Primary Schools ASC Eltham/ Bexley/ Sevenoaks

[SZJ]

Hello,
My DS is 4 and non-verbal ASC (Autism) and has an EHCP. He’s happy to be around other children but adults find his behaviour challenging because he lacks awareness of danger, is very sensory seeking, is very active and prefers to be completely self-directed.

He is due to start reception in Sept at a school in east London in an Autism resourced provision unit (in a mainstream school). We’re really happy with it based on his many settling in days.

However, we need to move out of the area due to needing more space (3 DC in a 2bed flat) and a garden for our outdoor loving DS. We’ve looked into our options for staying in the area but none are a suitable long-term solution for us.

I’m finding it challenging deciding on an area because of school options for DS. Our areas of interest are Eltham (Greenwich or Bexley local authority), Bexley (Bexley local authority), Meopham (Kent local authority) and Sevenoaks (Kent local authority).

If anyone has good or bad experiences of primary schools for their ASC children in those areas, I’d love to get your feedback.

Some schools I’ve been researching include:

• Serenity School
• Alderwood Primary School
• Royal Park Primary School
• Sherwood Park Primary School
• Upton Primary School
• Old Bexley CoE Primary School
• Milestone Academy

Very happy to hear about others including mainstream with great provision, specialised resourced provision or special school!

Many thanks for any feedback anyone can give.

Personally I would be avoiding KCC at all costs. They are one of the harder LAs to deal with. Bexley and Kent are also both safety valve LAs. When you move LA, the new LA will review the EHCP and potentially amend, reassess or even cease to maintain. Even if you think it is unlikely, you need to be aware it is a possibility. You will have to right of appeal (and will then be able to enforce any decision which will be important with KCC) but it is extra stress.

Thank you, that’s good to know. I hadn’t heard of safety valve LA’s before.

There’s lots of articles online about safety valve agreements from organisations such as IPSEA and SN Jungle if you want to read more about them.

Recommend you join Bexley Mums Group on FB. I have heard negative things about Old Bexley CoE Primary School which seemed to stem from a SEN child being able to escape school and run into traffic.
For great mainstream schools with excellent SEN support/provisions people really seem to rate Hook Lane. We viewed Alexander Macleod which is on the Bexley/Greenwich border and they have a specialised SEN unit that children can access for additional support. We have chosen this school as our priority. We also viewed Parkway which also had a specialist provision but I wasnt keen.

Shenstone is the specialist school however this is for more advanced needs and as you can imagine, a real lack of spaces.

https://www.bexleylocaloffer.uk/Page/30890

Happy to chat through if you need more info on Bexley!

EDIT

https://www.bexleylocaloffer.uk/Services/2254

Thank you for the info, I’ll definitely join the group.

That’s a huge red flag about Old Bexley CoE, as my son is an escapist. I heard rumors that my older child’s mainstream school (Newham) lost a SEN child once but they didn’t manage to leave the building thankfully.