Professional support for entering to a secondary school

[Esserik]

Looking for professional support to help us engage with a private school for our dyslexic son
We are seeking advice or a professional service that could assist us in communicating with a private school in London. Our son, who is dyslexic, was recently assessed by an educational psychologist who strongly recommended this particular school as the most suitable environment for his learning and emotional development.
Initially, our son had been accepted into a local public school. However, following the psychologist's assessment, we were advised against enrolling him there. The setting was deemed too large and potentially overwhelming for his needs, and there’s a real risk he could fall behind academically and feel emotionally lost.
Unfortunately, the recommended private school has told us that their admissions for this year are now closed and they are unable to offer a place. We would like to explore if there is still any way to present our case more effectively — possibly with the help of a professional advocate or consultant who has experience with school admissions and special educational needs.
If anyone has been through a similar experience, or can recommend someone who might be able to support us during this transition, we would be truly grateful.

Are you wanting him to start in September? Why so late applying?

Can you go on a waiting list. If the school is full the school is full and not an expert in send private education but “it’s your money they are after” as well as having kids who get good results and are good examples of the schools ethos. It’s obviously sad you didn’t get the report prior to admissions but y7 entry usually have wait lists in place and movement occurs. Can you find a better public ( I am assuming state) and get on waiting lists there.

Yes, my hope would be for him to start in September, to avoid too many changes for a child who has already faced many challenges in his learning journey.
Unfortunately, we are still quite new to the British school system and, despite extensive research, we have only now received a clear indication.
🙏

Thank you very much for your clear and encouraging feedback.
I truly hope a place becomes available before September. 🤞🏾

Is he currently year 6? If so might be worth looking at prep schools who could ease the transition and apply for a year 9 place instead.

What is it about this school specifically?

It seems odd for a educational psychologist to recommend a specific private school for dyslexia, to the point of advising you to turn down an offer at another school when a place at the private school can’t be secured.

If they don’t currently have any spaces then they don’t have any spaces. Does your son have any other school place for September?

Private schools are not obliged to accept pupils and so I don't think you can really turn up and plead your case if they've already said no if the class is full.
If they said no because they didnt think he was a good fit, then pleading your case may help. But that's not going to help here. All the other parents have chosen this school on the basis that class sizes are x or y so they aren't going to want to piss off all the other fee paying parents for the sake of 1 child.
Have you looked around at other privates ? Maybe post your rough location and MN locals may be able to advise

There's no formal professional support for asking a private school to take a additional pupil, if the school are saying they are full. One of the major USP for private schools is the small class sizes so schools will strictly defend this.

It will also help you to know and use the British terminology
state schools are run by local authorities or educational trusts paid for by taxation
private schools - paid for by parents
public schools - long standing private schools, eg Harrow, Eton.

The British system of private schools especially for boys traditionally has 3 levels - pre-prep for 4-7, prep 7-13 and senior 13-18. Girls tend to start senior at 11. Preps will have senior school they tend to feed their pupils to, if they themselves aren't attached to a senior school.

Having said all that - did you visit the state school, talk to the staff about your son's needs ? private schools do not have the monopoly on good support and results for children with dyslexia. Quite the reverse in some cases. I know there are private school who sell themselves on this but not all of them do. And a small class size will not necessarily make up for lack of specialist support.

I suggest you visit the state school and see for yourself what they have to offer. And then ask the educational psychologist for alternative schools who likely have

How competitive is the school? People arriving from abroad are sometimes under the impression that if you have the money and you apply on time you'll get a space - but many schools, particularly London ones, have 5-10 applicants per place. VAT may help, but anyone planning on not coming back in September would have given notice by now or they'll be on the hook for the next term's fees, so the chances of a space are probably small I'm afraid.

And yes I absolutely wouldn't waste your money paying someone to advocate on your behalf with the school. You will just annoy them and make it less likely that they'll want you as a parent.

And I hope you haven’t rejected your offer of State school
BTW my dyslexic son coped very well with a very large state secondary, and much preferred it to his smaller Primary and being so big they could offer lots of support.
A lot of private schools will say no to student with SEN

@Esserik I agree with others - the private school is unlikely to have a place come up for September at this stage tbh. Can you go and look at the offered state school? Is the offer still open?

It’s odd that an ed psych recommended a specific private school - but are there others? I wouldn’t waste your money on a consultant to help - they won’t be able to do anything if the school is full.

Agree can you say roughly where you are.

If a London private school has said no due to space now, you can throw all the money you like at consultants but it won't change the answer.

You would be much better using the money to pay for support for the dyslexia outside school.

What is your child's profile? How dyslexic are they and what comorbidities if any? What subjects are they likely to excel at or enjoy most? Are they high ability and SEN or average ability and SEN?

I have a severely dyslexic and ADHD child in Y11 in London state system so know quite a lot about what is/is not on offer.

Do you mean state rather than public school?
Most private schools will only take very mild SEN. Anything that might affect their results is managed out or not accepted.
Significant SEN will only be found in state schools.
Most state schools can cope very well with dyslexia. 1:10 to 1:5 children are dyslexic so they are very used to dealing with them.
If it was a state school rather than a public school that you had a place for, I would accept the place for autumn. If it was a public school you might find you are managed out.

YEs good point about terminology @Esserik – in the UK we say state school for what, in America for example, is termed a public school. Public school in the U refers as a pp said to a very small group of very expensive private schools like Eton and Harrow. It's historical bc they were the schools available to the public at one time (100s of years ago).

I suspect you mean state school (ie free to residents of the UK) when you say public but perhaps you could clarify.

Yes, I used public instead of state school, sorry about that.
My son got a place in a state school, but we would like to put him in a public school.

Do you mean “Public school” or do you mean “Private School”?

Public school is one of a very small list:-

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_school_(United_Kingdom)

Public School entry is normally year 9 and most of them are boarding schools.

You would have needed to do pre-tests this year.

If you definitely are wanting a Public School (as opposed to just a private school) then you would need to find a prep school that would take him till the end of Y8 and that was prepared to accept a SEN child into their final years when they are laser focused on entry exams and scholarships.

If what you actually want is a private day school in London, then you need to be very clear what his SEN is and how severe. The highly sought-after selective ones are unlikely to have spaces for Y7, so you are probably better approaching the ones that aren't very academic but have good pastoral care.

Be aware that you will almost certainly need to pay for any support for his dyslexia over and above the normal fees.

My son has dyslexia and ADHD (for which he takes medication).
His abilities are average and he is not particularly academic. I’m afraid that having a tutor after school would tire him out too much, and I don’t think he would be willing to study after school…

Is the school you want your DS to attend one that bases their admission criteria on ability? Also, did you commission the EP assessment privately (ie you paid for it) or did his current school arrange it? Does he have an EHCP?

I would look for state schools in that case, otherwise you are very much looking for a private school that is very SEN focused and there aren't a huge number of those.

Unfortunately secondary schools in the UK all come with homework and studying afterschool is just a fact of life.

Please don’t pay a consultant, there are many plugging their wares who have no influence whatsoever, will take your money and be of no help at all.

Which schools have you considered so far?

Or if you don't want to name them, which area of London are you looking in.

I’d accept the place at a state school that you’ve been offered. If your son is not particularly academic, he would probably be a better fit in a state school with a wide range of ability and setting arrangements to suit abilities.

Could you give area you interested in for your son’s schooling, because MN may give suggestions from current parents?