Going private - Y3 or Y7 - DD with ASD

[newnameforFeb]

My daughter is in Y2 at a good state primary, I had intended to move her to a small nurturing girls independent school at Y7.

She has recently been diagnosed with ADHD - which I was expecting, but also ASD which I had considered but expected to be told she has traits but doesn't meet the threshold.

I'm now wondering if it would be sensible to move her to the private school this September when she goes into Y3 . The new school is all through, but class sizes in the Y3 would be about 15 girls rather than 30 children in the state school.

She has friends but not close friendships or an established best friend at her current school. I e been told by older parents that friendships get less fluid after Y3 so wondering if the transition would be easier now than Y7. She is an outgoing girl and wants to make friends.

The private school has lots of SEN support - DD has ADHD, ASD, suspected dyslexia, slow processing speed, handwriting difficulties.

Before deciding I think you need to have a frank conversation with the independent school as not all are supportive of SEN when you dig deeper, and when they are they often charge extra, which can quickly mount up.

There’s usually a fair bit of movement in friendship groups in Y7.

Thank you, my interest in this particular school was its support for SEN, my sister is an old girl and confirms this. When I went to the open day recently I was extremely impressed with the amount of support offered for pupils with SEN, which is why I am interested in this particular school rather than others in the area which do not support SEN and actively manage out students who are having difficulties

Thank you for this I reply though, I can't remember from the open day if there is an extra charge for SEN support - I imagine there must be!

It’s worth asking about extra charges as SEN support can run to thousands of pounds extra per year depending on what support DD needs.

Have you considered applying for an EHCNA?

My DD is in a private school and changed schools for Y3. It worked reasonably well I think (although we didn't have a choice - her first school only went up to Y2). Her new school isn't that knowledgeable around SEN but has been supportive and flexible (e.g. on uniform, finding ways for her to participate in things that she is comfortable with). They don't charge anything extra but she doesn't have a 1:1 so the additional cost to the school isn't any more than it would be for e.g. a very able pupil who they were giving some extra time to help stretch.

So I think a lot depends on your DD's precise support and sensory needs. If you think there's any chance she needs 1:1 or other more expensive support to participate then it would be worth talking to the school to see what the financial implications would be. For example, in DD's reception year we did pay for some additional social support at break times and a session of SLT a week, and those were added to our bill (though were completely our choice).

We also went to see a lot of state schools and were very impressed by quite a few of them - some of whom clearly had much more knowledge of SEN than any of the private schools we looked at. It was a hard decision but in the end we prioritised small school and small class size (most primaries around us are at least 2 form entries and that is a LOT of kids at breaks/in the lunch hall etc. which I think DD would have found very hard) I think private has worked well for DD but of course I never know how she would have managed in the state sector - possibly she would have been fine.