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Think my 5 year old may be facing mainstream exclusion

NAS63298

Hi all,

After some experience or guidance if possible. We have our annual review coming up for our 5 year old. Currently in mainstream primary school year 1. He is autistic and also has learning difficulties and we have an EHCP in place. Reception year at school, despite a few ups and downs, went fine and he progressed well at his own rate. Year 1 however has been a real struggle for him. Less free play, more regime, different class room, teacher etc. He has a 121 TA who is great but is also struggling. They have struggled to get him to engage in any activities so far, his meltdowns have increased and he is showing aggressive behaviour both in school and at home. We fear it’s highly likely that he may not be able to continue at the school. 

Has anyone else experienced this and could share any guidance or suggestions on what could come next or how to prepare for the review?

Thanks for reading. S.

  • Hi, 

    My son is also 5 and has experienced difficulties within a mainstream school although they were fantastic with him and did everything they could. He completed reception and we got his EHCP plan, we also had it agreed that he could repeat reception as year 1 would be too much for him as it’s more sitting down and working but a placement at a special school can available a few days before he was due to return in September and he is thriving. Has made a friend, speaking more and even started doing makaton. 

  • Hi, 

    sadly this will more than likely get harder, we kept our son in mainstream, despite several suspensions and coming very close to an expulsion. All schools are different but we found that they were not always sensitive to the struggles our son had with change. For example not telling him if there was a new teacher or a new classroom. It may be time to have a look at a school more equipped to child’s needs, and in hindsight if I had my time over again, I would not have fought so hard to keep my son in mainstream 

    good luck 

  • Hello ,

    I'm sorry to hear about some of the challenges you've been going through with your son. 

    You may find the following information useful. 

     The following page contains a lot of helpful information about education for a child with an autism: 

    https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/education 

    This includes information regarding getting extra support for your child in their education setting. 

     You can search for schools that cater for children with an autism spectrum disorder on our Autism Services Directory: 

    https://www.autism.org.uk/directory 

     You may want to contact our Education Rights Service who provides information, support and advice on educational provision and entitlements. Please see the following link for further information: 

    https://www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/help-and-support/education-advice-line 

     If you need support with an appeal against a decision about a child or young person’s educational needs, you might want to contact our Educational Tribunal Support Helpline: 

    https://www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/help-and-support/tribunal-support-line 

    I hope this helps,

    ChloeMod