SEND and Cambridge schools

[GoldQuoter]

Hi, I'm relocating to Cambridge from abroad in June and DD has ADHD and a SEND provision at her current school, which restricts her class size + provides specialist support in Maths and English + reduced study outcomes.

What do I need to do to be able to have an EHCP in place by September the very latest? And mainly - which Cambridge schools have the best SEND support available without having to go to a special school (she can manage in a 'normie' school with adjustments). Considering Parkside as it's small and Chesterton as it seems to have great facilities.

Thanks!

Thanks to everyone for all these messages - really good insight and useful.

The current support my DD gets as per her local EHCP:

1. Class size not bigger than 14
2. Modified study materials with less text, larger font size and visual help
3. Individual support in Math

• more time for completing the tasks
• additional lessons in group of 2 students
• possibility to use materials (e.g. times table)
• constant help and support from assistant teacher
• modified study materials
• reduced study outcomes

1. Individual support lessons with special educator to help with functional reading skills

I'm not a Crown servant or forces, but am a business owner and investing into the UK.
The country we live in regularly restricts class sizes for SEND kids, schools have to make allowances for various group sizes and usually there's a SEND class alongside larger classes. Some SEND kids only attend specific lessons they need help with in a smaller class and rest with a larger group. Legally, Middle School is not allowed to have more than 24 kids per class anyway.

Been looking at independent schools also, but majority of them seem not to take mixed ability kids - need to dig deeper in this research.

I've now also hired an educational advisor, as it's just too overwhelming.

removing duplicate post

And has your educational adviser told you that what you want exists in the state sector Cambridge? Or are they just helping you with independent schools?

I don't know yet - they've only just started :)

Ive been asking exactly the same questions and I understand that King's Ely is probably the good option. They are full, but you might possibly get a place with an EHCP. They cost £27k for a day pupil.

I don't think there is any other good option tbh. In the past everyone would have said Sancton Wood but I rang up and they said they are past their ears in SEND kids.

Landmark? DS still mainstream primary, but thinking slowly about secondary. Don't really know what to do. Comberton seems to have a lot of Send.

Others experience would be very welcome

I'm a bit confused op as to why you're asking how long it will take to get an EHCP, but then you say she already has one anyway

Their class sizes are larger than 14 more like 24

Yes, I think that what the OP is looking for doesn't exist in Cambridge either state or private unfortunately. I think things are incredibly hard at the moment.

Private schools, with extra small group help are likely to be extraordinarily expensive after the general election if Labour come in too. King's Ely would then be £27k + 20% VAT and I think their website says £60 per hour for extra tuition if needed.

I'm hoping to get an EOTAS package to home school but otherwise may end up EHE.

A lot of people with SEND kids seem to end up home educating with King's Interhigh, or Wolsey College or similar.

I slightly wonder if people in the OP's position may end up hiring a governess, as though it was the 1850s again.

I'm not sure you'll find class sizes of 14 outside a special school; most mainstream private schools have larger classes than that.
I've had maths sets that size, but only because we skewed the numbers to have large top sets and small bottom sets, and nowadays the schools are so full that you probably wouldn't manage to get the bottom set down to 14 doing that. For mixed ability subjects it just wouldn't happen.

What you would find is that in a bottom set, the teaching is geared to the ability of the pupils - so that would automatically give you reduced study outcomes, more time to complete tasks, appropriate study materials, use of resources. If the teaching is at an appropriate level, constant help might not be needed, depending on exactly what their needs are.

Landmark (private, mainstream) looks like it might have small classes. I've known one pupil who got on well there, but I've also seen some negative press on here.

I know nothing about it, but Holme Court School (private, special) looks like it has the small classes. It caters mainly for dyslexia, but it looks like there might be a bit of flex on that.

Thing that is hard here is to find a space for a kid who needs a very safe place with a small class size, but good academic teaching in 8 GCSE subjects. It doesn't seem to exist now that Sancton Wood is so full.

We don't live in the UK and the EHCP she has is from another country - not the UK, so is invalid and we'd need to go through the whole assessment from scratch after we move back. It's the very first post I made.

Wow.. this is sad to hear, for all the other SEND kids out there too. I own and run a tech business, home schooling is absolutely not an option - I don't have the time (nor the patience tbh). Hiring a governess is actually not a bad shout, depending on the cost of this.. just my DD would prefer a school with a friends network every day.

My child has similar needs written in their EHCP and attends Holme Court in Cambridge.

The needs written in your post won’t be met at a mainstream school as you won’t find a setting with classes of 14 or less.
constant help and support from assistant teacher. Your DD is unlikely to be allocated a 1-1 without a massive fight. Also having a 1-1 in secondary is likely to single your child out which is uncomfortable for many teens in a mainstream setting.

Have you made contact with Cambs County Council? Here is a link to the local offer.

https://send.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/kb5/cambridgeshire/directory/home.page

As pp said the EHCP process takes 20 weeks. You can do the request as a parent and the form should be within the local offer. I have quite a lot of experience of SEND at Cambs cc so feel free to pm me.

Where will you be living?

This is great - thank you for sharing. I am choosing between 2 houses either in Parkside or Chesteron catchment, not decided yet. We'd need to move before I can apply it seems as the kids need to have an address before the LA deal with this. But I don't know where to move to without knowing which school is the best fit and closest to the house.

I'll reach out separately on this over the weekend - thanks for offering help :)

How old is your child? What year are they going into?

I know you have your countries version of an EHCP but do you have any other evidence of need?

Your current EHCP will likely be dismissed even as evidence of need, the LA will not honor it while you are in the process of applying for an EHCP.
I'm not sure what the stance is on accepting reports from foreign Ed Psychs, OTs etc. It’s probably worth booking private assessments now as many of the well regarded Ed Psychs who are accepting new children have very long waiting lists.

12, going into year 7 (they started a year later in the country we're moving from - in the Nordics kids go to school age 7 or even 8, the parents and daycare teachers assess this and make a recommendation).

@GoldQuoter , just an idea but would you consider living in London and enrolling your dc in a Scandinavian or German school etc and commuting to Cambridge during the week. The train from King's Cross to Cambridge is very fast. You should ask the educational consultant re your options if you lived near King's Cross.

Going into year 7 is a bit more difficult as applications for year 7 closed months ago. That's the big transition year here.
Does the education advisor you're paying have experience of Cambridgeshire schools?

I would make contact with Cambs soon.

I really don't want to live in London with kids 🙈 In Cambridge I can afford to buy a nice house, plus DD has been riding horses since she was 4 and we want to be near stables so she can carry on doing that and compete etc.

The educational advisor is looking at everything suitable within an hour's commute from London, so I can be a train ride away from central London, but not actually live there.

I don't think that parkside or Chesterton are likely to be able to meet your daughter's needs unfortunately. Things are incredibly difficult for schools at the moment as the government is not supporting public services well at all. The salaries for teachers in Cambridge are not high enough to enable the staff to buy a house, even on two salaries so hiring teaching staff in Cambridge is very challenging, and there is high turnover of staff in the schools as a consequence. It makes it very hard to meet the needs of kids with SEND as they will be getting new teachers very frequently, and in classes of up to 38 in mainstream secondary. I think you want to be looking at private places.

You could always try getting in touch with little miracles. They're a charity who help parents with this kind of situations along with applying for spectrum recognition so the parents can claim disability benefits
Personally not a fan but for your situation they might be a good first port of call?

It would be worth phoning King's Ely. They may have a space now and if you have money and like to be near the countryside and horses, that would be a great place.