Riverston school, Eltham

[Greenlily7]

Hi, I am looking for reviews and any feedback on Riverston please. My son has recently got an Autism diagnosis. He is in a primary mainstream school and struggling. We are looking for Autism specialist secondary schools and it’s very difficult to find the right one.
I have read a couple of comments that Riverston in not great for SEN. But it seems good on paper. We will go for an Open day but would be really grateful for any feedback please.

Are there any options around Bromley SE London/kent (fine to travel further afield also) for Autistic children who need support but can access national curriculum with some modifications? Thanks 🙏

Does your DS have an EHCP? If he doesn't I would strongly suggest you apply for one.
If you feel he's struggling now and may need a specialist setting for secondary, it sounds like it's definitely worth applying for an EHCP as soon as possible.

Ipsea has some good info:

https://www.ipsea.org.uk/pages/category/education-health-and-care-plans

If he does have an EHCP, then as I'm sure you know the application for secondary settings is different. What year is your DS in?

My knowledge of Riverston is quite out of date as I believe they changed heads a while back. I do know one family who's DD was there and they were happy with it (she has ASD).
I know that her place - and transport - was funded by the local authority - so again, with an EHCP many kinds of settings are possible.

Have you considered a mainstream with an autism resource base? Each one is run on different lines though so I would look around them all.

Thank you so much, yes the EHCP is already in process. I am just struggling to find the right secondary school. There are not many specialist options in and around Bromley, where we are. DS is in year 5 and he has really struggled this year. One of the secondary mainstreams around us has an ASD unit but I don’t think it provides too much of support. The specialist schools can mostly have a wide variety of needs which he will likely make him more anxious. Just very confused and worried about making the right decision.

Where are you with the EHCP process? Make sure your LA stick to the legal timeframes.
You will be asked for your secondary setting preference at his Yr5 EHCP annual review.
Your LA may try and insist that you name more than one setting. It can be helpful if there is more than one you feel is right for your DS but you don't have to.
With an EHCP there are very limited legal reasons a setting can turn a DC with an EHCP down (providing the setting isn't fully independent). You can also look out of borough so I would cast your net as wide as possible. Anything up to 75mins away is quite common for DC to travel to specialist settings.

It's very important that your DS's EHCP is as water-tight as possible - section F is the key (this is what is legally enforceable). Some DC with a good EHCP can cope, even thrive in the right mainstream secondary setting. For others though, however good the EHCP, a huge secondary school is always going to be too overwhelming.

It is a very difficult balance. I remember the sleepless nights I had panicking about secondary schools. For what it's worth, my DS is now Yr9 and doing way better than I ever thought possible (he has full time 1 to 2 support though).

I don't know what your DS's profile is but my DS is very academically able in some subjects but has huge anxiety and can't deal with his peers. We did actually consider Riverston for him but felt it wouldn't be the right fit for him. Very small class sizes can be both a blessing and a curse! We also wanted him to have a wide a range of subject choices.
Riverston may well have changed but at the time, it catered for DC who wouldn't be taking a wide range of GCSEs (nothing wrong with that of course).