Primary Resource provision for SEMH or stick with mainstream - how do I decide

[ruthietoothie]

I’m in a total quandary and wondering if anyone can help! Perhaps by sharing their own experiences or by saying what you’d do in my situation

I have a seven year old autistic boy with a PDA profile and who is currently in a mainstream school with a 121 cos of his ehcp.

the school doesn’t put in any interventions without my pushing for them and it’s only cos of me that he’s even got a 121 (the senco said he’d never meet the threshold for an EHcP)

he is regularly physically restrained, violent to staff and other pupils and was excluded seven times last year! At one point I was actually begging the head to permanently exclude him.

after a load of battles I’ve now been offered a place for him at a SEMH RP, which seems nice and good, and sipportive

my oh is worried he won’t be academically challenged at this RP (nevermind the fact he’s massively behind at the mainstream despite clearly being bright) & also that he will miss his close peer group from his mainstream which are his main motivation for going to school.

what would you do? I’ve got to make a decision soon and I’m tempted to accept the place but my Oh more unsure!

thanks so much for any thoughts and wisdom. Xx

It doesn’t sound like the current school is working.

Have you visited the school with the RP? How RPs run varies a lot. If you haven’t already I would ask some questions such as:

• Number of students in RP?
• Ratio (and type) of staff in the RP?
• Do they have professionals on site or visiting? If visiting, how often do they visit and how many DC do they see?
• What proportion of the day/week are DC expected to integrate into mainstream classes? Does this % change as DC move up the school? How many DC are in the MS class DS will be part of?
• What lessons do DC typically have in the RP and what lessons do they attend mainstream lessons for? You could use this question to open up a discussion about your OH’s concerns about academics.
• Do DC integrate outside of lesson time e.g. at lunchtime? Do they eat with pupils in mainstream schools? If they do, but that would be an issue for DS, do they have somewhere quieter DS could eat? Do they go out into the same playground? Again, if that wouldn’t work for DS, is there somewhere quieter?
• What is their outdoor provision like?
• Do they have a sensory room?
• How does the school reduce/prevent sensory overwhelm?
• Where do the pupils move on to for secondary?

Do you think a SEMH ARP will work? For many with ASD, including a PDA presentation, SEMH settings don’t work because their SEMH needs are secondary to their ASD.

Your child will be at risk of exclusion without support. My child was and RP was the best thing that ever happened. He's like a completely different child at school now and thriving. I wouldn't worry about the academic aspect. If mainstream is like that for him then he won't get results anyway. Also, hes only in primary.