Does anyone have experience of putting their child in a 'special school'?

[ByeByeLilSebastian]

Sorry, I don't know if that's the correct terminology any more.
DS (6) is not developing as he should be at school and I feel his head teacher is hinting towards taking him out of mainstream school. He doesn't have a diagnosis but is under the care of CAHMS.
Schools main concerns are that he is not able to work independently and can be a danger to himself and other children. He is very defiant and this is getting worse the older he gets.

I've never experienced any of this before with my children so I don't know what the protocol is, I guess I'm just looking for a bit of advice on how you would handle it and how you go about taking your child out of mainstream school. What are the usual circumstances?

Hey Byebye

You should move your thread to the SN CHAT or SN CHILDREN board, hardly anyone uses the SN EDUCATION board.

its usually not a case of just moving them. Its a process. If the school feel theyre unable to meet his needs, then you need to speak to the senco and have a visit round any SEN schools that are local to you.

Its not easy to get a place. You will usually have a battle on your hands with the authorities who will try and get his current school to do more, but if you all feel that he is not suited for mainstream school then you just have to fight for the place at the SEN school. Its worth it x

Do you want him to go to a special school? That's the starting point. Go and visit all the ones in your catchment area (which may be as much as 25 miles away) and see what you think.

If you do, then you need to apply for an ehcp if your son doesn't already have one and applications are usually done through your local council rather than the schools themselves.

If you want him to stay in the current school and he doesn't have an ehcp (?) then I would apply for one and this should ensure the school puts adequate support in place to ensure your son is able to continue his education in mainstream if this is at all possible.

If your son already has an ehcp you can ask for an emergency review of this in order to determine how his needs should be met.

Lots and lots of information about ehcps at Ipsea website if you google.

Before you can do anything about a special school place, you need an Education Health and Care Plan. You need to send a formal request for an EHC needs assessment - there's advice about that here