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

You want small classes.

State schools don't offer this unless medical need which you currently can't evidence.

It's not really an indictment of state education that they don't offer small classes. It's pretty much always been the case that if you want that you need private.

Very few teens are quiet and compliant and to be honest the private schools will only be a bit better than the state. Teenagers as a group are dramatic, have unending friendship issues and are not compliant.

You are not going to find classes full of quiet compliant teens anywhere because frankly it's a contradiction in terms.

You need to get into the state system, get assessed and then they can name a school that's suitable for him in theory. Coming from overseas you will need to take whatever place is available where you are living initially, you cannot even apply until hes resident in the U.K. all state schools have similar class sizes, though the number of classes varies a lot from just a few to 500+ students per year group.

Based on your description I suspect he'll need a unit in a mainstream school or special ed, neither you can apply for from overseas

This. I teach in a lovely, small, non-selective independent with small classes and what would generally be seen as good behaviour. But teenagers are teenagers. They arrive late, push boundaries, thrive on drama and trying to buck the system, make a lot of noise etc. I would be pushing hard for an EHCP and a specialist setting. I have a young relative with a similar profile who ended up being asked to leave a state school because of his behaviour (which was mostly due to him not coping with the chaos and noise and other children breaking the rules and his reaction to that). He is now in a specialist setting but in the 'top group' within it, and they are being pushed academically so that they should get the good set of GCSE results of which they are capable.

Maybe Moore House in Farnham area. If he's 3 years behind in English he may qualify for an ECHP. Moore House is for dyslexia and focuses on literacy but they take well-behaved kids with other SEN needs.

It's private but I know of people who have got funding from the local authority to go there. They had to take the local council to court, all three of them. But in the end the LAs have all paid up.

So there might be a chance there. It's a very good school and sounds like the kind of place your DS could do well. Try calling admissions and see what they say. Let us know how you get on if you do call.

More House in Frensham isn't a dyslexia school. It's a specific learning difficulties school. Have a Google.

The vast majority of boys there now,are funded by their various local authorities via a EHCP. I would doubt many get in without a tribunal.

However I do have a child in a paid independent specialist school via my LA with no appeal. Getting a ehcp takes time. Going through each appeal step right now can take years. The listing for a appeal date is currently at a year. You could appeal to assess, then appeal to issue and then appeal the contents ( Inc named school).

Thanks.

That does look like a school worth considering for him.

But the fees or alternative are a barrier.

Maybe what would most suit is a tiny school in a very remote place, eg a 2 room primary feeding into a 50 a year secondary? Is nowhere in England that rural?

Honestly? Probably not many in England. The Scottish highlands and islands, maybe.

Cape Cornwall is tiny; so is Samuel King's in Cumbria at around 80 pupils in the whole school. I don't know how good either would be with SEN.

I have to say that my autistic child did better in a much bigger secondary (nearly 2000 pupils) with the staff and the space and the spare budget to accommodate him rather than just huffing at us and digging their heels in. But he had a statement (old-style EHCP) that included full-time 1:1 help, which would be like asking for gold-plated caviar for school lunch these days.

The state system is supposed to cope with a fairly wide range of needs, and EHCPs are designed to cover anything beyond those needs. It’s not really an indictment of the system, though I think it is too hard to get an EHCP.

A secondary state school of 50 pupils a year wouldn’t be viable - in remote areas like the scilly isles, pupils are shipped to the mainland or to the largest island for more senior schooling, I think

A PAN of 50 can be viable. A minority of schools have a PAN of 50. For example, the XP schools mentioned above. Although XP schools aren’t necessarily that accommodating of SEN, IMO.

My ds sounds similar to yours in some ways but is managing in a state school with ta support set out in his ehcp. We are in an inner city area so the school isn't small (6 forms per year) and behaviour is a bit mixed. However the school is nurturing and inclusive and that has made the difference. If private isn't possible is there a school near you that is a bit more nurturing? Is there a possibility of starting the ehcp process?

Just looked at the aforementioned Samuel King's School out of curiosity - PAN is 22...

Maybe somewhere like Churchill, a special state school for kids with high functioning autism. It is in Suffolk. You would need an EHCP to access it and might have a battle on your hands.

I would also focus on getting the EHCP with 1.1 support specified. Most mainstream schools are busy, underfunded places with large classes, students with difficult behaviour and few teaching assistants.

Wow, I stand corrected :-)

i wonder how they cover all the gcse subjects

Honley High School in West Yorkshire is a mainstream state school with an internal autism specialist unit that I believe is very good.

https://www.honleyhigh.co.uk/rp-welcome