Applying For Schools For Children With SEN
Do my child's SEN make any difference to the process of applying for a place at a mainstream school?
Only if they have a statement. Otherwise, it's exactly the same as it is for everybody else. What I would say is if it's a selective mainstream school - and there are a number of grammar schools available - that if your child is taking an entrance exam, make sure of any concessions that apply and tell the school in good time, so that they can have those concessions for the entrance exam, too.
How do I apply for a place at a special school?
Normally, it varies school on school but a typical thing to do is first of all, to obviously find out about the schools, use sites such as the Good Schools Guide, and the authority websites to actually get the basic information and maybe send for a perspective. Not all special schools send perspectives out. They often want to chat with you and find out a little bit more about your child first. So that could be the very first part of call. And that may be quite useful for you because what you may find is that while that school may not be the right one, they can actually sign post you to other schools that will be right for that child. Generally, they'll invite you for a visit and that will be without the child. You'll take a look at the school and it's back to looking at children in classroom, the end result and thinking, 'Is this a fit for my child?' If you still think it's a fit, they will ordinarily invite the child in. Depending on the nature of the special need, they may do a very detailed assessment which can take anywhere from half a day to half a term. So be prepared for that. And again, it depends on the severity of the special needs and the type of placement. Once the school agrees to take the child, then you must get that school named on your statement and the authority must agree to placing there so even if the school says "yes, he can have a place", there's no guarantee that the funding will follow.
Who makes the final decision about which type of school my child should go to?
The final decision obviously depends. If your child has a statement, it's really down to the local authority to what's named on the statement, which obviously you can appeal against. Otherwise it's down to you if it's the school that you choose - if you're choosing an independent school and they agree to your child going there and you're happy to shell out the fees, then that's great and that's where the child will go. With mainstream schools you can express a preference for a school. It doesn't mean that you're going to get your child into that school, regardless of whether they have special needs or not - it just depends on the whole admissions criteria and how well you fulfill that admissions criteria, and therefore how far up on the list you are.
