ASD: Independent mainstream school with good pastoral care

[Mrskingwest]

My DS is 6 and has been diagnosed with mild ASD. He is currently attending a mainstream primary school.The school is academically demanding and recently we suspect that my DS may have Dyslexia too. He is actually very inquisitive and is willing to learn, perhaps at a lower pace. However he is not performing well in language so recently he presents emotional issues at home (not at school though).

We are actively searching for another school for him, private/independent, with special learning support for mild ASD and Dyslexia.

We anticipate that there are only a small number schools that are committed to support kids with ASD and Dyslexia. We are willing to relocate anywhere in uk as long as it is a school that is suitable for my DS.

I am hoping to seek for opinions from any parent who has similar experience looking for mainstream schools that provide such learning support, with good pastoral care and accepts kids with SEN. Any recommendations of schools in any region of UK will also be very much appreciated.

Thank you so so so much in advance.

Desperate mum of a cheerful son

St David's College, Llandudno specialises in dyslexia and takes pupils of 9-19. No personal experience of the school, but the website looks nice!

Ellesmere In Shropshire. My friends moved there 2 years ago with their dyslexic boys and are flying there

Bruern Abbey in Oxfordshire, from Year 4-8.

More House has best results, Egerton Rosesay as well. Moon Hall seem nice but mostly dyslexia.
There are also The Unicorn., Breadon. There were threads on secondary education board with many mainstream schools in London being mentioned.

Having been through similar exercise, I must say that sadly dyslexia schools don't want ASD pupils as the needs are much greater. They all say polite things and are nice, but ultimately decline places, you should be looking at ASD schools, not dyslexia. There is no such thing as mild ASD, even though DC could be very bright. Diagnosis at 6 is not an indication of very 'mild' presentation.

Dear All,
Thank you so very much. Those are very useful information.

Dear Cakesandtea

Thank you so much for the insights it is really useful to hear from an experienced parent.

In terms of ASD specific school, do you have any recommended ones that follow mainstream curriculum?

Since we are relocating to uk from Asia, so we are not very familiar with the system. I read that public support is difficult due to unsuitable ESC plans, LAs, appeals and lack of funds. We aim at private school hoping that would be an easier start, at least to keep the education and learning support going.

My DS’s ASD indeed has been missed in earlier years, does not have classic ASD symptoms and his condition has been misdiagnosed for some time, finally it was picked up by an experienced clinical psychologist at 6. We think it was a bit late as we missed some golden period for interventions.

Any further insights and advice will be highly appreciated

Cheers

Typo * EHC plan

MrsKingWest, what comes to my mind as the first point of call is Egerton Rothsay, followed by More House. There are also Centre Academy. The latter and More House might be secondary only. I don't know about primary schools to be honest. These are independent schools that are school with mainstream curriculum that are essentially schools for children with special needs, mostly ASD. They take exclusively children with SEN, 'mild' SEN so that those children are able to cope and succeed in mainstream curriculum/qualifications. There are very few schools like that. You need to hurry up as they might be getting full within the next weeks.

There are other types of schools:

1. the proper mainstream private schools that take some children with some very mild SEN, the once you ask about in your OP. (I don't know much about these schools, ask on Primary Education or Secondary Education board, you are likely to get more responses, you might research the Good Schools guide and there are also private consultants, although I think they are a waste of money, they will tell you what you can google yourself, what you will have to consider and research yourself. You should be aware that those schools tend to accept very bright children that need very little special provisions, if you need more support, they would make you pay for that (a lot) and still might refuse/ask to leave, especially in secondary); and

2. private specialist schools - these are special schools only for children with particular type of SEN, many do a reduced range (3-6) of mainstream subjects, but the results tend to be underwhelming. Generally they are not the first choice for children capable of mainstream education. There are a lot of those throughout the country. You could research the database on the NAS site (national autistic society), look in the list of independent special schools on the Department of Education website (approved special schools), and the list of schools under the section 41 of Education Act (another list of approved private special schools).

Ultimately you have a complex task. Which school is suitable will depend entirely on your DS needs, what is in his EP report and on what the schools will observe in taster sessions. Usually they look at reports in advance, short list children and require a 3 day full time taster to see how your DS will cope and what his needs are.

Based on the info you provided, you might start in an independent mainstream primary/prep and take from there, while strategically aiming for Egerton Rothsay or More House in terms of your address for secondary school.

Take a look at Hillingdon Manor school..

If you're considering London I'd definitely look at Finton House in Battersea.

Just bumping this as it's a similar search I am having at the moment. I would love to read any updates or recent parents opinion of schools.