What does OFSTED mean by 'mild learning difficulties'?

[BlondieMum01]

We are (probably) moving to the UK in June/July and we have a 5 year old autistic son. We're trying to get a sense of where we could live and send him to school.

Can anyone tell me what OFSTED means by 'mild learning difficulties'? It often crops up in their preamble to the full Inspection report. Do they mean dyslexia or speech delay? ADHD or sysgraphia? Or does this term run the gamut to Asperger's Syndrome and high functioning Autism?

We want to find him a school where they have experience with autistic children, and I am finding some of the descriptive language a little obtuse.

Any help much appreciated.

How much support do you think your boy will need in school? Full time 1:1? Or just a bit of extra help?

I don't think OFSTED reports are going to tell you what you want to know. Can you live anywhere or have you got a region in mind?

In the UK, the norm is to start and be educated in mainstream until it can be proven that either the school can't cope or the child is not making progress.

This is not a guarantee, but it should be the expectation.

The UK isn't very good for bright children with ASD or at the HFA end as a general rule although some places are better than others.

There are some good units/bases (attached to mainstream schools with the remit of trying to get the child integrated into mainstream education at some point) and one or two good asd schools.

Where do you think you might want to live?

Just in general i would be reading OFSTED as a rough guide only and reading between the lines. You can't beat speaking to parents and having a good look around any school and asking very pertinent questions.
OFSTED might say that a school talks the talk on 'mild learning difficulties' but it doesn't mean they will walk the walk for your DS.
Good luck [hsmile]

We've got several options - but they all depend on the job offer my husband gets (ie. transport links to where he will work).

If we move to an area, do I just rock up to the local PS and enroll him? What if they are over subscribed? I know it's a simplistic question, but I really have no idea how to get the ball rolling. If we rent/buy, does it have to be within a certain distance from the school (as I have read many horror stories in the UK press about children being denied a place because they were 1 house too far away etc).

I think he will need something in between 1:1 and a bit of help. I would like him to be mainstreamed if at all possible, but as he is only 5 and not in PS yet I really don't know how he will cope.

Given that he will be at 'big school' for the first time, and just have had a huge upheaval in his life, I would anticipate that he will have some behaviour issues whie he settles down. This may actually end up working to our benefit (ie. if he is assessed anytime in the first six months they will probably see him at his worst - not great for us as his parents, bu maybe a benefit in terms of convinving an LEA as to what kind of help he needs?).

We can't move before June (maybe July) but I want to get the ball rolling and get my head around the steps I need to take to at least get him enrolled somewhere.

Any suggestion? This is all a little bewildering!

A school can only take you if they have places - and conversely if they have places they have to take you. It doesn't matter at all where you live

(That only matters when they're dishing out the initial places)

The LEA can tell you what school has places, or the school can.

If you don't think he needs full time 1:1 then he will almost certainly be in mainstream (at least at first).

Don't worry too much. When you arrive and work out where you want to live, go visit the schools which are commutable and have places, talk to the headteacher and SENCO, and then decide based on your gut instinct.

The local autistic support group might also be able to give you suggestions for good schools? Again after you arrive, hook up with these people.

School finishes mid July, so you might end up not starting him till Sep (when he'll be in Year 1 if he's still 5 - Year 2 if he's turned 6)

Also I really want to say that there are a lot of negative and horror stories on this site, and while they are all true, that doesn't necessarily mean we represent the majority of parents with SEN kids.

I think the majority of parents find this site because they are having problems. If you weren't having problems, you probably wouldn't end up here - and if you did, you wouldn't have much to contribute :)

So I have no idea waht the 'average' experience is - don't get frightened by the stories here. There are loads and loads of fantastic stories, which you just haven't heard.

There seem to be more autism-specific schools in the south, esp. the SE of England, if that helps. Go to the NAS website. They have a services directory somewhere where you can type in a place name and they give you a list of all local ASD services, including schools which are good with/ cater for autism.

If school places are not based on zones, why the stories in the press about children being denied places based on where they live? Or is this only true to certain LEAs? Or, indigobell, dis you mean that it only maters when dishing out places for P1?

One other question - my son will be 6 in July 2011, but has not yet started P1 - we delayed his entry due to his problems. Do schools routinely put children in the 'aapropriate' year group by age only? Or will they take other factors into consideration?

We're hoping to move by the end of June so that we get to visit schools prior to school starting in Sep - either that, or I will be doing a 3-4 day trip before then to sort it all out.
We'd love to go SE but it doesn't provide transport links to where my husband will be working.

age only, unless you have a statement. The ocassional excellent school might but it is rare.

There are no zones. It does vary from LA to LA but the majority work like this.

You apply for your 3 schools you want. First they give a space to any children who are in care that want to go there, then any child with a statement of Special Educational Needs who has that school named on it, then they take siblings of children in the school regardless of where the family now live and the places that are left are given to the children closest to the school in the order of closeness.

You can be close to 3 schools, but not close ENOUGH to any of them to get a place iyswim if they are popular schools and oversubscribed.

If a school has places and you choose it, then I think they have to accept you if you live up to an hour away.

I think you'll need to call admissions of the LA that you are interested in.

I'm not sure when you are supposed to be in your accomodation, but I think all places are allocated by March. I think you have to submit with your application (by end Jan usually) your address that you want to be considered for proximity. You have to show that you own it or have 12 months signed contract for rent.

I don't know where you are coming from, but many countries use more of a research based and evidence-based approach with regards to educating children with autism, than the UK.

Sorry, I know what a headache this must be for you already.

If your child will be 6 on Sep 1 and you are moving to England than he will have to go into Y2 (in Sep)!

All the admissions stuff doesn't apply because all the other children are already in school. So it really is just a question of finding out which schools have a space in his year group.

All the other admissions stuff would only apply as to what position on a waiting list you would be - but I presume you wouldn't put him in on a waiting list but would just choose from the schools that have places.

You really need to start from where in the country you will be. For example my DCs primary is fab with ASD kids, despite no "base" and would probably do its best to try to admit such a child. However it is very popular and almost always over full.

I would suggest finding out where abouts you will be based, and then try the NAS to see if you can get some local knowledge. Year 2 is harder to get into than year 3, as there is a rule there should never be more than 30 children in a class for reception, years 1 and 2. After that there is more flexibility.

In this borough we have a range of schools:

MS that are just basic
MS schools that do have good SN provisions in place
MS with attatched units for various things (ASD, Speech, Behaviour,Emotional)
MS with diagnostic units - these are used while assesing a childs needs and deciding on placement.
SN schools, we have quite a range from mild to severe needs, some specialise in different problems (eg. deaf, blind, physical, asd, emotional, ASD, behaviour etc)

In an area like mine a good bit of research into each school would help you. My DD (ASD) was placed into a early intervention nursary as she wasn't able to cope with MS nursary. Ftrom there she has gone to an ASD unit attatched to a mainstream school. For us this is the ideal placement as she cannot cope with full time MS school, but she does benefit from the postive examples she gets from MS children.

BaggyCoconut - that's the ideal situation for us, too.

If a child moved to the count(r)y part way through a school year, then they would find room for them somewhere - this is a huge problem that military families face (we're not military, though).

It defies any kind of sense to have a child placed into P2 when they have no P1. For any child it would a very difficult transition - for an autistic child, even more so. I really hope that we can find a school that is prepared to compromise.

I guess my last question is: it is my understanding that if a school has places, they cannot refuse him even though he is autistic: they they would apply to the LEA for funding, and if none was available, or the school wasn't prepared to support him adequately, then we can apply for an assessment leading to a possible statement of special ed needs. Is this correct?

I really appreciate your advice - it really is a tricky situation.

StartandWitches - where we are at the moment, the only government funded provision would be in a class of 40+ with no aide, with the majority of children speaking English as a second or third language, it a very ROTE/Exam/Test oriented environment. So I can't help but think that it will be better in the long run.

As parents you can apply for a a statatory assesment, to decide on getting a statement, or whichever school your son is attending too. I would definately recommend going down this route, as then not only is the care your son needs written up leaglly, but you can anme a school, and the education will have to have good reason to refuse it.

I am pretty sure that school cannot not take your son because of his autism, unless they can show they cannot meet his needs and the needs of the rest of the school together. I have an niece who is autistic, she is currently at MS school, with no statement, and her needs are just about being met (although not fully, hopefully her statement will come soon and she can change to a better placement).

Good luck to you, I do hope it goes well, without too many hic ups for you along the way. We are lookign to move to another part of the country, as the area we live in is just getting worse and worse by the day. We are trying to find somewhere with both good provision for DD and also for our baby daughter, as she needs to be near a decent specialist heart hospital. I do understand the stress of trying to move.

Baggy Coconut - thank you so much.
I'm just trying to get my mind around it all: moving half way around the world, to a country I have never lived in, and trying to find an appropriate school for my children when I have no idea about the system. I've done a lot of on-line research, but there's nothing like talking to other mums. Thank you!