Secondary school advice for ASD child

[mommmy90]

Hello everyone,

My 10 yr old son was recently diagnosed with ASD. He's academically good but has huge anxiety issues and is not socially adept. He will need robust support to withstand secondary school. He does not have an EHCP.

Unfortunately, with the COVID lockdown, I haven't been able to go and visit any secondary schools. Come October, I will have to apply for secondary school places for Sep 2021 start. I do not want my son to end up in a wrong school.

I read on the National Autistic Society website that Salesian School in Surrey has a SEN unit, besides it also ranks well in academic achievement. Does anyone know about the quality of the school's SEN provision or about the school. I do not live in Surrey, so any advice about secondary schools in Surrey would be brilliant.

Also any advice on secondary schools with great SEN provision would be deeply appreciated. My son is academically able, but due to hypermobility and anxiety, cracking the grammar school exams would be difficult. Hence I'm looking for a state school which has a good academic environment whilst providing dedicated SEN support for pupils with an ASD diagnosis.

I would be very grateful for any advice.

Thanks!

Whereabouts in the country are you? You say you don't live in Surrey, so getting a place at a school out of your borough may be extremely difficult nigh on impossible if you don't have an EHCP, unfortunately. Or are you considering moving?

The diagnosis itself may help a bit with choices but state schools generally (at least in my experience in over-subscribed London ones!) have a hierarchy of looked after (ie care) - adopted - EHCP - siblings - proximity. Some may consider additional needs but this isn't always a formal consideration, and may depend on how subscribed the school is.

Did you look at any in the autumn 2019 open days? And can you talk to his current school for their advice? Other parents?

Also, I think this is quite a quiet board so you might get more answers in SN Children, SN Chat or even main board Education

Sorry just seen you couldn't visit any. Hmm. What do you know of your local ones at the moment? If he didn't have ASD would you be happy with them? Maybe it's worth contacting them and seeing if they are arranging any virtual tours or anything? And look in detail at their websites prospectuses etc.

FWIW I have a 13yo ds with ASD, he's at mainstream secondary (was at mainstream primary too), it doesn't have a separate SEN. Sounds a bit like yours, academically very able but anxious and socially can be vulnerable. He gets counselling and some SLT support for social thinking. Doing ok socially, ups and downs, but the school is pretty decent at supporting him. I think the key to consider isn't just a school with a unit, but also a school that can demonstrate it can support your ds in the mainstream environment - so ask questions about what behavioural support, counselling, social support etc there is.

And for social support I mean proactive ongoing developmental support, so eg SLT-led sessions which actively teach skills in social interaction etc. Also important to know how schools deal with pastoral care, what they do to foster friendships to avoid children being isolated or unable to make friends, how they deal with bullying, do they provide safe places at lunchtimes like library, clubs etc.

Thanks so much for your advice DiscoJanet! I don't mind moving if the school is great. Where I live, I'm not very happy with the comprehensives and what they have to offer. So I will have to look at other places. It's good you told me about posting on other boards; I'm gonna do that. Thanks again for taking the time!

Hi there,
I am currently looking to move my child to Bredon School (tewkesbury) In September , as she is dyslexic and has suffered from anxiety, It seems Bredon is a good fit for us, although it is a big move, means re-locating.
I just wondered if anybody has a child there or has recent feedback ,it’s a very tough decision at the moment due to Covid19 and not being able to visit or do taster days. Thanks so much for any feedback you can give it’s much appreciated I keep going round in circles trying to make a decision.
Thanks x

Like Disco says, your best bet is to investigate schools local to you.

Without an EHCP you will have to go through the normal admissions round which won't take SN into account unless the school has an exceptional medical and social needs admission category. Not all schools do, and even when they do the bar is quite high. You have to show that only that school can meet DC's needs and it needs to be supported by evidence such as a doctors letter saying "In my opinion school X is the only school that can meet Y's needs because..." not "mum says C school is the only school..." Schools will not informally take into account his SN, places are allocated based on the admissions criteria.

You could appeal to a school if you apply to one but don't get in. The bar isn't as high for appeals as it is applying under social and medical needs. But, it is risky to rely on that as it isn't guaranteed you would be successful.

Without an EHCP you are unlikely to get an enhanced/additional resource base/unit/provision.

If you are going to move you need to do so before the admissions deadline. Otherwise you risk being categorised as a late applicant.

Thanks for this greenbottles!