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Secondary Education in England - Mainstream versus Special Schools

road99

Hi everyone. Me and my wife are now very close to deciding upon our secondary school for our son aged 10. My question relates to the English system so if you are in Scotland or Wales, please hold off from commenting as my wife and I would prefer comparable information and opinions relating to England (nothing against Scotland and Wales here).

I have read some of the posts with great interest but I still feel that my wife and I are missing something. We really would like to know of your experiences of having your autistic children in mainstream of special schools.

Our son is statemented and has delayed communication skills and is on the Autistic spectrum. He is currently alloted approx 23 hours per week support at school.

Will our son cope in mainstream with the academic side, the noise, the constant disruption and possible bullying? Would he even be able to cope with an exam atmosphere or even have the ability to take an exam? He can read and spell as good as his peers but he cannot understand Maths concepts or interpret instructions very well. He is a loner who prefers his own company but normally is well behaved in class, even though he may be anxious and moody on many occasions. Do we, on the other hand, go down the special school route where he, in my opinion, will not be challenged academically. As an example, in mainstream he may get the chance to study French and German but I doubt it will be touched in a special school. Regardless of whether he can pass an exam, do we still push to have him experience these new subjects?

Am I being selfish in being negative towards a special school who have already stated to us that they do not push the majority of kids to study GCSE as, in their words, 'their kids will not be able to cope with exam stress' (the special school we may choose is for kids with mild learning difficulties).

We would really like to hear from parents who have had their kids go through the first few years in mainstream and/or special schools and let us know a.s.a.p your very frank opinions on this. How do you feel on the decision you took and how are your kids coping in either of these environments.

Genuinely, my wife and I are not sure what to do but we have pretty much run out of time on this so we need to make an imminent decision.

Thank you.

Parents

  • I'm not commenting as a parent or from a schools background, but I do wonder if there are parallels to what happens in higher education.

    University is much less intrusive on how someone studies and how the complete their tasks to meet the overall assessment. But that does give rise to certain conspicuous problems for students on the spectrum.

    Most obvious is some failure, often not readily predictable, to meet all the conditions required to complete the learning outcomes. Some people on the spectrum (myself included) "blank" (for want of a better word) some aspects that it ought to appear obvious are necessary - don't do a piece of the work set through obliviousness to it. Others ignore a piece of the work set intentionally, perceiving it as unneccessary.

    So they don't complete enough of the work which risks putting them close to the pass margin or below it.

    The other common occurrence is a break down in written communication. Again this isn't predictable. The way they express themselves in assignments falls well below expectations, even though previous work has been good.

    In school environments the work required is more prescriptive, and there may be more check points at which to find out if a pupil is having difficulty in meeting the grades.

    I do wonder if special schools, with some of the prevailing assumptions about what ASC is versus the actual experience of individuals, are really geared up to subtle shortfalls.

    On the other hand mainstream schools, while having check procedures in place for a variety of potentially underperforming pupils, may also not understand what goes wrong sometimes.

    So I must watch the ensuing discussions on this. What causes pupils on the spectrum to underachieve if otherwise seen as capable?

Reply

  • I'm not commenting as a parent or from a schools background, but I do wonder if there are parallels to what happens in higher education.

    University is much less intrusive on how someone studies and how the complete their tasks to meet the overall assessment. But that does give rise to certain conspicuous problems for students on the spectrum.

    Most obvious is some failure, often not readily predictable, to meet all the conditions required to complete the learning outcomes. Some people on the spectrum (myself included) "blank" (for want of a better word) some aspects that it ought to appear obvious are necessary - don't do a piece of the work set through obliviousness to it. Others ignore a piece of the work set intentionally, perceiving it as unneccessary.

    So they don't complete enough of the work which risks putting them close to the pass margin or below it.

    The other common occurrence is a break down in written communication. Again this isn't predictable. The way they express themselves in assignments falls well below expectations, even though previous work has been good.

    In school environments the work required is more prescriptive, and there may be more check points at which to find out if a pupil is having difficulty in meeting the grades.

    I do wonder if special schools, with some of the prevailing assumptions about what ASC is versus the actual experience of individuals, are really geared up to subtle shortfalls.

    On the other hand mainstream schools, while having check procedures in place for a variety of potentially underperforming pupils, may also not understand what goes wrong sometimes.

    So I must watch the ensuing discussions on this. What causes pupils on the spectrum to underachieve if otherwise seen as capable?

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