Difference between mainstream and special needs school

Ask if you can have a tour and talk to the SENCO. They should ensure the teachers and TAs are briefed and no one shouts at him while they develop a kinder strategy to get him to sit down.

If you think there is a particular mainstream which is better equipped to meet your son's need than others, you should have a strong argument to present to school's admissions to get him in there.

This is what I'm scared off. Thankfully it's a small school so I'm hoping he won't get bullied. However, I'm scared that he will play up if the teachers just shout at him because he won't sit down. This will reduce his confidence, self esteem etc.

I'm praying by secondary school he will be talking and know to stand up for himself

A lot might depend on the quality of the mainstream too.  If they've got a good behavioural reputation and a great SEND dept, can protect him from bullies and nurture his socialisation, and provide for the speech and language there, at least his other intellectual needs might be met.  If it's a dust bin...ooooo.  

I had no language issues so perhaps my own experience isn't really comparable, but shall I say my middle school years were a nightmare because I was bullied and the school handled it badly.  My secondary allowed me to flourish because the teachers got it right.

More details!

My information and experiences are old.  I was sent to a special school in 1972.  I only spent a year there.  The school itself was an old building in the corner of St James's hospital in Leeds, which is a very large hospital complex.

The school catered for less than 30 pupils in the age range 5 to 15.  There were around 10 members of staff, there was a constant turnover of both staff and pupils.  Half the staff were nurses in uniform and many pupils were brought by hospital transport.

My first day: 

There was a large main room with tables, chairs and a couple of table tennis tables.  While some children were actually playing table tennis, there was a skinny girl around my age sitting in silence under the table tennis tables, my reaction towards her was empathy, I knew how she felt.  A year later when I was leaving, she was still sitting in silence under those tables.

The staff had an open discussion which 'class' I should be in.  Should I be with the small boys or the big lads?  It was decided that I was a big lad.  A small boy approached me and asked me how old I was. I said 9, he got upset because he was 10 and he was still with the small boys.  He ran off crying and never spoke to me again, although we were in the same room almost every day for a year.

I was given special responsibility for looking after tomato plants which were growing in growbags on tables on one side of the room.

Three of the boys were around 15 years old and I spent much of the time with them.

Typical days:

Mornings were in the school building, in the afternoons we were split into small groups or individually assigned to members of staff and we went out into the outside world.

Once or twice a week we did basket weaving.  I now know that this is traditional occupational therapy for mental hospital patients.

Once a week we went swimming to a proper sports centre.

Most days are a forgettable blur.

When I arrived there I was deaf in one ear and I didn't engage with people because I couldn't hear what was being said.  When I explained this, the head teacher, who was a psychiatrist, took me to the main hospital to have my ears examined.  My ears were syringed with water and metal tweezers removed a small piece of newspaper covered in ear wax from my ear canal.

We had some longer days out.  The ones I remember most are trips to Robin hoods Bay on the Yorkshire coast, Fountains Abbey, Knaresborough.

The three older 15/16 year olds eventually left.  A couple of weeks later, two of them came one morning.  The head of the school told them to leave, explaining to them that now that they are older they can't come here any more, they have to go somewhere else.  They left with tears in their eyes.

Now: the big problem.

Academic curriculum of this school was ZERO!

Check the schools out ,i have seen good and bad special schools .Check ofsted reports .

Thank you so much this is very helpful. Do special schools teach an academic curriculum? Also, if I was to send my child to a mainstream can I ask for a speech therapist to attend on the EHC plan, for example say and hour weekly?

You see my child is beginning to speak but still with significant speech delay so its just hard to know.  He has the capability of learning but just doesn't always sit

Do you have any suggestions to getting a child to sit without getting up when distracted with something else 

I'm so sorry to hear your story. Yes society as a whole was ridiculous in allowing and promoting abuse mentally and physically as well as institutionalizing people.

I'd say in my opinion it has changed some. For example, physical violence is not allowed. But in terms of mental abuse some teachers still think that it's acceptable to sit shouting at a child.

Yes this is the main reason I asked the question as I have been informed that special needs schools don't teach an academic curriculum. I have been told that they only teach a developmental curriculum and skills for the outside world such as being able to socialise with people. In terms of that I wouldn't be influenced in sending my child to a special needs school when there is no learning difficulty. 

Thank you so much for this. Yes I understand better now. 

Hi

I am a teacher in a special school. Yes we have therapists such as OTs and SALTs based in the building - this is super handy for teachers because I can pop and get some advice over a coffee  rather than wait for an email response! But it doesn't mean any child gets any more SALT therapy than their EHC plan states they are entitled to. My advice is firm up what is on the EHC plan and make sure you apply for more hours if that is what you feel is necessary. The usual model in my school (depending on a child's quantification) is that the SALT visits class once a half term per pupil - they assess and work with the child and then set targets and gives clear instructions to the class team to work on those until the next review. It is not the 1:1 therapy model many parents think it is. 

I would say that each special school is very different. The bonuses are small class sizes, more personalised teaching and teachers who are not constrained and can really focus on the child. The downsides may well be lack of children to socialise with - lots of children dont want this, but if they do it can be tricky if he other kids in class are mainly self contained kids. 

I would always look at happiness - wherever your child is happy is the right setting for them. Maybe visit some special schools and see what you think? Traditionally I have had a lot of children start in Y2 when MS schools start getting very target focused. I have recently had a Y5 child join me and it amazes me to see how quickly he's settled in and how happy he is  - sometimes when the setting is right the child starts to make very quick progress! 

If you have any other questions I'm happy to help where i can

There are pros and cons to both.

I would say it depends on the actual school and how truthful they are about delivering what they promise.

I went through two special schools in the 1970s, so my first hand information is very old and I assume practices have changed a lot since then and schools are now being inspected.

  When I started school, my problems were many, I was nonverbal, although I could talk.  I had severe communication  and behavioural problems.  My biggest problem was I didn't understand any spoken English because my parents were Polish wartime refugees who never learnt English themselves and relied on the family to translate for them.

My first mainstream school was a disaster, I couldn't cope with the violence, being punished by the teachers every day, although they must have known that I didn't understand the language (English).  I often spent a week in school, two weeks off.  

I think I was around 8 when I was sent to my first special school, which specialised in non- English speaking children.  Unfortunately non of the teachers spoke Polish, so I still didn't understand what was being said.  The only good point about this special school was no violence. The school taught me nothing and they didn't have a clue what to do with me!  After a month or so I was transferred back to a different mainstream school.  I eventually learnt English by just picking it up from other children around me.

After more disasters in mainstream schools, I was sent to a second special school when I was 9.  This was a school in name only.  It had many good points and I enjoyed my time there.  The biggest negative was that it's academic curriculum was ZERO.  So beware.  While there I became skilled at basket weaving.  But no 3Rs.  I only spent a year there.  I dread to think how children coped with the outside world when they left,  after spending years and years,  institutilused in that place.

The moral is,  check carefully where you send your children.

I were transferred to a special school but it was open Monday to Friday, the main difference between mainstream school and special schools is the special schools are designed in ways that are more suitable for people with special needs.

Like concerning school schedules they don't move at the same pace as mainstream school, they will teach everything at a pace the people with special needs is capable of instead of giving them too much.

The environment will be designed in a way that makes things more suitable, like oversensitivity is triggered by overstimulation, the school will have fewer stimulants in the environment to reduce sensory issues.

It's just special schools work in a way more suitable for people with special needs.