Visiting a special school tomorrow - potential one for Ds2 - what should I be looking for?

[Saker]

I know it's different for every child but any tips / advice / questions to ask would be appreciated. I always come away from this sort of thing having felt like I found out everything I needed and then two hours later thinking of about 50 questions I should have asked.

Lok for a child like your ds, and see how well they're doing, how comfortable they look, and try and guage the staff's response to them!

Just go and see how it feels. does if feel like a place you can see your child fitting in to? trust your instincts.

Ahhh yes, the 'oh why didn't I ask this' one. Not sure of the main key questions you should ask, although these things tend to flow once you start talking. Write them down on a piece of paper, Ive done that before . Just remember that a school, no matter how good its facilities are, is only as good as the teachers in it. I think you will get a gut instinct about it though. I think you get the best advice from other parents of children who are in the school. Gool luck x

Just had a thought, could you mention the school here? you never know, some of us might know of it already and could help you.

agree about looking for a child like your dc. when we looked at a school a couple of years ago(dd has been at same one since nursery) we did and also tried to see how she would fit in and if she would struggle.

Thanks for the advice - any more welcome .

I am happy to name it but doubt anyone will - it is called the Granta School and is in Cambs. It is newly opened as a result of the LEA closing down/merging all the special schools locally to make three big ones.

It is sort of our second choice because it is more of a journey than the other we are looking at - only 25minutes away but when that is in a taxi and picking up other kids that could easily extend to an hour. However it is more likely to have a place, and is brand new so didn't feel we could rule it out without seeing it.

Jimjams and 2shoes - I think it is good advice about looking for a child like Ds2 but tbh I have never met another child like him. His motor skills are so delayed yet he doesn't have CP or a specific diagnosis of a motor problem. Also it's hard to spot a child with poor motor skills without watching them for some time. So probably an area for detailed questionning about how they would cope with him?

well I've never met one like ds1 either, but what I did see going round schools were children with the same level of functioning as him. And the same sort of challenging behaviours. It was very obvious that in one school these children were seen as a problem, whereas in the school we chose, they weren't!

saker have to say dd is a one off. it is hard to find another dc like her. but i look for a child who is similar. Just didn't find one in the school we looked at.
we decided to keep her where she was. as there she is one of the more able at the other school she would have been one of the least able.

I didn't know you'd beenn to look at other schools 2shoes. Sounds a good idea to keep her where she is. your post also made me think- it's worth seeing how individual the timetables etc are. One s[pecial school we looked at had very much class teachign going on, ds1's is much more individual- which suits him better.

we looked when she was moving to secondry. only at trelores. as her friend went there. but it just seem to be a step too far. glad we didn't move her as she is so happy in the secondry department and the school has improved.

it sounds like it was worth looking 2shoes so now you know you're in the right place iykwim.

Hi Saker, hope you are well, please email me soon on how other things are going!

I think instinct plays a huge part in "getting a feel" for a school, I would suggest being really open, to the point of boring them, with ds's needs/personality/motor issues etc. just to see their reaction.

I did this with dd's school and it was clear they were intrigued/confident they could meet her needs, rather than being phased/alarmed by what they were dealing with. We also arranged a taster day for dd, which gave them a really good insight to exactly the type of difficulties they would need to be prepared for. We picked up instinctively that they had very similar RDI approaches already in place, fortunately, ie. emphasis on experience sharing etc.

Hope it goes well!

Thanks everyone.

Will email you soon Monica. New RDI consultant is coming a week on Sunday.