Sorry, remind me again why Academies are bad?

[frizzcat]

Ds is in Yr5 (was just thinking when I joined here, he was in Yr1). He has a dx of ASD, he's in mainstream, with a statement.
I've started the arduous and frightening task of looking at secondary schools. So far I've seen two. The first is our local feeder school, where I've had lots of great feedback from SN parents, about how supportive they are and how well their child did. I thought this would be a done deal.

Then last night I attended an Academy close to us and their SEN department blew me away. They bought in SALT, EP's, outreach agencies, ran Lego therapy, social groups, social stories, lunch time clubs, supported and taught independent travel on public transport. Children were supported in class as opposed to being segregated from their peers. Plus their SEN exam results are better than the non-SEN national average.

Remind me again why the academies can be bad??

No idea, but my older two are at an academy (oldest been there nearly three years) and I can't fault it at all.
Ds2 (maybe asd) will be going there. Their inclusion is excellent, they have passes for any child who may get overwhelmed in lessons, which allows them to go to a quieter place with plenty of TAs around.
They have links with a special school who will send in experienced staff to help train teachers and advise with pupils with SN.

This compared to a school reported as brilliant for asd with a separate unit, which anecdotally from parents of pupils, sounds dreadful.

Yes we have a school in our borough who promote themselves as being excellent for ASD with unit, I've managed to find 8 parents with SN children who are deeply unhappy. I'm not even going to look at it.

I'm trying to gain some perspective about this academy. I went because DS wanted to go and my expectations were rock bottom. However, I went to the SEN or as they call Access department and it was bizarre to stand there and be given info without having to ask for it. Every question that popped into my head, they covered in their general info. I'm just not used to a well informed Senco