Child with possible dyspraxia - choosing his older brother's school

[bathtimeboys]

hi
i have a decision to make about my elder child's school place, but I feel I need to base it on the fact that my younger son who is 2 and a quarter may have dyspraxia (dev consultant's conclusion). he's not speaking apart from about 5-6 words although very vocal and has great receptive language. but i feel he will need extra assistance by the time he starts school. ideally i want my sons to go to the same school.

so my older son has a place at the local primary school which is well known for its work with SN children and has a SENCO there who is also deputy head. it has a mixed reputation, small classes in reception (which is an oustanding reception) but is very big in terms of how many children go there. three forms in reception. it's extremely inclusive in its methods.

there is also a new free school starting. nothing concrete to go on but has very good plans in place. i've spoken to head who says there will be some one to one time with SN children and there will be a SENCO but on a part time basis. i think this school will probably stretch my older son more.

my elder son has friends going to both schools and i think he'd adapt very quickly to either as he's outgoing and confident, so I guess I'm being led by the needs of my younger son.

sorry to ramble, does anyone have experience of a child with dyspraxia and primary school choices? i just worry that the first school i mentioned may be noisy and boisterous for my younger son although it has a lot of open space which the second school doesn't have.

i know i have the luxury of choice but it's taken up all of my thoughts and i'm sick with worry abuot which decision to make!

thanks in advance for any help.

Hi bathtimeboys Welcome to SN Children :)

DS was dxed with dyspraxia in Y1. His school is smallish - only PAN of 45. One of the main issues for him is the playground which is very small - Victorian building surrounded with Victorian terraces. This means that it is loud at playtime, children racing round lose together. Your school means that he will have a bigger friendship base for him which has been a problem for my DS (he has since been dxed with ASD as well) as the small pupil number means that there are fewer children for him to be friends with. If it were me, I would go with the established school with the experienced SENCO and the open space.

Seems to me that you have 2 issues - the risk/excitement of an untried Free School and the uncertainty over your younger ds . Is it practical to potentially have one at each for a year or so ? If so I think I'd go with the known primary for now and possibly move ds1 at Year3, by which time the new school will be more established and you will be able to make a more conscious decision for your younger child.

*close together

Hi thank you so much for such quick responses. Ben10, it's interesting that you see the smaller school/space in that way - i thought it might be better for my younger son, but actually it's an interesting point you make. i think my only reservation is that the reception is split into three forms although they're fairly open plan - and when we visited with my older son (and lots of other families), my younger son seemed very excited by being there but was a bit clingy because of so much noise. but i'm guessing that's understandable as he's still very little and there were a lot of people there!

I picked the best educationally/popular - according to OFSTED - school locally for DS1 (Dyspraxia) - It was atrocious and failed him badly. They talked the talk - didn't walk the walk.
Moved him in year 1 to a failing school (again educationally/OFSTED) - he has done brilliantly.
I had the decision to make with DS2 and 3 as to if they should go there. I decided for practicality that they should all go to the same, and they are all doing brilliantly - and they're very happy.
If you don't get the choice right, you can always move. I think often it is more about the staff than the environment. Experienced competent SENco who knows what they're doing and has a track record of actually doing as well (and is allowed to by HT) is always a good sign