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Advice needed re West Kent Senior Indies please

Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 11:29 pm
by tigger2
Hello !

We would very much appreciate any views/experience of indies for our dd. Ideally in the West Kent area, we are looking for a senior school that has great sen support as dd has dyslexia and dyscalculia. Very bright and very sporty we know that Bethany is an obvious option but wonder if one of the more local schools in the Sevenoaks/Tunbridge Wells area might also be a possibility.

Many thanks in advance
Tigger

Re: Advice needed re West Kent Senior Indies please

Posted: Sun May 27, 2012 10:14 am
by SSM
I know a mother that has a dyslexic daughter at Coombe Bank and they are very pleased with it.

Re: Advice needed re West Kent Senior Indies please

Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 1:04 pm
by mystery
Wherever you go, watch out for extra charges for extra help.

I don't know the answer. I'm not a great believer in "dyslexia" and "dyscalculia" though; I think most children respond to great teaching which will work for them if they have maths and / or literacy difficulties. How "bad" is it that you don't think some really appropriate and intensive daily intervention work won't get your child up to average for her chronological age within 6 months or so?

Then you'd have a wider pick of schools if you are going to splash out on fees. How do the "dyslexic" girls at Combe Bank school do in their GCSE and A levels?

Re: Advice needed re West Kent Senior Indies please

Posted: Tue May 29, 2012 1:08 pm
by sp
The son of friends went to Sackville at Hildenborough, he has quite severe dyslexia. He did well enough in his GCSEs to go to Weald of Kent Grammar for sixth form. No personal experience than that but may be worth a look. They have school minibuses as well!!

Re: Advice needed re West Kent Senior Indies please

Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2012 12:47 am
by mystery
You say she's very bright. Don't you think she'll pass the Kent 11plus? Why not?

Re: Advice needed re West Kent Senior Indies please

Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 3:40 pm
by RubyChewsday
St Bedes School in Hailsham has a minibus service from Kent & quote a few Kentish pupils. Excellent SEN support & exceptionally sporty school. Just another option you may want to consider.

Re: Advice needed re West Kent Senior Indies please

Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 4:09 pm
by tigger2
Thank you for that RubyChewsday (great name by the way!)....I had not heard of Hailsham but will look into it. A friend suggested looking at Lingfield Notre Dame...not exactly W Kent I know but I will look at both of them !

Thanks again !
Tigger

Re: Advice needed re West Kent Senior Indies please

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 1:25 pm
by mystery
Know someone who is happy with a bright "dyslexic" boy at Sackville in Tonbridge. It takes girls now I think - I get the impression taht their academic standards are getting higher.

I don't know what the "dyslexia provision" is at Combe Bank, but certainly it does seem to have a very wide range of abilities at the school and each girl seems to enjoy school and get the most of out of it. I know some people who came out of there recently with extremely high GCSE and A level grades by any school's standards.

However, watch out for extra fees for extra help at all these schools, and I'm not sure what the help actually consists of.

I'm afraid I'm a sceptic still about "dyslexia" and "dyscalculia". I think there's an awful lot that you can do with direction instruction, precision teaching etc, but unfortunately there isn't usually enough time in a school day to do it, and there isn't the small group / individual teaching available. It would cost a fortune privately though, and it's not always clear what the expertise is that you are paying for.

Are you working full-time? If not, can you do something yourself at home - before school, after school, or by getting a slightly shorter school day in agreement with the school?

What are your daughter's weaknesses ...... dyslexia and dyscalculia are such badly defined terms they can mean many different things to many different people.

I think a lot of people think that a "dyslexic" will never spell well, read well, or do numbers well ........ I'm not convinced.

Good luck!

Re: Advice needed re West Kent Senior Indies please

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 2:26 pm
by Just1-2go
RubyChewsday wrote:St Bedes School in Hailsham has a minibus service from Kent & quote a few Kentish pupils. Excellent SEN support & exceptionally sporty school. Just another option you may want to consider.
Agree fully with this, have friends with children at St Bedes and haven't heard a bad word, some in particular have a very sporty child who struggles with literacy and they have been really pleased with St Bedes on both counts. Other friends with children at Bethany have not been so happy in fact they moved their younger child as they felt that discipline was an issue, have also heard from others that the sports is not so good.

Re: Advice needed re West Kent Senior Indies please

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 2:33 pm
by mystery
You could maybe ask Moon Hall school in Dorking what they might recommend - they are a CrestEd prep school specialising in "dyslexic" pupils and they send children on to various secondary schools, including ones which do not specialise in dyslexic pupils (always a good sign). It's one of the few CrestEd prep schools that has a clear method for helping dyslexic pupils to read and spell well etc. They use Phonographix and the headteacher is also a Phonographix trainer.

If t hey go up to 13, maybe two years there and then off to Cranbrook grammar at 13?

I think they might be very interesting to chat to if nothing else. Think the head will be very linked in to the "dyslexia" community and know what she is talking about.