Have you transferred your Special needs child from Main stream to Special school, how did it work out? Thanks.

Question

My daughter has a statement.

Answer 1

hi i have a child with special needs and who has had full time support for years -i wasnt given the choice and had to send him to mainstream as hes exceptionally bright. if given the choice i would have sent him to a special needs school in an instant. even though hes never been a minutes trouble for anyone at school and is on the gifted n talented cohort for all his main subjects and is now 13 i still wish id been given the choice-you know your child best so u need to work out whats best for him or her x

Answer 2

Is you child Statemented or undergoing Statutory Assessment of her Special Educational Needs?

Edit: I'm sorry, I misread the question & thought initially you were asking for advice on transferring a child from mainstream to special & I was going to go into a big long spiel about that.  

I work for a Local Authority & for most parents it is a difficult decision to make, especially where the child is borderline - may be coping well in primary mainstream but may be unable to cope emotionally & mentally at secondary mainstream.  For the most part children who do move to special seem to benefit from it, the occasional child finds it difficult.  

If you're having doubts, speak to the SENCO at your child's current school and/or make an appointment with the special school, have a tour of the school, speak to the Headteacher or some professional you really trust (Educational Psychologist, Speech & Language Therapist, Special Needs Officer, etc).  

You could also speak to the Parent Partnership in your area, they may be able to put in contact with other parents who have been in the same position

http://www.parentpartnership.org.uk/

If your child goes to a special school & it doesn't seem to be working out, it's not an irreversible decision, if needs be an alternative provision can be worked out.

Answer 3

my daughter is starting at a special school in september she is 11 and is transferring to secondary school  she has been in mainstream education all her life  i think we have made the correct decision  she is very excited and happy to be going there  the mainstream secondary would have been too big noisy and overwhelming for her to cope with  she is a happy confident young lady and we wanted her to stay that way

Answer 4

Hiya.

My daughter transferred from a mainstream primary to a special needs secondary school when she was 11 yrs old.

I am convinced it was the right move for her, she had coped well with mainstream primary (with a lot of support) but as she became older it was evident to me that she would be unable to cope in a mainstream secondary setting, both academically and emotionally.

She did well at her secondary school and now attends a local college, she is in the special needs section but the college is mainstream.

It's a difficult decision for a parent/carer to make and I do think a lot depends on the actual special needs of the child, whether they have  a fairly straightforward learning disabilty or whether they have more complex needs such as a physical/emotional/behavioural disbility as well.

Not sure if you asked the question because of personal circumstances but if so, I hope everything works out for you.