Where is there an excellent mainstream secondary school for an autistic boy who requires some support?

[Carebearsonmybed]

If you could move into any catchment in the country where would you go for the best school for a boy who needs a smaller, more nurturing neurodiverse-friendly educational experience?

When I google I just get special needs schools not mainstream schools.

Also it's hard to search when not area specific (can relocate anywhere).

TIA

Does DS have an EHCP? Without one, whatever school he goes to, the support he receives isn't going to be guaranteed (and even with one, it can be difficult!).

It is a catch-22 in that schools that get a reputation for good SEN support can then become a magnet for DC with additional needs. This then puts enormous pressure on the school. A school local to me now has something like a third of pupils with SEN because they are known for their inclusive ethos. They are now really struggling to support those children with very limited resources. This has also had a big impact on their exam results.

Also, an ethos of a school can change quite quickly depending on SLT/Senco.

There are schools that have dedicated units for children with autism so it may be worth looking on your council's website to get a list of those. If your DS has an EHCP you can request a school out of borough.

Ipsea has some good info about choosing a school for those with and without an EHCP: https://www.ipsea.org.uk/pages/category/choosing-a-school-or-college

Thanks.
No EHCP as not in England.
Looking to relocate regardless & flexible re area so trying to prioritise schooling.

But with such a wide net it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

You are right that schools change over time and ones with good SEN reps can get overwhelmed.

Apologies OP. I shouldn't have assumed you were in the English school system.

I would say that where ever you do end up, if you feel that your DS requires additional support that is legally enforceable, do apply for an EHCP/equivalent. Don't be put off by what the school/local authority may say. My DS is considered academically able (as in operating two years ahead in some subjects) and he has one.

As I'm sure you know - hence your post! - surviving/thriving in secondary school isn't just about academic achievement.

I can understand why you're considering a smaller school but sometimes larger schools can be as good if not better as they sometimes have more experience of SEN and have more clubs etc where DC can find 'like minded' people. I would say it's more about the ethos of the school than the size.

You don't say what your DS's profile is like. Is he working at 'expected levels'? Do you envisage him taking GCSEs?

Would you consider private?

Egerton Rothesay School in Berkhamsted. It’s mainstream but private. A large majority of pupils have their fees paid in full by their local authority as it’s named on their EHCP.

There should be far more of these schools in the UK and provided by the state. It fits that middle ground of children who can access a mainstream education but only with small class sizes and extra support. They do not accept children with behavioural problems.

I’d look at some of the smaller schools in NI - high schools (non-selectives) or grammars. SEN support is hit and miss here as it is elsewhere in the U.K., but NI has a real range of schools (smaller/bigger, single sex/mixed, strong on music/sport/art etc) and education is valued highly here. Schools also have a relatively high level
of autonomy, which means schools can really have their own ethos in a way which is much harder when there is less autonomy. I am wondering if you’re in Scotland? If so - the education system here in terms of how it’s valued and in terms of parental choice etc is head and shoulders above Scotland.

It’s worth saying that catchments aren’t really a thing here - you apply and sometimes distance from the school matters for entrance criteria, but often it doesn’t - which gives you more choice about where to live and house prices don’t tend to be affected by their proximity to certain schools.

More House in Frensham Surrey but it depends what year he is in as it gets full.

It's spealist indi and most kids are paid for via EHCP.

You won't get small classes in mainstream state

No state school anywhere?

DS has a diagnosed disability but would probably also be classed as having 'behavioural issues'.

There's actually a decent small private school near here.

But surely there must be something somewhere in the state system?

He is very behind but expected to catch up with support. I would expect him to do GCSEs/Alevels & go to uni.

The problem is you’ve given a really wide net! What area of the UK would you like to end up in? If you can narrow it down e.g. can anyone recommend a secondary which great at supporting neurodiverse kids say in the East Midlands or in South West London, then people will be able to help a bit more. I would suggest not rural and somewhere where there are options.

You may find a school with a resource unit more supportive even though your son won’t be able to access it without an EHCP, but the teachers will have usually done extra training. I also agree with the posters upthread, look for ethos and size.

I'm in Scotland.
DS is registered at an ASL (additional support for learning) unit within a mainstream school. He starts in a few weeks.
There are two of these in our city and DS will be going to the one nearest us.
Classes are tiny (16 kids in the largest group).
It's a mix of ASD, learning disabilities and behavioural problems, roughly divided by age and academic ability.
Kids have the opportunity to go into mainstream classes for some of the day if they want/are able to.
I've some reservations as DS can show high academic ability in some subjects/the right environment/when the mood takes him.
But he really would sink in mainstream so this is the best option for us. I'm hoping they can see him as an individual and support his strengths as well as his weaknesses.
Would something like this work for you OP? You could start by investigating what your council has to offer.
They vary quite a lot: from situations where students take all their lessons in the unit . .. .to places where kids are expected to be mostly in mainstream classes and only visit the unit for support.

Where I live which is a affluent county bordering London, no.

Schools here are strapped for cash. They can't meet SEN kids needs, especially without the extra funding a EHCP brings.

Behavioural issues added in and you would be lucky to not be expelled to a PRU.

You might have a better outcome in a low social economic area and in a school that's berm found Ofsted inadequate in the past ironically as they are better geared up to deal with sen, cope with it and have a higher tolerance level then Ofsted outstanding. They are imo the worse with high level of SEN and no ehcp.

My SEN kids have ehcps. Being expelled is a constant threat in mainstream state and exclusions are frequent legal or not. ( its mot legal)

The SEN system in England is broken. Google safety value agreement.

How old is your DS now? When will he be starting secondary school?

When you say he's 'very behind' and there are 'behavioural' issues, could you give any more details? People may be able to suggest schools that fit your DS's profile with some more information.

Is he getting any support now by the way? If not, he sounds like he should be.

It sounds like your DS will need quite a significant level of support in order access the curriculum at secondary school, even in a 'small, nurturing SEN-friendly' school.

So basically I'll have to find a way to pay for private?

Due to work we are free to relocate anywhere of our choosing.

DS's reading age is 3+ years behind. Verbally articulate. Maths average. Mostly doesn't do PE/assembly type activities due to noise/commotion of other pupils. He finds other children noisy/unruly/boundary pushing. He can't do group work. A loner but content enough with that. Likes 1:1. Demand avoidant. Oppositional. Has lashed out in anger previously but this has greatly improved & not happened recently. Has 2 hours a week of 1:1 specialist support atm, down on previous higher level of support.

The environment which would seem to suit him the best would be a small quiet class of quiet, compliant pupils with a teacher who understands ASD and implements strategies eg set routines, doesn't expect high social skills & theory of mind.

He needs downtime & breaks & expectations of the social & emotional development of a 2 years younger pupil.

Maybe a small rural school?

I don’t think what you are looking for exists in the state sector. Simply trying to find small classes and quiet compliant students in the state sector is going to be a problem. The only chain of schools I can think of are perhaps the XP schools which are definitely small but I’m not sure what they are like for SEND and admission is via a lottery so no guarantees.

It really sounds like you need to apply for an EHCP and aim for a resource unit attached to a mainstream school where he has the benefit of the unit support as well as mainstream.

To be honest, given his profile, I'm not sure a private school would be the best setting for your DS anyway. Unless the private school was a specialist setting.

As other people have suggested, I would recommend looking at a resourced based provision attached to a mainstream secondary. They are all run on different lines though so no two are the same.

My DS is in one. It works well for him. He has 1 to 2 support at all times, attends most lessons but there is the support there if he gets overwhelmed. He also has speech and lang. once a week and has somewhere he can go at break/lunchtimes.

I know you say you're happy to move but as a starting point it would be worth contacting your council for a list of resource units - and specialist provisions - and try to visit them. That way you can get a feel of what they offer and can judge if they might be appropriate.

In Surrey but you'd need an EHCP

www.kedlestongroup.com/our-locations/schools/brookways-school/home

He's had extensive educational psychologist intervention and has been discharged as progressing well in a mainstream setting. All the professionals agree he doesn't need a special school or support unit.

SALT discharged him as he is very verbally articulate.

He's just behind as he had huge disruptions to his learning, is demand avoidant and has a negative view of writing partly from previous experience and partly from co-ordination difficulties with pencil control.

We are planning a move for other reasons. I just think if we're flexible we should be narrowing down areas based on choosing a local school that would be good for him.

Teacher.

The provision in most state secondary schools falls into one of three possibilities:

Firstly mixed ability classes of around 30. An increasing number of state schools do this in year 7 and many now do it into year 8 and 9. By definition this is not a small class of well behaved students. If maths is average in English is 3 years behind he should be able to access the maths and stem ok but would need support to access the English.

Secondly grouped by ability. Most state schools that do this put more kids into the upper sets and fewer kids in the lower sets. The lower ability groups tend have more students with behavioural problems. As he is average for maths he'd be in a middle set for maths/stem and bottom set for English/history/RE etc. in my experience these bottom sets contain students with adhd, ASD, physical illnesses such as epilepsy who have missed school and are behind, global developmental delay and learning difficulties. They are small classes. They do not contain compliant students who he will learn with well.

Either of these provisions are "mainstream". He is very very unlikely to get any TA (1:1) support in the classroom without an EHCP as the current education system in the UK is underfunded and he doesn't have the paperwork he needs.

The third option is a unit alongside mainstream where he has small classes but all the students with have SEN probably ASD. He would be able to attend mainstream classes to partially integrate. You have zero chance of getting a place on one of those without at least an EHCP and probably a court battle as well.

I don't know if this is normal but in my middle sized London comprehensive we have "nurture classes" for KS3 for subjects such as English when students are behind.

The problem does however get passed down the line as students join the regular GCSE classes in year 10.

We have got some parts of London with falling rolls and relatively high school funding but I'm guessing the house prices would prohibit a move here? Have you considered house prices/housing costs? I think I'd do that before trying to find a school tbh.

The environment which would seem to suit him the best would be a small quiet class of quiet, compliant pupils with a teacher who understands ASD and implements strategies eg set routines, doesn't expect high social skills & theory of mind.

The Holy Grail of classrooms. Unfortunately any small class such as you describe will be for children who have similar needs to your ds and will therefore be unlikely to be quiet or compliant much of the time.

I'm thinking the small non selective private near us may be better than anything we will find anywhere else.

Would need to remortgage the house to fund that though.

It's a terrible indictment on education that of thousands of schools in the state sector none seem suitable. There must be thousands of pupils like DS, his profile isn't that unusual.

What about somewhere with an integrated resource? There's two in Sheffield. Don't know what they are like though. Mine aren't secondary age yet.

Would you meet the requirements of a Catholic school? Some are more pastorally minded and I know of one that has a nurture class most year groups for kids who struggle academically and socially. Usually 8-16 kids in it. A boy in my family went all the way through in this class and though he never loved school he also never had the massive issues that we thought he might before he started there.

No not religious.