Senior school what are the options

[daisysue2]

Just want to here about the options are for senior schools. Are there another other option beside special needs school and mainstream. How do ASD girls cope in large mainstream comprehensive? Are Special schools challenging enough for children who are at the top end of the SAT levels they take? Any experiences or opinions would be appreciated.

Just want to find out about the options for senior schools. Are there any other options other than special needs school and mainstream. How do ASD girls cope in large mainstream comprehensive? Are Special schools challenging enough for children who are at the top end of the SAT levels they take? Any experiences or opinions would be appreciated

You really have to get to know the local provision

Here, SNU can cope with bright kids- there's a chap in ds3's class (albeit juniors) on the 98th centile for everything.

However, other schools wouldn't manage so well- it's a mixture of all things.

But the first thing to work out is the chances of getting a SNU place anyhow, if tehre's a good chance try to screen a few, chat to your local version of SNAP and get a few opinions. OTOH if like here only 12 kids a year are catered for at SNU level and any child that can walk and talk (and a fair few that cannot) is expected to go into MS with support, then you want to start applying the same screening procedures to those options instead.

Yes - there is a halfway house between mainstream and special school. These are 'resource bases' which are small sheleterd units attached to a mainstream school that cater for ASD children. They teach the mainstream cirriculum but also AD-specific teaching such as ASD awareness, social stories etc.

There are 2 in our area. Places are snapped up and you would need a Statement to get a place. I toured one and it would have been excellent for DS. They buddy the children together in pairs so they support each other and will report if their buddy is being bullied etc. They usually operate from a separtae building fenced from the mainstream schools grounds but share its facilities i.e. labs, sports ground etc.

You could probably ring the LA and ask if there are any in your area. if not ring bordering LAs ans ask about provision there.

My son is at an enhanced reource attached to an outstanding secondary and the support he gets has been fantastic.
Jack has full time 1 to 1 support so there is no chance of him being bullied he accesses most of the curicculum although not the noisy craft subjects because of sensory issues. He has a life skills programme and he has access to a chill out room for times of need.
Demand is extraordinarily high just two places per year and usually go to children whose statement suggests high support need and whose parents make it clear they will go to tribunal to secure a place as I did.
Would definitely recommend looking round and preparing to fight tbh.

I used to work in a sn school and our kids weren't doing gcses partly due to lack of facilities and partly bevause those who potentially could have still had difficulty in the comprehnsion needed for written exams ( as in they could have done the math but not understand the question iyswim) we did do asdan and nvq and practical qualifications. I took groups to local college to do qualifications there. All spent time on work experience either in school or in the community on a weekly basis(1 got a job when she left last year) also the more able kids did duke of ed award and those that I started have just got their silver.

With a sn it will depend on their intake and the size to whether they do formal exams although the new 14-19 curriculum should make this easier as diplomas will be easier to tailor to needs .

Thank you for your answers. She does have a full statement and we do have a lot of SN schools locally, so I don't think their would be too much of a problem getting a place because of the level of support she needs, although I know it will be a fight.

There is a support unit locally attached to a mainstream school. Unfortunately it's the worst school in the area, but most importantly it is outside the area of her primary school so non of her friends will be going there, otherwise I would send her there no questions asked. But on her own not so sure she would cope.

The local comp her friends will go to is excellent for high achievers, unfortunately for us. Any NT child would love to go there, unfortunately because they put so much of their resources into talented children their SN suffers.

Any other stories or ideas about senior schools greatly appreciated. I just want to get more of an idea about people's experiences and children's ability to cope or not.

Jack wouldn't have fit in a special school because academically he was too able levels 4 and 5 at year six and special schools normally cater for children attaining 3 and below (level 3 is considered to be the cut off point around here)
Jack's school is 30 miles away so none of his primary frieds went but Jack doesn't really interact with children anyway so it was no loss for him. It's a tough call at the end of the day

Does Jack go to a mainstream school is there specialist help for him. And how does he cope with a 30 mile trip every day?

Yes Jack recieves specialist support through the resource. He does most lessons in the mainstream part of the school always with 1 to 1, he has the option of returning to the unit if it gets too noisy or busy.
Work is adapted for him when needed particularly when he would need some imagination because he just hasn't got any and also when he needs to have another's viewpoint because he doesn't see that either.
He finds writing tedious so he has notes taken for him by his LSA and often submits work electronically through the resource.
As for the journey he is picked up from the door 7.40 and taken to the private carpark just for the resource and an LSA meets the taxi and takes him straight into the resource rather than waiting for the bell and going through busy corridors.
At hometime an LSA sees him into the taxi and he is dropped off at the door. The thirty miles are mostly down the M1 so he travels for just over an hour each day so not too bad. He's fine with travelling because it is just a routine he is used to and he is safe because he isn't able to cross roads or be unaccomapnied out of the house as he is pretty vulnerable.

Another example of how it varies:

My ds3's palce is called an LRC (resource centre but tehre's only one non LRC titled lpace here, oh and a SALT school that won't touch ASD

So every SN kid with a SNU palce is at an LRC nless they are severe to the extent of the very most severe
there are also no statements oer 16 hours I know of anywhere, and no LRC at secondary level

Why can't they just make it so there's one system for all, not one per county?