Special schools

[Jeniweni]

Hi, I'm interested in applying for a job in a MLD special school. I currently work in mainstream but we would have MLD children there too. I wondered could someone explain what MLD children would be like in a special school? What's the difference? Thanks

IME, the MLD school I used to work at, takes all sorts of children who don't get a place in specialist specific schools. So, I can think of one little girl with autism and HI, where the HI school wouldn't take her because of her autism and the autism specialist school wouldn't take her because of her HI. Now, this was 20 years ago. The criteria for getting a place in specialist provision has risen and risen. Most children that attend there now would have been in the SLD school back then. There are just so many more children with more an more complex needs. So many of the children with autism also have other diagnoses.
Plus of course, every child in the school has an EHCP.
Again, in our authority, dc who just didn't cope in mainstream move to the specialist provision, and dc who do cope, don't, so it is sort of self selecting the population of the specialist provision, certainly once they get to KS2.