Advice needed re secondary school

[Scottishdancer]

Ds is 9. He has dyspraxia, dyslexia, sensory processing disorder speech and language problems and possible Asd. He is in ms primary school with 300 pupils and really struggling. He is going to be in yr 5 in September and as he has a statement (20 hrs) we will have to decide on a secondary school during the next academic year. Our local secondary has 2000 pupils and seeing as he isn't coping with 300 I can't see him coping with 2000 (noise is a big problem) dh isn't keen on a ss but I am open to suggestions.. Can anyone recommend a suitable school in the Essex/Suffolk area?

I'm not local to you so can only give general advice. My DS2 is 12 with ASD and in Y7 at a MS comp with a 9 form entry. I have found that the secondary school is so much better than the primary. They have a lot more experience of SEN and a lot more peers for my DS to be 'friends' with. They have a lunchtime and breaktime club run by TAs in the SEN dept and some core lessons are also given there if your DC is struggling academically. My DS has all his lessons in normal sets but still benefits from the expertise of the SEN staff. It's like a small SS within a MS school. He has 1:1 in all lessons currently, over and above his 20 hour statement. If that reduces it may go to 1:2 instead in some lessons.

My DS prefers secondary to primary, more interesting lessons and the pretty rigid structure of timetabled lessons suit him.

I think you need to start visiting the local secondaries and get a feel for their SEN depts and the ethos of the school. In my DS's school the SEN dept is in the newest building, next door to the swanky ICT rooms and reception area. In pride of place, IYSWIM. Other local secondaries were quite different. Some were not welcoming at all, in fact quite the opposite.

I ruled out SS because in my area they only really catered for those with more severe SEN than my DS's. I did visit them, though, and most were wonderful places, very warm and encouraging. Good luck.

beacon hill in Ipswich has quite a good reputation though I have no direct experience of it. I think it is classed as Moderate learning difficulty. However there seems to be very little choice in state sector if your child is quite able but simply won,t cope in large secondary. Might be worth looking at beacon hill though.

My Ds is about to go to secondary. I am not in the right area either but second everything Ellen said as this was what I have found in the school DS is going to attend. - I'm just hoping they live up to what they have told me.
I got a very good idea of what would work and not from visiting the school and the SENCO each time.

Thank you for your replies. I agree I will have to visit all the secondary schools in the area. I was hoping someone might know of a smaller school. Ds struggles with moving between classes at the moment and he doesn't like crowds and I just can't imagine him coping with the constant change of classroom but as dh says a lot could change in 2 years. Also he is struggling accademically so would probably spend a lot of time in "the unit" although in our local school this seems to be where the pupils with behaviour problems are!

I am also on the Essex/Suffolk border - DS is currently being assessed - but I have also been looking for small schools. The middle schools in Suffolk are small but are due to close in 2013. There is a free school in Clare (smallest in county) which I know has places as they are undersubscribed (so the classes are small). I have heard they are good with SEN but an unknown quantity. There is an application to turn Stoke by Nayland middle into a free school in 2013 but outcome unknown. High Schools in Suffolk tend to be smaller - Hadleigh High is supposed to be good for SEN but have not visited. DS does not have a statement so no 'choice'. In terms of independent there is a school in Stoke by Clare (Stoke College) which has a dyslexia unit and some DC with statements - hideous blazers but very small.

Maintained SS are very few (for the most severe) as are units in the smaller secondaries.

KeepOn - I'd certainly recommending visiting the local schools - especially if you feel your son will benefit from support for any specific need. The quality and support of SEN teams can vary greatly, independently of size of school. Often it is larger schools, and particularly local authority schools which can provide excellent, experienced specialist support. I'd certainly look at local schools such as Hadleigh - although it and other local schools are close to being over-subscribed.

In many secondary schools they make allowances for probles with noises and crowds. So for instance a child can be let out early or late at the end of a lesson so that they do not have to face the crowds in the corridors. Also they sometimes provide lunchtime clubs or places to retreat to, for instance DS next year is allowed to go to the library every lunchtime ( and possibly break to?) if he so chooses where it will be nice and quiet. These are things to ask when you visit the school.

DS cares greatly about how his peers percieve him, desperately wants friends, and hates to be seen as 'different'. This is very hard for him to try and achieve in the best possible circumstances and impossible to achieve where he is singled out. What is the 'inclusive' benefit of this? A smaller school allows experience of the social curriculum whereas the larger school ends up making allowances that exclude the DC from participation in the social curriculum. Plus if DC also have specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia the library is the last place they want to be! For DC unable to access the escape offered by books this is not the solution, may be viewed as a punishment, damages self-esteem and prevents the development of coping mechanisms.

I can see your point, keepingon. My DS goes to a lunchtime and breaktime SEN club, though, and this is where he has been able to practice his social skills in a safe environment run by experienced TAs. He wouldn't cope and has always struggled to cope with the hurlyburly of a MS breaktime. He spent all of his primary school years on the sidelines of the social groupings and only now that he feels at home in his club has he made a friend. If your child 'passes for normal' a SEN club may be über uncool, but my DS does not PFN. He loves his club and feel part of a community at last.

If dc spends lunchtime and playtime in the special unit and does his lessons there what is the difference between that and a ss.? Would he not feel more different from the rest of the pupils.?

Ah, but my DS does all his lessons in MS sets with a 1:1 TA, in fact he's in the top set for Maths. It's just lunch and break that he spends in the SEN dept. It works for him, he's stretched academically and helped socially and is happy to go to school each day.