When did you go from mainstream to sen school

[Annon12345]

Hi is ds is 4 almost 5. We have professionals meeting in April/ may though we all expect the outcome with be asd. He goes to mainstream primary and loves it. He has limited speech and understanding but brilliant and maths and reading. He has no friends and doesn't play with other children or even reply to hello at the door. We're working on getting more support from a permanent 1 to 1 and then ehcp but I fear for his future. Special school was mentioned briefly by a teacher though he loves where he goes currently, I'm concerned as he gets older things might change, did anyone go from mainstream and sen school and what led to that decision? Thanks

Some children are able to stay in the mainstream environment for their whole school lives whereas others cannot, the gap between them and their peers often widen as they get older which makes it more difficult.

my son didn’t speak until he started primary school and has some complex needs but thrived in mainstream primary for most of his time there, with support. It got harder and harder as he got older as the gal between him and his peers got bigger and he started realising this in year 5&6. He’s just started mainstream secondary and not managing at all so imo if I was to do to it again, I’d make sure he was in a Sen school before high school. We are just starting the process to get him moved. We are fortunate he has an EHCP.

I know of a few children that moved to a Sen school from mainstream primary at about the year 4 mark!

it really does vary though!

Thanks for your reply. I did think that he would most likely go to a sen secondary but I guess it helps to be prepared hand

Secondary is definitely totally different for them but for now it is great your son is loving school and is settled there! Definitely keep going for the EHCP, my younger child was turned down twice for one before getting it!

Mine transferred in year 3 after he refused to go in following covid lockdowns. Hopefully a global pandemic will not be an issue for you! He had full 1:1 support in his small ms primary.

Common stages for movement are year 1 (when parents try but realise ms is not going to work at all) then with the change to KS2 as work becomes much harder and the gap with peers has often widened. Then with the move to secondary because many kids that cope with primary will struggle with the demands and change that secondary school involves.

It’s not always straightforward of course, often there is a need to wait for a place and/or for appeals.

You also usually need an EHCP to obtain a SS place.

Following with interest as my son is same age also limited speech and also at mainstream and I do wonder if and when he will need special school Altho only difference to u OP is that he does already have one to one and EHCP in place

DS sounds very similar to the OPs tho he had one to one in MS. He moved for year 2, so had reception and year 1 in MS.

Reasons for moving him;

• despite EHCP provisions it was impossible to get quality, daily SALT for him in ms and he really needed this;
• school were utterly clueless, had never heard of PECS, just had no idea what to do with him when he didn’t fit the mould. Reports were all negetive; ‘he won’t do… he can’t do,,, he isn’t doing… ‘. Feedback was grinding us down daily. Never any thoughts or suggestions or proactive comments about how he could achieve progress.
• eventually this gave way to the Head saying more explicitly that he would be better elsewhere
• no other child in the school was like him. It was a very small primary but I felt I was taking a child into school with 2 heads. The other children babied him and the mums used to look at me pitifully. I used to dread drop off and pick up every day.

SS has its pros and cons but at least now he is progressing (more than he ever did there when he was babysat and no more).

Thank you. I have a few unkind comments towards ds from an older child on drop offs. I think perhaps when he starts year one and its more work less play as such the difference may be more obvious. I'm going to push for an ehcp

To echo what others said, depends on the kid.

My son moved in year 1. Academically he was fine / good but it was more that he was miserable, had no friends and crucially, wanted friends.

In my view happiness should be the barometer. If your child is happy in mainstream, i’d advocate to keep them there, even if schools may sometimes pushback because of the challenges of making adjustments.

On the converse I focussed hard on getting my son into an appropriate specialist place where he’d feel included and he does and it’s great

Hello can I ask what school you chose in end ? Mainstream or sen ?

My dd left in year 4 fir specialist but she was less high functioning than your ds. I think it depends on how happy he is there, how he is integrating and how much he is able to keep up.

Yes, I suppose it unfolds with time .