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Special Needs at Bexley Grammar

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2016 10:25 am
by shabbymummy
My son will be starting at Bexley Grammar in September.

Does anyone have experience of the SEN arrangements at BGS, and what the transition arrangements are?

DS is on the autism spectrum. He has no learning difficulties, and he's very well-behaved in class, works hard, pays attention etc etc. Socially he's ok too, and there are quite a few children he knows moving up with him and he knows others there already etc. He's thrilled to be going to this school and is genuinely looking forward to being challenged academically etc.

So far, so good.

However, his main difficulties are speaking to adults. To the untrained eye, he probably just seems a bit quiet and shy, at worst probably a bit surly, but he's actually almost pathologically unable to speak to teachers. He's been massively overlooked at primary school (because he's bright, well-behaved, doesn't rock the boat) to the point where I've just given up trying to get him extra support. Even the visiting ASD teaching support people haven't bothered much with him - I don't think anyone thinks he's autistic enough for help!

Basically, I need his new school and teachers to be aware of his communication difficulties. I'm anxious that he's going to find the organisational side of school difficult: remembering the right books, writing in his homework planner, handing homework in, checking noticeboards and - lo! - actually ASKING a teacher if he doesn't understand something.

I've held off contacting the school myself yet, as I've been hoping his current school SENco will get her act together with transition arrangements, but I'm not banking on it.

I've tried to seek out other BGS SEN parents via local SEN Facebook groups etc, but haven't found anyone. Would LOVE to hear from anyone on this forum who can offer some thoughts / advice.

Thanks in advance.

Re: Special Needs at Bexley Grammar

Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 12:24 pm
by salsa
Hi,
I have two friends whose boys go to Bexley grammar and they are both very pleased with the way they run their SEN department. One has an autistic child and the other a very dyslexic one.
Apparently the SENCO is very approachable. I would set up a meeting to discuss your child's needs beforehand. Good luck.

Re: Special Needs at Bexley Grammar

Posted: Tue May 03, 2016 2:56 pm
by shabbymummy
Thank you Salsa. I will take the plunge and pick up the phone!

Re: Special Needs at Bexley Grammar

Posted: Tue May 03, 2016 3:40 pm
by salsa
You are welcome. There is one thing my friend was saying that was very nice. (mother of the dyslexic child) They meet and exchange tips on what works for the children. It is very nice to see solutions that come from the children themselves.

I also hear that the SENCOs at grammar schools tend to have more time to deal with SEN children as they do not have as many children as those in comprehensives.