Choosing a school or further education centre for any child can be an anxiety inducing experience for any parent or carer. Finding a suitable school, college, or university for a child or young adult with SEN or disabilities can be even more difficult. With more to consider, this exciting key stage in your child or teenagers' lives can feel like a real challenge. In today’s blog, we’re going to be discussing some factors to help make the process, choice, and transition into education a much smoother process.
Identify your child’s needs
If your child already has an education, health and care plan (EHC), or a SEN support plan, then their previous school should be able to offer you support in finding another school or further education centre. These documents will also include a list of requirements for your child, so you know exactly what you should be looking for. If your child hasn’t yet started school, or isn’t receiving the support they need, you’ll need to get in touch with your local child and family wellbeing service, or health visitor, to be referred for an assessment.
Research multiple schools in your area
Once you’ve identified your child’s needs, you’ll need to spend some time researching schools in and around your local area, and making note of those that can cater to SEN students. Depending on your child’s requirements, you may choose to research a number of mainstream schools, and SEN schools, as depending on SEN support available, they should be able to accommodate. It’s important to consider travel costs if you’re looking further afield, as not all SEN students are eligible for free travel. Taxis and school runs can be costly and time-consuming, so it’s important to consider all avenues.
You can find exam and test results, performance reviews, financial information and Ofsted reports using the gov.uk website. It may also be helpful to join Facebook forums or reach out to other parents and carers with education-aged children or teens and ask them for recommendations.
Arrange visits with your child
Going to visit a school or college is the only way you can really get a feel for the environment. It’s important that you arrange a visit specifically to discuss requirements. It may be helpful to go alone for this. We’d recommend booking out enough time with both the headteacher and the special needs coordinator (SENCO) to go through your requirements.
If possible, arrange to go back for a second visit at a later date with your child, to see how they get on with the staff, layout and facilities. It’s important that you involve them too, so ask them to share what they’re thinking. Schools should be patient and understanding, so if you’re made to feel you can’t ask questions or arrange visits, it’s probably not the right place.
Things you need to consider
Learning looks different to everybody, so considering alternative types of education is key. Not all children or young adults want to be sat in the classroom. Often those with SEN benefit from being outside and spending time with animals, so universities such as Harper Adams and Morton Morrell college are popular choices for those that want to get stuck in.
Questions you should be asking
To ensure that you gain as much information as possible, we recommend writing down a list of must haves and questions for your visit. Take notes and feel free to take somebody with you if you’re worried about getting overwhelmed.
- How many students attend the school/college and how many are in each year group?
- How are students taught, by ability or age?
- What happens during the enrolment period, do you offer a gradual transition and is this flexible?
- How does the school/college propose to meet the needs of your child on a day-to-day basis?
- Are there any staff in the school with specialist experience in my child’s disability or requirements?
- How are the students with SEN supported? Are they supported within the classroom or withdrawn for specialist help?
- How is progress reviewed? Do they involve parents/carers?
- How does the school/college communicate?
- What facilities do they have in place to support students with their learning?
- What additional support is available as a parent/carer?
- Am I able to talk to parents of students already enrolled?
- How does the school/college devise its individual education plans (IEP) for pupils with difficulties?
- Does the school/college seem interested in your child?
- How would they plan for their arrival each morning?
- Can staff liaise with others involved in the care plan?
As parents, we know our children best, so it’s important to trust our instincts. We hope that you’ve found this blog useful and wish you the best of luck in finding a suitable education centre for your child or teen.
