Advice needed re West Kent Senior Indies please

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tigger2
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Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:35 am

Advice needed re West Kent Senior Indies please

Post 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
SSM
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Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2009 12:09 pm

Re: Advice needed re West Kent Senior Indies please

Post by SSM »

I know a mother that has a dyslexic daughter at Coombe Bank and they are very pleased with it.
mystery
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Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Advice needed re West Kent Senior Indies please

Post 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?
sp
Posts: 379
Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2006 7:09 pm
Location: groombridge, e.sussex

Re: Advice needed re West Kent Senior Indies please

Post 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!!
mystery
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Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Advice needed re West Kent Senior Indies please

Post by mystery »

You say she's very bright. Don't you think she'll pass the Kent 11plus? Why not?
RubyChewsday
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Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2012 1:59 am

Re: Advice needed re West Kent Senior Indies please

Post 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.
tigger2
Posts: 755
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:35 am

Re: Advice needed re West Kent Senior Indies please

Post 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
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Advice needed re West Kent Senior Indies please

Post 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!
Just1-2go
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Joined: Wed Apr 01, 2009 4:43 pm
Location: Twells

Re: Advice needed re West Kent Senior Indies please

Post 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.
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Advice needed re West Kent Senior Indies please

Post 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.
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