which may be useful if he'd rather do his own thing. However you may be right about some being mostly overseas students, unless they also take day students - something you'd have to try and check out if it's important to you. As far as "exam factory" goes, I think their market is often people wanting good grades for UK unis, so that may be what comes across first. It sounds like he's not really going to be so bothered about sports and performing arts facilities, so wouldn't necessarily benefit from the facilities at some 11-18/13-18 schools.
There are at least four private sixth forms in Cambridge, if that's not too far from Heathrow (within range for London and Stansted airport).

Bedes have some single ensuite rooms and I think Boarders go into Eastbourne pretty regularly? It sounds like his profile would fit there. They have a good mix of international students most years at sixth form. IMO I would be suprised if Bromsgrove were a good fit, even though it is a good school generally. Avoid Christs Hospital. Wouldn't go for Lancing either. Luckley House have good reputation for being nurturing. Kings is a great school, but they don't, for instance, have any children with an EHCP, so probably worth having a detailed discussion about whether it is the right fit for your son and can provide any support he may need. More House, as mentioned, has a very good reputation for really understanding boys with ASD.

What about D'Overbroeck's in Oxford? I know of day pupils who have been very happy there.

I fear a lot of the more mainstream suggestions will be a bit of a flop for your DS OP. It can be quite difficult for international students to fit in within the boarding school community at sixth form. It's very much a place for confident kids and if he's a bit of a loner, he may really struggle. It is a lot of very wealthy kids. In your shoes I think I'd really only look at schools like More House or Bredon. I suspect he'd be quite happy at those type of schools. Mainstream curriculum with specialist support. The kids tend to be far more understanding and kind.

He says he is happy on this own. When I attend parent teacher meetings in school, the teachers tell me he does talk to his classmates during class time, puts his hand up to answer questions and does well in team work. It's outside of class time that he prefers to be alone.

Not Uppingham. Tiny sleepy town with no train station.

Bit of an eclectic mix
Brockwood Park https://brockwood.org.uk/ but may be too rural
Westminster if super clever, certainly not rural
Wychwood Oxford very small and going coed
the Quakerschool in reading often used to get suggested. Can’t think of the name right now

More house are not taking any more outside applications for sixth form this year so that's not possible.

Canford: avoid. Not pastoral enough and there won't be enough students with similar profiles....excellent school but not for those with profiles like your DS.

Consider Bournemouth collegiate school. Very pastoral. SenCo is excellent, as is the whole Learning Support dept and boys boarding. Head is also excellent. Lots of overseas students at sixth form. Not selective but every year they have a handful of top achievers. Own room defo possible and meets all your other requirements except the train is about 1.75 hours from London Waterloo. But they have lots who arrive into Heathrow and then go straight to school.

I've heard that Royal RUssell canhave a bit of a bullying problem and that the pastoral support for that wasn't great. Also its on the outskirts of Croydon which isn't great location wise. I don't think Christ's Hospital mentioned by PP above would be a good fit - it is better suited to more robust and sociable types and is in the middle of the countryside with trips to Horsham strictly rationed even in 6th form.

I know that your DS said he wanted a city but Wells might be worth a look - it is quite a small school and the sixth form is pretty relaxed in terms of wandering around Wells etc. They have a sixth form only house which might suit him and having the specialist music stream means they are used to international students and their SEN department is good.

The other slightly out there suggestion would be MPW in London - they opened a boarding house this year which is all singles. Although the boarders are likely to be all overseas there is always a regular stream of London based retakes usually looking for high grades. It doesn't offer much in the way of extra curriculars but it sounds as if DS wouldn't be that into them anyway.

@ummmmjop Thanks for letting me know that More house isn't taking any more applications for Sixth form. I just emailed them yesterday. Also Bournemounth Collegiate School sounds really good and may tick the boxes and am exploring it more.

@londonmummy1966
Thank you for your advice. Will check out MPW although am not sure if being in Central London is a good idea for a young child!

Relatively recent experience with Lancing demonstrates lack of willingness to meet special needs. Would not consider.

The types of kids that will be at MPW will be very similar as your son's current school, so if he doesn't gel with them I wouldn't do it.

My son’s current school is a British school in Malaysia (so more similar to a British boarding school rather than sixth form college)

Yup, I meant the types of kids, not the type of school. MPW will be similar in set up to a British boarding school.

Totally wrong locations, but I have known kids with high functioning ASD be happy at Condover College and St David's College.

Sorry I meant Concord College not Condover.

Kings Canterbury is superb with mild SEN cases but probably not suitable as it’s a large school multiple campuses in the city complicated academically demanding …… suspect you need a smaller more specialist place. You might get offers from lots of less popular schools as they are short of boarders but stick to your preferences. Good luck!

You need to take care, boarding schools may have kitchen for communal use but strict rules and your DC is expected to go to the canteen for meals etc. Some expectations of sports levels and they want kids to contribute to social activities etc and not be a loner.

Sixth form college maybe.

Would you think of boarding schools in Asia….Dulwich, Marlborough, Harrow school, etc? What support would DC have if you in Asia? His guardian or local support?

Second vote for d'Overbroeck's in Oxford. Not sure about single rooms so you'd need to look at that, but big international contingent, small classes, individual Director of Studies who builds a relationship with the student over the two years of sixth form.

Please don't send him to boarding school, esp not abroad. You really shouldn't take that risk. You say yourself you don't think he can cope. Even within my country a child with aspergers is the last child I would send to boarding school. If it goes wrong, and there is a high chance of that, you will cause irreversible damage. Boarding schools can be great for very social, confident, busy, sporty children but for a child who struggles socially there needs to be time to wind down, to be with family or alone away from peers and formal settings. All you can get here are suggestions of schools that are less bad than others but all of them will be a massive risk.