SN area: possible topic re-jig - please let us know what you think

[RowanMumsnet]

Hello

A while back, a few posters on SN suggested that we might consider closing off some of the less well-used SN topics, to make it easier for newbies and make it more likely that people's threads would be answered.

Having looked at the Google Analytics stats that tell us how well certain boards are used, the following four are pretty busy and we'd be reluctant to close them:

SN Chat
SN Children
SN Education
SN Teens and Young Adults

This leaves SN Support Sessions, SN Recommendations and SN Legal. We could close these to new threads so that the existing ones are still there and can be searched via the archive (and indicate to anyone trying to start a new thread there that they should go back to one of the four topics above).

Does this seem like a good idea? Does it answer users' concerns? All thoughts welcome...

I agree. I find SN education doesn't get many answers with regards to sen relating to my DS disability. I use SN chat for specific questions and also primary education gets far more teachers etc who can answer giving the balanced view.

My DS is currently only 9yo but I can't see me moving to SN teens when he hits 13 ish because my relationship is with SN MNers (some if who have teens) within the chat and children section. As polter said he'll always be my child.

I would agree that one single topic would be best for me!

I think the posters who wanted teens and young adults moved on and elsewhere, it was possibly intended to be a support section for those facing the legal and support ramifications of there being almost no help out there, plus the whole jobs/sex/further ed caboodle.
I know I have a teen and I don't post there, and I don't think Vicar, Pagwatch or Saintly do either. Bit of a deadzone really.

I agree, I don't see the need for separate teens and education groups - in fact I've been quite concerned for a long time that people who post in education don't get much by way of responses, when the reality is that they would get more responses, and responses that are much more helpful, if they posted in SN Children.

Also, on the issue of traffic within SN education, some of it is people like me looking in very occasionally when I remember it, not least to bump the thread referring people to SN children, or occasionally to answer queries and posts in there. People who do that will almost inevitably be people who do the same within SN children, so it's not like they would be losing out in any way.

I agree that we don't need

SN Education
SN Teens and Young Adults

It would be good to have clear guidelines on "SN Chat" and "SN Children". I assume that threads on "SN Chat" are automatically deleted after 3 months - is that true? If so then I feel that there is the need for both boards - the temporary "SN Chat" board for people who don't want their threads to hang around on the internet for ever, and the permanent "SN Children" board.

What about the other SN board in the main "talk" area? I didn't even know this one existed until recently. Should this one remain available too?

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/special_educational_needs

I think the streamlining needs to be down to just 2 boards - SN (currently SN children) and SN chat. Posts on the other boards only get seen if they crop up in active conversations - which moves too fast for it to realistically happen. That leaves a lot of people frustrated who think they've posted in the right place but get nothing but tumbleweed in response to their threads.

The SN chat is working well as we anticipated - a good place to chat about our own flavour of family life, with some posts in there of a more sensitive nature that we don't want to be found in years to come.

The Friday sessions in the G&C seem to be very useful as well, a gentle intgroduction and a place to let off steam and share things.

I like the idea of a general SN board and an SN Chat board.

Yes, agree with streamlining to General SN and SN Chat, please

I agree also with having a general special needs and a SN chat. I have a sn teen but rarely check for posts on there.

I agree: SN, plus SN:Chat for those who don't want their posts to remain in the archives/want to chat.

Thanks all - we see you're unanimous so far. We'll let this run until after the weekend to make sure lots of people see it and then we'll come back to you - so please keep posting to let us know what you think.

Just FYI, over the three months we sampled, SN Education got over 10,000 visits, and SN Teens got over 3000. A lot less than Chat and Children, but these aren't small numbers by most sites' standards (although we do take on board that some of these will be people checking to see if there are unanswered threads!)

Visits aren't posts though, and it could be a similar feeling to the one I had this morning when I anticipated crumpets with butter for breakfast, took the lid off the breadbin and found that The Boy had got there before me and scoffed both packets.
Excitement followed by sadness and a tumbleweed moment.

I agree with the sn general and sn chat - that seems a much clearer set up.

Goblin child, I feel for you re:the last crumpet, exactly the same thing happened to me this morning with the last bagel, I have been grumpy about it all day.

Completely off-topic but now I really want those crumpets with butter.

I have a teenager but tbh most of the time I forget that there's an SN Teens section there at all.

I have a whole unopened packet of crumpets :o

That's just not fair.

I've posted in SN teens and it seems a bit of a no mans land! (Or I'm just a bore )

Mmmm, crumpets. Straight onto the shopping list.

I'd be happy with just two topics. As a relative newcomer, I really wasn't sure where to start posting so less choice might also lead to less confusion.

Me and DS had crumpets for breakfast.