Page 68 - SEN114 September/October 2021

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Choosing the right school for your child
For most people, the first question will be whether their child’s needs can be met in their local school. After all, to meet the needs of nearly all pupils in their own community schools has been Government policy for many years. Although policies in other areas come and go, this assumption seems set to form the backdrop of placement issues for years to come.
And that may be what you want too. There is a process to go through to decide if that local school can be a happy and successful place for your child. Remember to involve your child and hear their views, depending of course on their age and the type of special need. Many children have a very good sense of a setting being right for them.
You need a clear understanding of what your child needs. An independent assessment may be a useful addition to work undertaken by the school or Local Authority.
You need to form a view about what needs to be in place for your child to succeed. Again, that independent report needs to make recommendations as well as describe your child’s needs. Your son or daughter will only have one go at their education so don’t compromise on things which are essential. It is not your problem as a parent that something might be expensive or difficult to secure. If your child needs it, it must be provided. In my own area of deafness, this might be weekly speech and language therapy delivered by a specialist, good acoustics and small classes. For many deaf children to learn effectively, these are NOT negotiable.
How are your child’s needs to be protected? For children with significant needs, this has to be through a process which leads to the issuing of an Education and Health Care Plan. Again, do not allow yourselves as parents to be considered ‘part of the problem’. It is not your fault that the number of EHCP requests is growing. Also, again speaking from the area I know best, I am increasingly seeing parents being told that their child does not meet the criteria for an EHCP ‘because s/he has cochlear implants and can hear well when wearing them’. That is like saying that a child does not have mobility issues because they have a wheelchair. I would argue that the EHCP is crucial for these young people as it is in this document that your child’s needs are recorded alongside the provision required to meet those needs.
I dropped the word ‘happy’ into the second paragraph. The child with special needs has every right to love school as much as their peers. It should not be a question of coping, but of thriving. In choosing a school for your child, you should be looking for a track record of genuine and full inclusion. Take a good look at sport, performing arts, the academic offer, attitudes of staff. Is SEN a priority for the school, or at worst, an inconvenience? In
the case of a deaf child, for example, would the school consider reorganising the classroom to support lip-reading?
Can you meet parents of pupils with similar needs? There are privacy and confidentiality issues, but these can be overcome if everybody is willing.
Most importantly, can you picture your child in the school, and can you picture them happy and thriving academically and socially?
Finally, issues of self-image and need for a meaningful peer group vary significantly across SEN. My experience in deafness is that a genuine peer group of similar children is critical for many. Feeling ‘the same’ can give a significant boost to self- esteem and wellbeing.
There is a spectrum of provision out there, from fully integrated mainstream placements to mainstream schools with an additional specialism, through to special schools run by LAs or Trusts and those in the non-maintained/independent sector. Start early and have a look at different kinds of provision, keeping an open mind as much as you can. Your parental instincts are an extremely important part of this and are seldom wrong. You may have to work hard to secure the placement your child needs, but you will find courage in knowing you are doing the right thing.
Peter Gale is Principal of Mary Hare School for deaf children.
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