Secondary help

[Fooshufflewickjbannanapants]

Gaaaah my brain is mashed,

Background
my son has cerebral palsy and hydrocephalus and is a wheelchair user, has a special chair to sit in at school, Lycra suit, medically managed bowels (sometimes Incontinance issues despite this) and has a one to one. Uses dictate/ clicker 8 on his laptop etc
We have been advised to start looking for secondary schools (currently y4)
He is bright, very bright, articulate an avid reader and near the top of the class despite only attending 2 full days and two halves (we are working on it!)

So special school (which seem to primarily deal with more severe cp/autism/Adhd etc or mainstream which will stretch his brain but will possibly not really manage his medical needs despite having the good old try

Where can I look for information? Can he do GCSEs at a special school?

Most special schools don't offer anything like the level of depth of academic study that is available in a mainstream school. Sone do offer GCSEs fir those pupils that can manage this, but they are more likely to be focused on ensuring that as many as possible of their pupils can reach the "employability minimum " of 5 GCSE passes at grade 5 rather than the 8-10 subjects and covering the curriculum in enough depth to be able to get a grade 8 or 9 that is available to those pupils who are able to attend a mainstream school.

However secondary education isn't just about qualifications and you'll need to balance all of your son's needs to decide what school would be best for him.

My friend with cerebral palsy went to a special school in the 1980s and certainly found it rather frustrating to not have her intellectual capacity stretched as much as she is capable of, but she has made the best of it and has held down a decent admin office job. However in the 80s there wasn't the same availability of technology for her to communicate and its difficult to see how she could have anything better back then. Now that more technology is available for communication I am sure that there are plenty of secondary schools which could provide a brilliant education for your DS.

Yes it's perfectly sensible to start making plans now. Tbh starting looking in y4 is what I would recommend for any parent whether or not their child has additional needs.

Make a list of every school that it's remotely feasible for your DS to get to on a daily basis, including mainstream and special schools and also including independent (feepaying) schools.

Step one has to be to make a shortlist of which of the schools has the least physical and practical issues for a pupil who is a wheelchair user. Lots of schools have ramps and lifts in every building - you need a school where your DS can get to every classroom.

Once these practical matters are considered you will need to work out which of the resulting shortlist will be best able to meet your DS's whole educational needs, and what gets written on his EHCP will depend on what you find out. If the only places that can cope with his physical needs are either special schools that don't cover an in-depth curriculum or a mainstream private school with small class sizes and the environment to allow your DS to thrive, then it is possible for an EHCP to be worded so as to oblige the LA to pay the school fees for the private school- and indeed that may be cheaper for them than a place at a special school, so keep an open mind and kick off the process of working out the options. Good luck.