What to expect for secondary transition re: statement etc

[AllAboardTheMagicBus]

DS is in yr 5 - what should we expect from a secondary school in the way of support. I thought funding for small groups and one to one on the statement meant a designated LSA (they are funding the school for that aren't they?) but apparently they have a different one for each lesson?!

Also, what kind of changes should I expect the lea to try and make on the current statement if any. how much fighting should I expect to do and what sort of things should I start reading up on now help fight the corner.

here if the kids are going to mainstream secondary they extended transition so think they go to the school for about 10 weeks before the end of year 6. I know how thye organise TA support is different in secondary and usually its not so much 1:1 but that will vary I guess to the school. the LA have to name secondary placement by February in year 6 so in about sept/oct in year 6 at the annual review you should start considering your secondary choice so its worth starting to look now as its not that long away now really.

A little different here the. Transition from what I can work out is one day, but might need to look into that! Transition review is at the end of year 5 too - we've just finished looking at the schools, now to compare

My worry, on top of picking the right school, is what to expect in the transition review. I don't know what he needs for secondary as he's not there yet, but don't want things taken away either.

My DS went up to secondary this year. He has Aspergers and is on School Action Plus. I had a meeting with Autism support about transition at the end of year 5 and they talked to DS about looking at schools and what would happen etc, when he would find out where he would go, that sort of thing.
DS had the standard transition day, which all the year 6's go to, but also went to three or four activity afternoons run by the school. During these he was observed by the SENCO. There were about 10 children at each of these, all who had some educational need. DS also had a 1-1 tour of the school with a Learning Support Assistant and was encouraged to ask as many questions as he liked. Towards the end of his last term of primary I had a formal meeting at the secondary with the head of year 7 and the SENCO and plans were put in place.

He does have Learning Support Assistants (LSA) for most lessons, but these are different people, as they bring their own specialism to the class. School gave me a full timetable with the names of all his teachers and LSA's. This arrived in the summer holidays so he had a chance to get to grips with it.

I found that once the secondary had been allocated, they were the ones driving the transition programme and the primary took a back seat. I also understand that different secondary run transition differently, but this is my experience.

"I thought funding for small groups and one to one on the statement meant a designated LSA (they are funding the school for that aren't they?) but apparently they have a different one for each lesson?!"

I'm afraid so but in this secondary school my son is at they try and keep the same LSAs in the different lessons throughout the school year. Here they do five school lessons a day.

What will your DS need help with; think about things like organisation, finding his way around, keeping his homework planner up to date, lunchtimes to name but four.

When is your Y5 transitional review taking place?. This is an important review. Ideally they should bring in the Ed Pysch again to reassess your son for transition to secondary school. Here they did it well, DS's transition was carefully planned and well thought out. The Y6s had numerous visits but DS and some of the others had additional visits to the secondary school as well as meeting some of the staff. Secondary school also drove the transition in the main. DS was also placed with a couple of his classmates (the nicer ones!) from his Y6 class who followed him into his secondary school form class, they felt this would help him settle in better. It did too.

Once the secondary school was decided I made myself known to the SENCO and gave that person a copy of his statement along with a photo of DS. Putting faces to names has always served me well.

I think it partly depends on the child's needs. If he has a documented need for consistency then you could argue that the statement should provide that he should normally have the same LSA with him at all times, or maybe two or three to cover for illnesses, breaks etc. However, as time goes on it may well become important to have subject-specific LSAs, and maybe by then he will cope so long as it is normally the same LSA per subject.

Thanks for the replies. It seems slightly mixed on experiences but similar in areas. So should we be bringing in the professional who assessed in primary, such as OT/SALT, that discharged based on, 'here's your report and some things to do, get on with it, you can always re-refer if you have a problem!'?

Will that benefit. With certain interventions, support, etc. in place, DS is working a lot better but I'm concerned reviews based on what they see would mean it being taken away. BUT, it's working because it's there, iykwim?!