Dual placement

[happydayyay]

My dd started a dual placement January 3 days SN and 2 MS . She has always liked school but since she started new school has become really clingy and crying when I leave her. First it was just at new school now it's at both ! The SN school have suggested she goes there full time she is in year 1 so can't do any of the work at MS.
Has anyone else's dc done a dual placement and it's unsettled them.

bumping for you

Will be watching with interest as my dd (3 years old with autism, hypotonia, hyper mobility) may well be starting dual placement for nursery soon. Am not sure that would be in her best interests.

Thanks Wet August
Seaweed I wish I had done a dual placement from the start but was always told dd didn't need to go to a SN school . But since starting year one the gap has got bigger she is so behind don't think she will be able to do both now
Dd has severe speech delay still in nappies mild hypotonia eating phobia and sleep issues. We think she has dyspraxia as well but on her notes it just says development delay !! If dc are delayed it doesn't matter so much in nursery or reception especially if they have a full time 1-1 like dd has .
I hope you get on ok sorting things out for your dd

I have no actual experience of dual placement, but I requested this when it became clear MS was too demanding for ds. I so wanted him to grow up with the other village children! It was considered by the excellent sn school who decided in the light of their previous experience to only offer a full time sn post. The reasoning was that previous attempts at split placements were too confusing and unsettling for the children concerned. The transition to FT sn (excellent) primary went well apart from initial exhaustion. It was astruggle to adapt to sharing help and not just timing out at the back of the MS class! However the transition to sn secondary (a school that understands ds less well) has not! We have kept contact with village peers through afterschool activities.
Are both schools a good match for your child?

Haven't read all threads, in a rush, but did successful dual placement into primary at year 3. The secret is I think to start slowly, so we only did one day main-stream and 4 days special to begin with. I can't remember when we upped to 2 days but it wasn't that quick. By year 6 we did 4 days main-stream 1 day special. Incrementing one day at a time over a long period worked. LA were not keen on dual placements but both schools worked well together, learnt from each other and communicated well. Special school did outreach into main-stream and offered training to the main-stream. LA had to admit it was a success and it put the child at the centre, and met his needs at the time. We only incremented into main-stream when we felt he was ready and his needs were being met and there was no regression. We went as his pace and not the LA's.

Magso. I'm thinking your sn school was right. My dd is crying at both schools now she is following me around the house upset before we even leave . Iv had chat with sn teacher today and she thinks it will be better for dd to go full time to sn school so she feels more settled. So think that's what we will do . I can't stand seeing her so upset . Thanks for your reply

Supermum98 thanks for reply I'm glad dual placement worked for you. I think the trouble we've had is that dd started at the play group on the school ground and made a best friend there and has been with her in nursery and reception and now year 1 so feels very comfortable in ms she has a 1-1 full time. The TA is great with her but it's a case of taking dd off to do tasks with her and dd needs much more specialist teaching
I thought 3 days at sn would be enough but I think she needs full time there. I don't like her coming out of ms but don't know what else to do. I think I might give parent partnership a call.

had dual placements for ds2 in nursery and all through primary and ds3 in nursery and primary til the start of Y1 both worked really well for us.

It does need all placements communicating fully with each other and ideally visiting your dd in each environment so everyone is working to the same IEP with the same approaches albeit different targets for each setting

Yes I think if it had been from the start it would have been better glad it worked for you

Well, we do it different way. DS goes to the MS in the morning for an hour and attends one academic subject and one recess period. He then goes to the special need school. At the moment it is working well and he likes going to the MS more. So we are thinking about increasing his hours at the MS school to two. The goal is that he will slowly increase his hours at the MS School until he becomes full time there.

Someone Iv never heard of that . Your dc must be older. Iv just picked up dd from school and she seemed happier today . Im very happy with the sn school but would have liked to do both , but for my dd think just the one school would be better .

Ours was the same way as someoneoutthere reception started off as one hour on a monday morning at ms then back to sn school for the rest of the week. By Y2 ds2 had gradually increased the time in ms so that he was there for 2 afternoons a week but KS2 was too big a leap for him so we reduced it back to one afternoon a week through to Y6. It was really lovely that he was invited to the leavers service and considered to be just the same as all the full time pupils all the way through

ds3 was more conventional - 2 mornings at ms in reception the rest at sn nursery going up to 2 mornings and 5 afternoons by the end of the year and then we jumped in with both feet and he went full time ms from Y1 and thrived with 20 hrs on his statement

We tried it when DS started school. It didn't work for many reasons connected with the MS school - wont threadjack with what are now very old problems.

One thing we did take on board was when his teacher asked us to think about how inclusive it was when basically he would be spending his day doing mostly different work with a 1:1, because as you say the gap was ever widening.

He loved his ss; still does (he's y9 now!) and it was the right thing for him

Happyday, my DS made his transition from a special needs early years school to MS by going to the reception class in MS for the morning and doing the literacy and numeracy hours with phonics etc and going to the SS each afternoon. He did this for nearly all of Reception. He had 1:1 in the MS school. I had to pick him up at lunchtime and transport him to the other school, but it worked really well for him. There was a consistent daily routine and he benefited from the role models in MS and the expertise (and fun!) of the SS.

With him it became obvious that he was going to manage in MS with 1:1, but it was certainly a good 'suck it and see' transition. It was very hard (for me) to leave the wonderful SS.

In your case, you have given MS a really good go and, as you say, the gap either becomes wider and less manageable or it doesn't. The important thing for your DD is that she goes to a school where she can meet her potential and have happy and valuable experiences.