Experience/opinions on these schools?

[LittleDollyDayDreams]

I'd be grateful if anyone could share their experiences or opinions on the following schools:

Moat School (Putney)
Centre Academy (Clapham)
Thames Christian School (Clapham)
Fairley House School (Pimlico)
Moor House School (Oxted)
Blossom House School (Motspur Park)
Canbury School (Kingston)
Cricket Green School (Merton)
St Philips School (Chessington)

Many thanks for any feedback.

Friends son was moved from Slindon and did very well at moor house oxted - as far as I know the main difficulty has to be speech and language or associatied difficulties.

Thank you LuxuryHW that's useful to know.

We've attended open days and visited several of these schools, but find it's helpful to have an opinion from parents who have direct experience of a school.

Is anyone aware of other schools in SW London/Surrey that may also be worth considering (independent or state)?

Southfields Academy has a language and Sen dept.
It's a big state school. I have never been in but know the area well.

I have a feeling that it suffers from low level disruption in classrooms which might make it tricky for a child who cannot filter that out to concentrate. That's only what I have read.

Best you make your own decisions should you go and visit.

Thank you citychick. Southfields Academy would be relatively accessible to us and I hadn't thought about visiting.

Have looked up details on their website, and found their Resource Base for ASD and/or SLCN called The Achievement Studio (TAS), which appears to be quite new.

It depends what LD your child has. I have heard amazing things about Fairley House - parents had tried other small private schools but the child couldn’t make it work and got hugely distressed. Child is now flourishing at Fairley in KS3. Its very expensive but parents are delighted

Thank you Hels20, it's great to hear of a child thriving in the right setting. Do you know if dyslexia was the primary learning dfficulty for the child you mentioned?

Yes it was. The parents tried two other schools in Putney and her distress at not being able to do things and struggling was coming out in bad behaviour. They took a break from school and home schooled for about 8 months and then sent her to fairley and she has thrived.

Dyslexia is main issue but Fairley is incredibly expensive! £30k a year or so!!

The only thing that strikes me from your list is that some of the schools have pupils with really complex needs whilst others are mainstream or have pupils with much less profound difficulties. It’s tricky to recommend without knowing the remit but More House (Farnham) is great. Maybe a little too far out? I think it is mostly about the fit for the child.
For example I found canbury distinctly underwhelming but I think that was mostly because it wouldn’t have suited our child rather than because it was a bad school.
We did lots of research and then narrowed it down and had a chat with admissions. Most of them are really helpful as they want it to be good fit and don’t want the students disrupted by lots of visiting parents.

Thank you Hels20 & Raaaaaah for your replies.

The school is for my DD who has SLCN (no ASD) and dyspraxia. More House looks great, but is for boys only, and wish there was a similar school that is co-ed or for girls.

Raaaaaah, I'm aware that Cricket Green and St Philips have pupils with complex needs. Are there any of the others in the list you'd also consider in this category?

Ah sorry, I didn’t realise you had a DD. Give the ones you like the sound of a buzz. In our experience the better ones will ask for any reports you have and will then give an indication as to whether it would be a good match. Good luck. Sometimes a school is able to recommend others that might be worth a look.

I think More House and The Moat are fairly comparable in flavour just one is co ed and the other is single sex.

Many thanks Raaaaaah.

Does anyone have experience of a mainstream state secondary with excellent SEN support in SW London/Surrey?

I sent you a message. Thought it would be easier.

OP
I'd be interested to hear how you get on at Southfields Academy.
It would be our closest school that offers help for DS. I think. although we're centrally located to many of the school's you mentioned.

DS has a reading comprehension deficit disorder. No ADHD or ASD. However, we're living abroad ATM ( our home is in SW London) and so we are considering coming home soon. International schools are not really set up for him and he's a bit miserable.

My concern is about behaviour issues at Southfields Academy. Poor ds gets pulled into the naughty set.

Thanks for all the suggestions and recommendations - I will do some research on all the schools mentioned.

His working memory is fine so he really needs fine tuned help, rather than general global assistance, IYSWIM.