Baby Georges story

[robj20]

That's not right at all. They shouldn't be telling you that. My lads SEN worker at his current school told us to look at special schools that deal with children of all disabilities after we asked her what sort of school to go for, we have 1 year left before he's in Junior school you see. She short listed 3 schools in Derby and suggested the one we looked at before. St Giles with Ofsted rating of 1. It's a special school.

He doesn't require a special school, he's probably just going to get a teaching assistant to accompany him all day.
It definitely shouldn't work that way but it does, for instance tales from a few other families at the same nursery with children with needs in one of the supposedly best schools in the area, they often come home with dirty nappies, obviously having not been changed at all. I'd rather him go to one with higher efforts on looking after the children rather than pushing a syllabus down their throats.

 

[Thekwango]

they often come home with dirty nappies, obviously having not been changed at all.

not to act the keyboard warrior but if that were my child it would have happened once and once ******* only. not twice and certainly not often. i would also hazard a guess that a school with such disregard for a childs welfare will not be high up any academic tables.

as posted above though by dl8860 - you need to trust your own gut a bit, imo. get a feel for the place, it's facilities. see how responsive and chatty the staff are. good teachers will be happy and able to answer any questions, or indeed worries you may have. league tables don't always tell the full story.

 

[Droolinggimp]

He doesn't require a special school, he's probably just going to get a teaching assistant to accompany him all day.
It definitely shouldn't work that way but it does, for instance tales from a few other families at the same nursery with children with needs in one of the supposedly best schools in the area, they often come home with dirty nappies, obviously having not been changed at all. I'd rather him go to one with higher efforts on looking after the children rather than pushing a syllabus down their throats.

Ok I think I misread you post I replied to. Sorry. We should be getting EHCP for our lad, which I assume you are applying for when you mentioned teaching assistant.

 

[robj20]

Almost a year since I last updated this thread, had no idea it was so long ago.

So George is off to primary school this year, we got first pick of school and after looking at lots including the nearest special needs place we decided on the nearest school it's always undersubscribed so I think there is only 23 in each class.
The play area outside is amazing right next to a couple of farms and it's 90% grass so safe for George to play on.
Most other schools were just tarmac no grass in sight.
They offer loads that we didn't see in other schools they grow their own veg and some fruit with help from the nearby farms.
Even now the school had started altering procedures and things around the school to make it easier for George bit not just so George is the odd one out, they're changing policies school wide. Like the simple thing of which way the walk up a set of stairs because the handrail is on the right so they're going the other way so it's on your left.

We felt the special needs school just wouldn't push him enough with social skills and it really just depressed us.
George is also getting the full money package and a full time senco to be with him full time as he still needs a lot of help but little things like going to the toilet and cutting his food up.
They're also making sure the same couple of dinner ladies are on when George eats so they can help him as well. They really have been great so far. We're going on for a meeting with them soon as well to go over anything.

He's walking much better now though his right leg is noticeably shorter now so he's on the list for some shoes and may need his leg stretching at a later date with a cage.

His eyes wander so they're looking at that as well, they think it's only cosmetic.

He's started hydrotherapy this week as well for 6 weeks to see if that improves anything.

He's still tiny for his age and height we just can't get the calories in him. His one year old sister is almost as big as him now.

The wife has made the decision to leave work and become his full time carer, she was made redundant and we just couldn't see anywhere keeping her on with the constant appointments George has. With his appointments the primary school just said to let them know and there will be no problems with appointments during school time, he had at least two a week often for hours each time.

That's it for now, when I'm next in the PC I'll see about adding some current photos.

 

[Dup]

That school sounds amazing, hopefully they follow through with everything but the proactive start is very promising. I worry what schools my son (no additional needs) will have access to. We're not exactly settled in an area at the moment and he's going to shcool next September. This housing market has really stitched us up.

Brave moves from your wife for you all. What did she do? She might be able to find some casual flexible hourly work as a teaching assistant or school admin if she finds herself bored, or will she be looking after your youngest to save nursery fees?

More importantly though, is George happy? Is he excited for school?

 

[robj20]

That school sounds amazing, hopefully they follow through with everything but the proactive start is very promising. I worry what schools my son (no additional needs) will have access to. We're not exactly settled in an area at the moment and he's going to shcool next September. This housing market has really stitched us up.

Brave moves from your wife for you all. What did she do? She might be able to find some casual flexible hourly work as a teaching assistant or school admin if she finds herself bored, or will she be looking after your youngest to save nursery fees?

More importantly though, is George happy? Is he excited for school?

Exactly that by the time we would have paid for nursery for the youngest and all George's needs we would be worse off.
She may find something once Emily is in school. No idea of her skills will be relevent then. But among with carers, George gets DLA, then she has yet to apply for universal credit which is annoying me no end. Makes no sense to me that were basically not allowed to save up while on UC I like to have an amount for rainy day but I've had to get rid of it.

She's an Analytical Chemist, lab work basically with chemicals and plastics mostly.
She may still take get employer to court as they made "her" redundant not the job which I'm certain they can't do, the two remaining people she worked with have taken on her work. Seems like they didn't like her having 12 months off with the second child or George's appointments which she took unpaid.

 

[Vidar]

@robj20 Hello mate, it sounds like a very mixed bag but with more positives than negatives. That's good to hear, still can't even begin to imagine your daily struggles but you and your missus sound like you're absolutely nailing it. Both your kids are lucky to have you guys as parents.

 

[LizardKing]

Sorry if this was already covered, did you check out many special needs schools? hopefully for your little man, an ehcp will be enough but my experience with mainstream schools was less than impressive when it came to putting into action the actual needs of my own children, they talked the talk but failed miserably when it came to action. i once held the opinion a special needs school had a ceiling but since getting my little boy into one it became very clear they were very much tailored to getting the best out of him without the pressure of a mainstream, its been the best decision we took for him for sure, my daughter on the other hand is fortunate enough to have a secondary school that does make a decent effort however her primary schools were shockingly poor even though they held great ofsted reports. Swings and roundabouts but specials needs schools are not the be all end all, they can move onto mainstream if the progress is there

 

[robj20]

@LizardKing we checked out the only special needs school there is around here, there is one primary and one high school both miles away though he would get transport.
I don't know if they are the same as what you have used but basically we went into the class he would be going in and half the students couldn't even speak in any meaningful way, the other half were immobile. The school for them looked brilliant but like I said we felt George would miss out on the social stuff. They'd be great for the physical stuff.

We visited about 10 primary schools in total only this one stood out as suitable. Pupils genuinely walked down corridors, all polite and greeted the head teacher as we walked around, the head teacher knew all their names.
The first thing that did stick out as well is that it has been the head teacher that has shown us around, talked to us, and also the deputy who is also one of the senco.
The others it was always a secretary.
It's just a small primary as well George will be able to walk around, the others some were huge and we felt George would get lost in a sea of children.
One place wouldn't even let us visit and simply told us we'd missed the open day.

Where he's going they even invited the nursery head teacher to visit and they're planning on going to his nursery for a few days to interact with George as well. He's already been given a uniform as well so he can get used to it, but they said they're not very strict with it anyway so send him in what is comfortable.

 

[LizardKing]

ah shame theirs the only the one choice, we are quite fortunate that the special needs school in our area is very good, they have a few year groups where they separate each year (i should say range as they can stay in the same class for multiple years) into particular needs, ie life skills vs academic results depending on the ability.

but it does sound like your on to a winner with that school. as a parent of a child with special needs (he's 9 & completely non verbal, no toilet awareness etc) feel free to pm me, theres not much ive not had to deal with

 

[bainbridge]

Thanks for sharing the experience of you and your family, he's one tough cookie and so are his parents. All the best moving forward.