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ASD DD looking at Unsted Park

15 replies

guitar01 · 12/05/2018 13:35

Does anyone have any information about Unsted park school Godalming. I am wondering about it for sixth form for ASD DD subject to all approvals etc.

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zoomuno · 31/05/2018 23:05

Hi guitar01, Sorry I don't have any information to offer you, but am asking exactly the same question! Looking for sixth form/A levels at Unsted for my daughter, subject to EHCP. Did you manage to find any more information/reviews that you'd be willing to share? Best wishes with your plans.

guitar01 · 01/06/2018 10:29

No I am afraid not. I did not get any responses. There is an ofsted report that I looked at which was very positive.

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zoomuno · 01/06/2018 11:45

Thanks, guitar01. I hope you manage to find somewhere that's right for your child and family.

guitar01 · 19/06/2018 13:51

hi Zoomuno I don't know if it is any help but we have also been to look around a an independent school called Sackville in hiildenborough. (not to be confused with the East Grinstead Sackville). It was very impressive. Only about 150 children and plenty of ASD children.

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TAmum123 · 19/06/2018 16:03

My daughter (ASD, ADD, GAD) has a place at West Heath for sixth form but will actually be studying at Sackville in Hildenborough. We are very impressed with both schools.

zoomuno · 19/06/2018 16:15

Hi guitar01. Thanks so much for this. I've asked them for a prospectus :) Hope your search is working out.

guitar01 · 16/07/2018 13:41

Help … Does anyone know how to speed up the EHCP process .. we went to see Unsted and it was excellent. My daughter was really well suited from both ours and school perspective. Surrey council seem to be taking ages to go through the EHCP process. We need their support to go to Unsted . They are now saying it will probably be 20 weeks from August before we get any decision. Not really sure what to do ...

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Wheelsgoround1 · 16/07/2018 14:01

Hi guitar01, Lack of EHCP (yet) is why we haven't taken Unsted any further. However, local authorities are required (in theory) to work to maximum timescales. What I've learned from EHCP facebook groups is that we need to keep on top of things, so this morning I emailed my local authority a template legalese letter asking for the six-week panel decision by close of day; after pestering by phone for three weeks, it arrived at 9.36am. These sites have lots of good info and you should be able to find template letters:
IPSEA: www.ipsea.org.uk/contact/ad...
IPSEA - Tribunal helpline: database.ipsea.org.uk/book/...
SOSSEN: www.sossen.org.uk/contact_us...
Contact A Family: contact.org.uk/our-helpline...
NAS helpline (for children with autism diagnosis): www.autism.org.uk/services/h...
Hope you can get a good outcome.

guitar01 · 16/07/2018 16:07

thank you so much

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Wheelsgoround1 · 16/07/2018 16:36

You're welcome. Fingers crossed for you.

guitar01 · 07/08/2018 17:32

We now have a draft EHCP :) It mentions East Surrey and Nescot. I would appreciate if anyone could give me feedback on them thank you

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TAmum123 · 07/08/2018 20:08

I don’t know anything about those colleges but I do have some EHCP experience I will share...

Dd has been out of school since half way through year 10 - she has ADHD, ASD (high functioning) and mental health issues (self harm, anorexia, overdoses, suicidal thoughts, anxiety). For a significant amount of time she has been an in patient in an adolescent mental health unit and she took 7 GCSEs in hospital school, she is very bright and got them all at high grades. With some additional support from the EHCP and after significant research into which local school would be best on my part, she returned to mainstream school to start A Levels last September. She could not cope in that environment at all and the support was nowhere near enough (they did try their best!) and it ended in a 5 month hospital admission. As I said above, she will be attending West Heath and Sackville in September with a lot of support including transport, delivered under the EHCP at significant expense. When the application went to the panel, it was agreed first time and I understand that one of the reasons they agreed quickly (these placements being difficult to get funding for) was because a return to mainstream school had been tried and ended badly - if we had not already done so, we would have had to try a mainstream school first.

In your position, I would want every detail of the support those colleges offer and I would be measuring it against DDs needs. If you feel Unstead Park is the best or only fit I would be making the case to the EHCP officer/appealing/doing whatever is necessary!

Alternatively, would online school be an option? We were in touch with InterHigh and were quite impressed but dd doesn’t want to be home alone and wouldn’t use their online commonroom facility.

Lots of sympathy - there seem to be a good number of schools for those with ASD who need life and independence skills and so few for those who are academically able but can’t cope in mainstream.

guitar01 · 08/08/2018 00:08

This is so helpful.. Thankyou.
I do agree about the difficulties for high functioning ASD children who can not cope in mainstream..
This has helped a great deal in how to respond to the draft EHCP

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guitar01 · 02/10/2018 20:59

sorry to use this thread for something else but it is related. My daughter is doing a petition and I do not know whether it can go on mumsnet and if so where.

The petition is to get dogs that support people with anxiety and depression recognised as service dogs so they can go into restaurant, schools etc. This will help ASD people and those who need emotional support to cope with life.

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/228676

Apologises for any rules I am breaking here and would appreciate being pointed in the right direction

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AspergersMum · 26/12/2019 15:24

For anyone else searching for Unsted as I was, here's what I found that put me off! www.gov.uk/government/publications/unsted-park-school-warning-notice

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