Primary Schools SW London

[cakeandicing]

New to all this but just looking into schools for starting in sept '10. Anyone know of any state or private in sw london that are particularly inclusive of kids with special needs? Just starting out on the statementing road too. All a bit overwhelming and just want to make sure I don't miss anything. Thanks!

Roughly where in SW London are you? (on a rough scale of 1-20?!)

PS DDA would ensure all schools should be inclusive to children with SEN. But I suspect some are more inclusive than others.......

My experience is .... yes, they are suppose to be inclusive, however, when it comes to private schools, it is totally down to their HT and their ethos. My ds1 (nt) attended a lovely private school that was very inclusive - they had several children there not only with physical disabilities, but also kids on the spectrum and one with ADHD. They had an amazing SENCO. This, as far as I am aware, is fairly unusual in the private sector. What you have to remember is most of these schools are geared towards getting their kids through the 11+ etc and if they feel a child will not achieve this, they don't want them. My sons school made it clear to these parents that they may not be able to get them into senior privates, but they would ensure they had the best possible education until that point. Sorry, it's not in SW London. The main thing is to be very up front about your child from the start. Correct me if I am wrong, but I think in the private sector, they are not obliged to adhere to the conditions of your sons statement as it is only a legal document for schools under an LEA. They wont have access to outside resources free of charge which means they may charge you extra for this.

We are sw18 but happy to travel if we could find the best school...

I think you need to visit several in your area and talk to them frankly about your child and their potential needs. You will soon get a feeling if they are able to accommodate your dc or not. Usually, they are quite blunt in letting you know if they are/not the right school for your dc.

For what it's worth, my ds2 is ADHD and he will going to the same school as ds1 in a few years. Rather not name it on MN.

When we were looking at schools we looked at aspects particular to my dd - ie it needed to be on one level, be smallish, and generally physically accessible - sorry my doorbell is going