Sooo....Y5 and am doing the rounds of MS secondary schools

[JakeBullet]

According the the LEA my DS is a suitable candidate for MS secondary school. At Y5 His levels are down on his review as Maths L3B, and the English 2A and Science 2C. However, I asked the school to do some independent testing..ie without all the 1-1 to keep DS on task. His Maths went down a whole level to 2B and the rest were down slightly.

Obviously DS will not have the same 1-1 support in secondary school and tbh I cannot see him coping without it. Homework is a MASSIVE issue as by evening he has just had it ....he paces, flaps (he has ASD/ADHD plus Dyspraxia) and generally cannot stay in task with anything which requires him to think. He can sit and focus on something which doesn't require him to think or is predictable but nothing else. At the moment he has one lot of homework a week (Maths, English and another subject) and that is a battle to get done.

I have seen four local MS secondaries at the moment and in all cases the SENCO has told me 1-2 pieces of homework a night and sanctions such as detention if not done. I have pointed out that DS has ASD and ADHD and that he physically cannot do this level of homework at the moment but to seems to fall in deaf ears.

Socially I feel DS could cope with MS but academically I know it is going to be a struggle for him and obviously this might impact upon the social stuff.

I have asked all four SENCO'S if their schools could meet DS's needs. All four have said that unless DS "is pushing level 4" they will struggle. ....especially as at the moment DS is unlikely to keep up with the homework demands.

The LEA says the SENCO'S cannot say this but they ARE saying this....and as such I cannot ignore it.

The last thing I will accept is for DS to be placed in a MS school who are only taking him because they HAVE to do so as this will not meet his needs at all.
As far as I am concerned the LEA do not care about my DS and will happily place him in MS and hope for the best. I am not prepared to allow them to do this.

On the other hand I know I will face a massive fight if I want to go down the special school route,

Any advice.

My son had similar levels at end of year 6 and went to a special school secondary - it's a halfway house really where kids who wouldn't fit a traditional special school but wouldn't cope in the mainstream. There are only 40 kids in the whole school and its working really well but I know I am lucky - it is out of county so I have to transport him myself.

Maybe worth looking around and see if anything s liar I. Your area/ neighbouring county.

If the LA can find a mainstream school to say yes and you want another school the. It can become more of a battle and the question of tribunal could be on the horizon. You do have the right to name a special school but it will be finding the right one. In these situations, it's usually an independent school that would be best but as they are expensive you may have a battle. I remember going through allot this just 18 months ago and it's so hard to make the right decision especially when the LA are only offering a mainstream school

What level of support is he getting at the moment? Does he have a statement? My DS2 has 20 hours on his statement and gets 1:1 at his MS secondary. Yes, the homework is a pain, but the threat of an after school detention has worked so far. I'm his TA at home.

If he's getting 1:1 through a statement ATM I can't see why that should be reduced at secondary. If he doesn't have a statement, he'll need one to access any sort of SS in most LAs.

He has 20 hours 1-1 and has a Statement. I am his 1-1 at home as it were but keeping him on task is nigh on impossible. As such the level of homework is going to be a massive issue....at least until he matures. I kbow from lots of reading that autism and homework can be a problem for lots of children on the spectrum
I am all for asking all homework (or the majority) to be done in school.
Yes he will still get 20 hrs in secondary school but I am being yold he will share this with other children in the class. At present his junior school feel he will struggle without a high level of 1-1 supervision.

Hmm, my DS2 gets pretty much full time 1:1. When they start to reduce it, it'll be things like PE that he'll share and subjects he's happier with like ICT and maths. Does each secondary plan on shared TAs from the start? When I looked at our local schools, some were much better than others. Some actually seemed to want him! Others were completely vile Some seemed more concerned how he'd affect their league table position.

Did any school provide lunchtime and break time support? dS's does a learning skills club which means he's supported at these times without it taking statemented time. They also do a learning skills homework club after school.