Perhaps your child is struggling at school – and you’re tearing your hair out about how you can best support them to achieve as much as they possibly can. Or maybe they’ve already been diagnosed with a specific learning difficulty and you need help untangling a knotty issue. Talk ¿´Æ¬¿ñÈË’s specialist SEND team has all the answers and is here to help: email your SEND-related questions to talk@talkeducation.com and we’ll publish the team’s response here (all questions will, of course, remain anonymous).
What are the green flags to look out for when choosing a school for my child with additional support needs?
Looking for a new school for your child with additional support needs can be a tough journey. Parents often wonder how open they should be with mainstream schools, which – even if they have a specialist setting – often have clear limits to what they can offer, and it’s hard to know how this will really fit with your child. Based upon our work with families and learners, here are a few key green flags to look out for.
First, the most important green flag is that the school truly sees and understands your child. This means recognising the great things your child can do, as well as where they need support. Sometimes schools are quick to see a child’s strengths, without being aware of how much effort lies behind them. They may attribute times when your child can’t replicate these achievements to a lack of effort, when it is actually the result of an unmet need. This is something to look out for in all your interactions with school teams, as you may not always be able to assess it directly.
Another key green flag is how the school interacts with you as a parent. This can be where some placements break down. When there are difficulties, schools can become defensive if parents ask for support to be changed. It’s a good sign when the process of accessing a place is filled with positive interactions. Also, is the school friendly, helpful and understanding when you talk about your child’s learning needs? Do they really listen and provide clear, reassuring answers? Try to imagine how a conversation with the SENCo or pastoral-care lead would go if your child’s needs weren’t being met or different support was needed. How much confidence do you have that they would understand you and work with you?
If possible, we always recommend visiting when the school is full of pupils so you can see what your child’s peer group would be like. Can you picture your child there? How do they respond to the environment? Are there places that feel too noisy or might they have any other sensory reactions to the school?
If your child has significant needs that will require tailored support in class, we recommend asking for a taster day or week, or a series of days. If your child has had a difficult time at a previous school, these visits may need to be spread out as part of a longer-term transition plan, especially if they have been out of school for a while. If you think this is necessary, how does the potential school respond? When a school says it can provide a transition process at the learner’s pace, what range of options has it offered in the past?
Finally, another major green flag is the school’s experience of supporting learners similar to your child. How does it reply when you ask about this? How well do its answers align with your child’s needs? Of course, a school can still respond effectively to needs that are new to it – so what would it suggest in your case?
We have found these green flags to be useful indicators of how helpful a particular placement might be. Within each area, there are two unspoken elements. The first is that the school is open and transparent. Some schools may struggle with this, but in our experience transparency is essential for managing challenges and enabling everyone to work together to find the right solutions. The second element is the instinctive reactions of parents and the learner to the overall setting. We always recommend paying attention to these instincts as they can guide you to important follow-up questions.
Sometimes, no matter how hard we might try, a particular placement simply may not be the right fit for a child. We always encourage parents to pause and reflect, rather than trying to make something work that clearly isn’t, since the cost of a failed placement can be significant. If you’re still unsure, or finding it difficult to find the right place for your child, don’t struggle alone – is always happy to help.