Mainstream or Specialist schools.

My Son in year 2 recently moved from a mainstream to a specialist school. I am already seeing a positive difference he is happier, more settled and making more progress now. What type of schools do your children attend and which do you feel is best for them? It was suggested we put him in a specialist school from nursery but we wanted to give him time in mainstream with support first, he was happy and made progress but not once his 1:1, TA left in year 1 and was never replaced. . 

Parents
  • My son is nearly 11 and in state mainstream currently. He will transition to secondary in September. The Dr who did his EP suggested he would be better in mainstream as he is bright and specialist schools don’t always provide the same breadth of curriculum. We thought a small local independent school would be best for him but all Jose we applied to turned him down :-( So we are left waiting to see what state mainstream school he gets a place at when the places are announced on 1 March. He is saying he doesn’t want to go to one of the big schools - but to be honest he hasn’t visited any of them! We have just applied for an EHC needs assessment but the earliest we’d have one would be September and our LEA is notorious for rejecting them initially and is also many months behind statutory deadlines for assessing so could be years. 

    Neither my husband nor I are in a position to home school, so it doesn’t leave us many options. I do worry when I read these comments about how badly children have fared at school, but I will be one of those parents who is down in the SENCO’s office ensuring he is getting everything I believe he needs. I have a long list of “reasonable adjustments” and if I believe my son needs them I won’t stop til he gets them!

Reply
  • My son is nearly 11 and in state mainstream currently. He will transition to secondary in September. The Dr who did his EP suggested he would be better in mainstream as he is bright and specialist schools don’t always provide the same breadth of curriculum. We thought a small local independent school would be best for him but all Jose we applied to turned him down :-( So we are left waiting to see what state mainstream school he gets a place at when the places are announced on 1 March. He is saying he doesn’t want to go to one of the big schools - but to be honest he hasn’t visited any of them! We have just applied for an EHC needs assessment but the earliest we’d have one would be September and our LEA is notorious for rejecting them initially and is also many months behind statutory deadlines for assessing so could be years. 

    Neither my husband nor I are in a position to home school, so it doesn’t leave us many options. I do worry when I read these comments about how badly children have fared at school, but I will be one of those parents who is down in the SENCO’s office ensuring he is getting everything I believe he needs. I have a long list of “reasonable adjustments” and if I believe my son needs them I won’t stop til he gets them!

Children
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