Bristol: schools for autistic kids

[AlittlebitofMonica]

Looking at secondary schools for my 9 year old (year 5) son. He’s autistic, but will be in mainstream.

He's bright, not sporty, and quite anxious, so needs a lot of encouragement and reassurance to do his best.

Can anybody recommend any schools in particular? We can pay for private if that’s the best option.

Apologies that one for @herebehippos

Wondering if anyone on here has experience with Badminton Prep and/or Senior for SEN please.

We went with SMRT with a DS with a similar sounding profile. He is doing well and happy there so far and has made a genuine friend. I knew staff in their SEND support team professionally, and have been impressed with how they have handled any issues so far. DS did have a short period of bullying, by another child with different needs. It was dealt with hard, fast and very effectively. He's been given much more support than in primary and is coming on leaps and bounds.

Prob a bit late but my son is at BGS and thriving.

Thank you @Karmaisaguyonthechiefs , I think we’re prioritising smaller class sizes really, that’s going to be the biggest advantage for our son going private.

@Tiggybest Both have sensory processing issues, one more than the other. There are quiet spaces and there is dedicated nature area which is used by ES staff with small group work. Lesson transitions can be noisy but girls both use loops which they have found helpful and school has made adjustments where there have been particular sensory issues with individual lessons and classrooms

Ok thank you. That does sound very positive. It might be worth be contacting the school directly. I saw the open evenings and fully booked. Still a hugely popular school and catchment

@GruntledGoblin I would be hugely grateful for the chance to have a chat about Wycliffe, if you would be happy to.

Our son is in year 7 with a similar sounding ASD profile to your son. Currently he is at home with me as the demands of his very busy, alpha and somewhat old school prep school outweighed his capacity to cope. He is missing out hugely at present on the social aspects of school as well as the sport and academics so we need to find somewhere for him asap. Specialist wouldn't work, he is definitely an "inbetweener" in that sense. Wycliffe sounds like a possible option from what you say and is about an hour from us.

Would you be up for a quick chat sometime?

Prior Park in Bath is incredible - fantastic SEN Team, possibly too far?