Starting school in 2017 support thread

[Frogandbear]

This thread is inspired by another thread where I was sharing my concerns about my DS starting school next year. Wouldn't it be great if those in the same boat could have a place to share their concerns and ask questions.

So let's introduce ourselves:

1. Tell us about your child
2. What type of school are you looking at for next year?
3. Have you applied for an EHCP? What stage of the process are you at?
4. Any concerns/questions you have

I'll go first

1. DS is 3 and a half - gorgeous, easy going and with a giggle that would fail to make anybody smile . He also has asd, is non verbal but his struggles outside of communication/interaction are relatively few. He is happy and marches to the beat of his own drum and that makes me happy too .

1. Having looked at what seems like every type of school possible, we have pretty much decided on a ms primary, although I would be open to home educating if that was required at the time.

1. Applied back in September....decision on whether to assess is LATE. Will be phoning SEN helpline tonight for advice on how to proceed.

1. EVERYTHING

Your turn

Fingers crossed for you, that sounds great

Going to see another school today. Had a long chat with the head on the phone the other week and I liked her so I'm hopeful. But it will have to be something special to change my mind about the one I saw last week.

Good luck HHH3. Fingers crossed.

Another lovely school but not the right place for DS. Before last week that would have left me even more worried and panicked. Now I know there's somewhere that will wrk for him it's ok.

Interestingly, after she'd read through his EHCP, I told her that when he was seen at the CDC last week the paed said she's going to refer him to be assessed for ASD. She said that she was about to ask me the same thing just from reading about him!

bright Just seen your Q about PECS, sorry.

DS started using PECS at about 3.6 or so. He dropped it after about 6 or so months when he started using spoken language.

When he started PECS, I took photographs of everything under the sun that was important in his little world: people, buildings, food items, rooms, toys, DVDs etc. He got to Phase 3 within a couple of weeks and sort of stayed there. But he would link photos, so he would give me a photo of a particular DVD plus a photo of his comfort blanket and I knew that meant that he wanted to sit on the sofa with the blanket and watch the DVD.

When his spoken language started to come, he used his PECS less, and by the time his spoken language was easier for everyone to understand (that took a few months), he completely dropped his PECS. So, yes, it was a stepping stone for him. If he had become frustrated with his spoken language, I could understand holding onto PECS for longer, but fortunately, DS wasn't frustrated in this way.

All of the PECS work cam through his ABA consultant. It was never suggested by SALT, despite DS having been under (woefully inadequate) SALT since he was 2.1. We meet with his ABA Consultant fortnightly, so we could be really responsive, and also spent lots of time discussing things, rather than the very limited short slot we would have had with an SALT.

mumoftwinsandanother your child sounds so very similar to mine (I posted in detail about DS last week) - the deferred start in primary, ABA etc. I would say that my DS isn't as 'high functioning' (for want of a better phrase) as yours though. Great that you have an obvious path towards school.

Msqueen thanks for telling me about your dds. I think my dd is not very hyper as she can sit down for a long time when she wants, but I'm concerned about her attention deficiency and occasional running around. The fact that she can't complete a task most of the time - as she appears to be lost in her world and only do so when prompted - is always an issue and it's always difficult to engage her attention.

Welltidy thanks! As you said PECS is an idea introduced by ABA consultant not the SALT, is your ds having SALT sessions still? How is your ds's language now if you don't mind me asking? If you have read my other thread you may know I feel stuck at the moment with the progress from SALT.

HHH3 is your chosen school close to home? I am still waiting (anxiously) to hear about EHCP and if they agree to assess I probably will look at more schools but they won't be in my area. I don't prefer to send her far so feel quite limited in my choice.

It's about 15mins drive. That was when I went there during the day so I expect a bit longer in the morning but not much.

I'd love for him to be able to go to a school nearer and walk there. But nothing local would work for him.

bright DS isn't having SALT from the LA anymore, not since they allocated us a personal budget when his first EHCP was signed off by them (without accepting our amendments, I might add). The EHCP was signed off in early November, but we haven't actually seen any of the money as yet. We are working on his speech through his ABA sessions, and it is on my list to get a private SALT on board.

His spoken language has come on a lot. We've tracked his speech sounds through his ABA sessions and of the alphabet, he doesn't have L, V or Q. He has a lot of echolalia but he has needs based, narrative and expressive language too. He also has lots of stock phrases like 'sit on chair with mummy', 'go to sleep', 'time for breakfast' but he doesn't speak in phrases that he has thought of independently, if you know what I mean.

But compared to where we were about six months ago, when he had very few speech sounds, he is doing great.

On the schools front, we've found a MS school now for DS. I've seen loads before I felt truly happy. It is about 20 minutes drive in no traffic, maybe 30+ minutes in heavy traffic. We live in a very built up area, and if you did a radius of our house, I think there are probably maybe 10 or so closer schools. Ive seen them all, and doing that made me know when I saw the particular school we've chosen that it was the right one. I think a lot of it is what the school doesn't say as well as what it does say, and the relationship you have with the head and then the senco.

Relationship with the SENCO is definitely important. One of the reasons I like the school I'm thinking of is the SENCO's attitude. She really seems to 'get' DS. When I was explaining how worried I am about him learning to do phonics, write etc she didn't seem worried at all. She said that they wouldn't measure him against the other children - it would be against himself. And as long as he's making progress then it's fine. I was so worried about him being pushed to do far more than he's capable of but that's really put my mind at rest.

All our town schools are oversubscribed and there's only three. Her siblings go to the local one round the corner and they've been good with middle dd and her asd. I'm not sure how she's going to cope with school or learn but we'll try mainstream before we look elsewhere.

We are going to see our first special school next week which is for asd children only. There is another ss nearby which has children with asd but is for all children with complex moderate to severe learning disabilities. I haven't made an appt. to see this one yet as my heart sinks at the thought of it. I guess I should get on with it.

Have any of you looked at similar schools?

Welltidy great to hear about your ds's progress I know what you meant by stock phrases as dd speaks some too; I'm seeing some emergence of creatively combining words though the range remains limited. I'm waiting to hear about EHCP but I've been thinking ahead and may I know how can you get personal budget? Do you have to apply separately? I'm thinking of having personal budget if she's got a plan as that will mean I can have control on which therapists to work with dd - she's been in private clinic so I am hoping we can keep those people.

Mater there is one ss for asd children in my area and I've visited it but I can't see dd fit in there. Need EHCP to go there anyway and I've heard the waiting list is 2 years at least. Would you prefer MS? Good luck with the visit

We went to see a purely ss and it wouldn't have worked for our six year old (she outperformed their oldest/brightest student) but was a lovely school. I'm of the mind for us to try mainstream. I'd consider a Sen school if we had a good one near us but sadly there's only one and another only takes from age 8. Good luck materofdragons. Try not be disheartened.

I've just visited another school. Lovely school and really liked the head. They have a great attitude towards SEN and I could see DS there. But realistically, in morning traffic, it's too far. The head is happy for me to call if I need any advice though and they'd happily take DS if I wanted him to go there.

I've seen the ss in our area. Although it's not specifically ASD I high proportion of children there have it. I really liked it and could see DS there but I don't think he'd meet their criteria and I'd have a fight on my hands to get him in.

Am very jealous of all of you with your lovely schools and such choice. Feels like we make up the huge Sen in our area. There's very few with serious Sen at our school.

bright On DS's EHCP document, there was a box to tick (literally) if you'd like to be considered for a personal budget. We ticked the box, the LEA thought about it for months and then made an award. It was a straightforward process in that there was minimal input from us beyond filling in the Section A, but it did take months.

I don't know if it is relevant, but DS is reception year age (summer born) but still goes to pre school as we've deferred him. He attends for 10.5 hours a week, with a fully funded one to one worker. I don't know if the personal budget we've been allocated (and which we use as a contribution to ABA costs) is the difference between the amount that is currently spent on him and the quantification of his full entitlement, if the LEA were providing it.

Can I join?

1. DD is 3.11, HFA diagnosed abroad nearly a year ago. We did 4hrs a week of ABA and DD has come on fantastically (much more verbal, sociable, imaginative). We moved back to U.K. in summer and are getting into the system here. Peer social skills and some language is behind, compliance also not great if she is asked to do something she thinks is too hard / not interested in. She is v advanced with letters, early maths and reading. She is generally sociable with adults.
2. Mainstream CofE village school. Very small, rated outstanding and lovely, nurturing environment.
3. Not sure whether we need an EHCP - the psychologist who did the diagnosis said DD doesn't need a full time shadow. We're just starting the support process, so early years team are going into pre-school to help DD with peer social skills. SALT first assessment tomorrow. Referred to paediatrician. Going to speak to SenCo at prospective school to discuss available support.
4. Should we be seeking an EHCP?

I think DD will be happier in the more structured school environment (where it is harder to avoid doing things she doesn't want to do) but I'm worried she may cause difficulties at having to do things she doesn't want to do. How can we build her confidence more and help her develop more of a can do (or at least can try) attitude?

Sorry it's so long!

Reading this thread with interest, some great advice. It's such a minefield.

We were pretty much set on the school for severe and complex special needs but the one nagging doubt is that DD is at the top end of the abilities and in reception at least she may not have a peer group. She is interactive and very interested in other children so that would be a shame. The school is fab though and did say that they would mix her with year 1 if there was a more suitable peer group for her there.

We saw the educational psychologist today and she was very positive about the other school we were thinking about but had just about decided against. It is mainstream but it is a forest school and they teach in small groups and apparently are very proactive with SEN. Everyone I've spoken to is so positive about it. So we go to see it next week - I am keen to view it and am definitely open to it but my husband will take more persuading. He liked the fact that all the physio, SSLT etc was on site at the special needs school and the practitioners would be consistent. He worries that in mainstream they are just another school fighting for NHS scarce resources and there may not be much consistency with who we would get. Is that how it would work? Not up to speed on all of this yet.

The forest school sounds lovely. I would like that for my sons but nothing similar nearby.

We saw a ss this week. There is definitely a big advantage to having OT, SALT, Physio on site but it's just one part of the big picture ifyswim. The ss said they haven't had a single student sit a gcse in years which I feel is a real shame. The expectations are so low. It was new, big, lovely resources but they can only offer 8 places for an early years place! They were also quite clear that once you're in ss, you stay there and are unlikely to go to a college unless it's a specialist college.

This may be the perfect setting for the boys but they're so little so it's difficult to know whether they will stay the same. I'm hoping for a better trajectory but I just can't tell. I'm finding it impossible to make a decision.

I have a question. May I ask where everyone's preferred school is in relation to where they live?

The reason I'm asking is that our preferred school is 15-20 mins away, however there are alot of schools that are closer.

I noticed on the school admissions form that you have to provide reasons why the school you have chosen is the only one that can meet your childs needs (or something like that). The thing is...our nearest school COULD meet his needs BUT I would rather the other school for various reasons such as the attitude of the SENCO, the feel of the school, academically, etc.

Basically, I'm worried about how I can 'prove' that my preferred school is better than the local school....any ideas or advice?

Our preferred school is a 20 minutes drive in OK traffic, longer in bad traffic. There are loads of schools that are closer, we live in a very built up and densely populated area.

I've been to see every school between our house and our preferred school. There are loads of reasons why I refer the school. You must have loads too, which is why you've cited that school. What makes it different? What gave you that feeling that the particular school was right for your dc?

Think about his you can articulate that:
Practical stuff - ease of parking, drop off, pick up
Number of classes per year
Setting's layout - classrooms, plygrpund and how that translates e.g. I wouldn't choose a school where the two reception classes were in kind room, as that would be too loud and overwhelming for DS, I would also prefer separate reception, infants and junior playgrounds for the same reason (in an ideal world)
Availability of breakout areas for one to one work close to classrooms, or sensory areas
Track record of children attending (long term?) with a similar profile to your DC
What the head or senco said
Your rapport with each
What the other schools said, or importantly, didn't say