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!

This website is where you can see the catchment area for secondary schools.

https://maps.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/mycambs.aspx

She won't be skipping an entire year, she'll be changing from one school system to another. Are you coming from a country with a similar school system?

She's coming from an IB school and will be Year 7 entry in Sept in the UK.

I'd recommend IVC then because they offer the IB.

https://www.impington.cambs.sch.uk/myp/

https://www.impington.cambs.sch.uk/send/

@GoldQuoter if she is 12yo now then (depending on her actual DoB) she would either be in year 7 now, so year 8 in Sept, or (if her birthday is April - Aug) in year 8 now, year 9 in Sept.

I've not heard of anyone being able to amend this bc of coming from abroad, sorry. No state school IME will allow her to start year 7 aged 12.5 + - she would be at least 6 months older than the oldest in the cohort and at least 18 months old than some. Ad that's if she turned 12 this month.

I agree if private is an option that certainly looks like the best plan. I don't know how easy it is to be out of year in private - I would be making some calls asap (tho not for two weeks as many schools have just broken up).

We live in Cambs, if they give you a deferred place I don’t think they will ask you to skip a year at any point. I’ve never met anyone that’s happened to.

However, I have met quite a lot of people whose children had to change systems and were not offered a deferred place despite English not being their first language. But some who were.

Regarding age in a deferred year. DC in Yr 13 in sixth form - he is a very late August born and was very prem. He’s the youngest by far of all the deferred students we know. There are 2 other summer borns, the others are a mixture of those with a previous history of major health issues and refugees. He’s the only one who has been in a deferred place from Reception year. His early birth was one reason for deferred place, the fact he spent his toddler years abroad is the other.

That's really unlikely to happen. Places are given according to actual age, not according to previous school. There has to be a very strong reason for a child to be placed in a different year from their peers.

I agree about IVC - they follow the middle years IB programme plus they don't decide GCSE options until year 9 so your child would have time to settle before having to choose options.
Also they do seem to be good with students with autism, and should it be appropriate they also have the Cavendish school for students with autism on site.

There is no guarantee being educated in the year group below will be agreed, especially as DD isn’t summer born.

NameChange30 any parents whose DC’s phase transfer EHCP hasn’t been finalised should look at a pre-action letter.

have said the chances of getting an EHCP are slim to none

Some schools incorrectly tell parents their DC won’t get or/or doesn’t need an EHCP, but their parents go on to successfully apply themselves albeit sometimes needing appeal(s).

Some schools incorrectly tell parents their DC won’t get or/or doesn’t need an EHCP, but their parents go on to successfully apply themselves

Yes @Headfirstintothewild I have seen this numerous times. Or they say they tried and didn't manage to get one because the LA don't give any when actually they just haven't provided enough evidence.

@CambridgeLightBlue it is frustrating when some schools do this. Another situation where the most vulnerable pupils are failed. DC whose parents know the system are likely to know the school isn’t being honest. So, as with many aspects of the current SEN system, DC whose parents are able to advocate for them get better support.

I don’t mean to be the voice of doom and gloom but you are on a real sticky wicket if you are trying for any Y7 school place in September. You’ve missed all the secondary application deadlines and Cambridgeshire schools are so full that children have been offered places in St Ives or St Neots.

It would take nothing short of a miracle to have an EHCP in place by Sept if you are in the country, and given you aren’t here until June, I just don’t see how it can happen.

That said, most state schools will be familiar with ADHD and will have many kids with ADHD and EHCPs on their rolls. As others have said, avoid the Perse schools unless you have a very academically capable child, Sancton Wood is the Fawlty Towers of schools, and many of the less “desirable” schools may have better SEN provision.

That's really unlikely to happen. Places are given according to actual age, not according to previous school. There has to be a very strong reason for a child to be placed in a different year from their peers.

Absolutely not an experience I recognise at all. It is 100% about having lots of documentation that shows they have effectively been in the deferred year group their whole (or partial) school career. Documents other than an EHCP can be used. I amassed 16 documents to state the case simply from private to state school. In year application but at the end of the school year is the method.

You don't think that counts as a strong case @Librarybooker ? You've just proved my point.

Coming over from a different school system isn't a strong case. Years are given different numbers in different countries. That's not enough for a child to be given a place in a different school year.

When is your daughter 13?

I don’t understand your point. The OP can surely amass a lot of documentation showing need, showing difference in system and so on.

My point is that you proved a need. I'm not sure being in a different numerical year abroad in a system where she was in her actual chronological year group would help her join a year group out of her age group here.

There’s also the difference that OP’s DD isn’t summer born.

OP hasn't said when her DD turns 13, but if it's before 31st August then she would effectively be looking for not just one year out of cohort but 2 years.

OP said skip a year rather than years, so I assumed it was just one year deferred and therefore if she was 12 on 30/3 she is not summer born.

Quite likely - but may depend on when school years/ age cut offs run from in the current Nordic country.

I've seen people get caught out when they haven't realised England runs on a 1st September to 31st August birthdate cycle for schools because their current home country uses a different or more flexible system.

Yeh agree - @GoldQuoter if your dd has her 13th birthday in April-Aug this year, she would be starting yr 9 this Sept so a year 7 place would be two years out and very optimistic I suspect.

My DD's birthday is in the end of September. She doesn't attend her current school with her chronological age classmates either, but is a year older - and should be a Yr 7 entry in the UK coming from an IB school.

I understand the logic behind supposedly incompatible school systems and then the yr 8 entry not being an issue, but in our case I think it will be as she's never studied with her age group. I don't want to her to skip a year because we're moving, but because she had deferred entry to begin with.

Our case was double pronged. DC born very prem with an actual birth date very end of August and went to nursery/kindergarten in a different country. The state school transfer was in Yr5 but we had relocated to UK and been in a deferred year at a private school.

In his current 6th form college there are several kids not summer born in a deferred year. A few of these are from Ukraine, others we know were seriously ill at some point in their schooling. He’s the youngest of any deferred child we know. Other reasons for deferred place include dyslexia, held back a year (usually by a private school) etc.

Well none of this can be known for sure until OP speaks with Cambs CC. They will be able to shed some light.