Hello,
I'm soon to move to Beckenham with my two boys, one of whom has an autism diagnoses.
My son who has autism is 11 and high functioning but has really struggled since transferring to secondary school. Although his current secondary is very supportive, he isn't thriving there and has started to display school related anxiety. He says he finds the size of the school (just shy of 2000 young people, including sixth formers) overwhelming and intimidating and the feedback I get from school is that he is not engaging with learning, which is an obvious worry. He is a bright and articulate boy and he tells me he is frustrated as he wants to learn. In primary school he was working above the expected level and now he appears to be below the expected level in several subjects. More worryingly, he just seems so anxious and unhappy in school which is impacting on his behaviour and he has days when he is very disruptive. I worry that London schools will not have any tolerance for his behaviour when it is challenging and that he will end up being excluded so it is vital that I find a school that can meet his needs and where he will be settled. I'm struggling to get appointments to meet with SENCOs or have a look around premises - most of the SENCOS I have contacted so far have said they are too busy/haven't got capacity.
Just wondering if there are any parents out there who have children with autism attending mainstream secondaries and what your experiences have been? Particularly interested in hearing about Langley boys, Harris academy and Bonus Pastor. Langley boys advertise the fact that they have a specialist autism unit but seemed very unhelpful when I called (maybe end of term pressures?). Also, while I'm not catholic, I notice Bonus Pastor Catholic school is quite small compared to the other secondaries and would be interested to hear more from anyone who has experience of it.