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Fairley House vs. Abingdon House

5 replies

tiramisu1974 · 02/01/2015 10:31

Hi All

My DD7 is in an independent mainstream school (Year 2) but is falling behind - school / teachers expressed concern that she is "not accessing the curriculum". I actually think this is partially due to their unwillingness to cater for her needs within a 20 pupil class - fair enough. But this means we need to look at other schools for her

She has been assessed by an Ed Pych. She has a history of speech and language issues - she has speech therapy and OT for years but now she is doing very well. She is ahead of her class in reading & comprehension but has significant issues in understanding basic maths concepts. She also has attention / focus issues especially in topics that seem difficult for her. She is impulsive but extremely social and friendly. SHe is very confident and assertive. However recently she has been noticing her own issues in class as well and is getting discouraged / having confidence issues.

The ed psych thinks she has dyspraxia and potentially ADD (although because the attention issue is selective on her part we are not very sure about this). Dyscalculia has been mentioned but we are not really sure. But in any case, the ed pych thinks we should be in a special school at least for a while.

We live in NW London. We have visited ABingdon House but it looks like the wrong place for her socially.

We have been researching Fairley House (we have not seen it yet, though) which looks like a wonderful school for children with similar issues as our DD so we think socially it might be much better. It is quite far but there is a school bus. If it will be the right school for her we are ready to send her there

What do people on MN think about these schools? Especially Abingdon House? I would be interested to learn about your experiences in both schools.

Thank you so much for helping - a very tough choice for us.

OP posts:
senvet · 03/01/2015 14:30

I have been giving advice to parents with SEN children for over 15 years - mostly kids with ASD via the NAS helpline.

One thing I have learned is that parents' gut instinct is a very good guide. We use genuinely independent experts and after their assessments, the parents usually turn out to be right. And usually is an understatement - 95% would be more accurate.

No school is perfect but what feels like it is the best option probably is.

Good Luck!

debbiepmr · 06/07/2015 18:53

I would love to know what you chose to do and whether it was a success. We are in exactly the same predicament with my son year two going on 3 and would also be travelling from nw london?

vee123 · 09/12/2018 22:57

Hi we are in the same boat as you with my 8 year old, which school did you finally go with ? Any recommendations, we also live in NW? Thanks

skippiefamily · 02/10/2019 10:20

Hi - I am following this thread as we are in a very similar situation with our 9 year old. She has started attending Fairley House this term with a provisional place. I must say the change of school is creating alot of stress for her although her reading/writing is improving.

Peepandspot1214 · 08/10/2021 12:18

Hi, I have just read your message from a few years ago now. I am in the exact same position as you were, you could have been speaking about my son! Could I ask what you did in the end? Any advice at all would be amazing. I hope you don't mind me asking. Thank you x

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