Is private education better than state for someone with special needs?

[brokenmum]

My daughter has communicating hydracephulus and has some problems with her memory because of this. She has missed a lot of school this year due to operations and her shunt not working as it should have been, consequently her school work has suffered but i dont believe the school is equipped to help her catch up. do you think that being at a private school would give her more of the one to one attention that she needs?

In a word, no.

That's based on a rubbish special needs dept in my dcs independent school and a great one in the state school where I work. I don't think (most) private schools bother to cater for anyone outside the ordinary, if you see what I mean.

Not necessarily but probabaly dependes ont he nature of the help required and the school. Some may, some won't and if you opt to go private you'll find your access to specialists within the NHS, if you need them, more limited. Apparently independent schools can refer but the reality is that you are assumed to be able to pay and the NHS specialists have an already full tour of LEA schools and hospital appointments. We pay for extra academic one to one help for ds at his private school - £30 an hour approx. - but not for small group work.

i think the problem is, is that the school my dd2 is in is very good dd1 has improved dramatically since starting there 2 years ago, however they seem to think that dd2 needs are not as important because she is never going to hit the grades expected of the school. Also dd2 wanted to learn flute, i have one at home and so can help her, was told that no places left even though first one to bring letter back, i am thinking that they just did not want her to do it because it would be more difficult for them. I dont want her to miss out on things because the school cannot be bothered.

My DS has SN and is at an independent school, I have to pay for his 1 to 1. The school will only accept sn children with 1 to 1 support.

It hasn't affected his access to specialists within the NHS, the SALT goes into school, as does the Cluster Area SENCO, Portage, OT, Physio etc He is still entitled to specialist help.

However, it is a very competitive school and although suitable for my older dd not right for my ds (the Head has made it quite clear he is not suitable for them either), I am moving him to a more nurturing/smaller private school in Sept he will be in a class of 10-12, which will be great for him.

And good luck trying to find a private school that will happily take him for you. In the limited experience I've had children with SN's aren't really welcome in private schools.

www.isbi.com/isbi-f-search.asp have a search facility where you can search for independent schools happy to accept children with various SN

I really think this varies so much it's hard to say.

I agree that it depends on the needs of the child and depends on the school.
My ds is hearing impaired. He spent reception and most of yr 1 in a (good) state school but fell behind with reading etc since there was no allowance made for his hearing. He then lost confidence and wouldn't even try. We have moved him to a non-selective private school and in only a few weeks the improvement is astounding. He is much happier and he is now doing work which is average for his age.
Having said that - we didn't even look round the other private schools near us since the last thing we wanted to do was to put ds into a highly academic competitive environment - would have made him even more depressed.