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SEN

Here you'll find advice from parents and teachers on special needs education.

Choosing secondary school for a child with learning difficulties.

1 reply

Nata20 · 20/09/2021 14:59

Hi, I don't usually post but could really use some advice/help/shared experience on this. Our son is currently in year 6 at mainstream primary school and has EHCP plan in place. He had the plan from starting the school to help him with learning, speech and language and making positive interactions. He has 1 to 1 support however school encourages him to work on his own but help us there is he needs it. He works on a differentiated curriculum at a few levels below others. We don't have any concerns on him being in mainstream at the moment and the school has been really good. He is very social and has good friendships, very sporty ( the only subjects he actually excels)! He does football and rugby outside of school as well.
We are now at the time where we have to decide what school to pick next and we are at a loss as we feel that our son would probably struggle to some extent in either mainstream or special needs school.. He is unlikely to achieve good grades and May be even sit GCSEs so seems like a special needs school would be better in that case. However, he really thrives when doing sport and loves being part of mainstream school environment.
Do you have a child with similar difficulties and what school did you chose? Does it work? What should we look out for?
Thank you for any help in advance!

OP posts:
overworkedrobot · 20/09/2021 21:23

Speak to the SENCOs - how receptive they are to your questions tells you a lot.

Do you have any resource units locally? Or do any of the MS have a nurture class or transition group, where a small group of pupils do most of their lessons in a separate small class?

Ask about the range of extracurricular sports clubs, they will be an excellent way for DS to build his self esteem and make friends. Some schools offer a a very limited number, whereas others offer a vast range.

You could look at any independent special schools within travelling distance, they tend to offer a wider range of sports than state special schools. However they wouldn't solve DS wanting a mainstream environment.

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