DAO new starter with Dyslexia

[cherrypie999]

Hi All I have been quietly lurking on this site for a while now and I guess I just wanted honest facts about what my DD could expect when she starts DAO in September having been diagnosed in Y6 with dyslexia. DD is a very committed, hard working child who has an excellent memory and maths skills but poor spellings and some issues with writing and comprehension. She is high functioning and therefore the delayed diagnosis was due to DD's determination to do well so it went undiagnosed although we knew something was not quite right.
I read somewhere that DD might be put in a class with other DC with special needs or those that need greater support and that worries me as I would not want her pigeon holed or held back.
Does anyone on this site have a similar experience, positive or negative? Do dyslexic children receive interventions and support.
On the open day, before DD was diagnosed, I remember the Head saying that SEN was limited at the school and parents of DC who require support should look elsewhere.
I appreciate any feedback. Thank you.

[ToadMum]

I remember the Head saying that SEN was limited at the school and parents of DC who require support should look elsewhere. 

I have no personal experience of DAO, so cannot help here, I'm afraid, but weirdly, I was recently at a talk given by an Essex HT of certain television fame, where he cited this kind of thing as an example of the tactics that some schools use to try to put off the parents of DC whom they perceive to be a threat to their league table standing .

I hope that someone with knowledge of the school will be able to assure you that your DD will receive support appropriate to her needs and ability.

[mitasol]

There are some figures here https://www.compare-school-performance. ... population" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; but I’ll leave it to someone with experience to comment further.

[loobylou]

My experience is purely from my own children telling me what happens at the school - I have two children there in different year groups, neither of whom have specific learning needs.
At DAO the children are in a form, in a teaching group (for the vast majority of lessons) and in a tech group (for art, product design etc). This is to encourage them to get to know as many people as possible. The teaching groups (assuming nothing has changed in the last couple of years) are deliberately "mixed ability" based on the CATs tests done in July before the children start the school (mixed ability in inverted commas purely because there probably isn't a huge range of ability at DAO).
In year 8 students are set for maths and languages, based on performance in year 7 tests. They then continue to be set but can move around those sets based on tests etc as they go through the school. There is no setting in English.
Both my children report that there is a handful (less than 10) of children in each of their years who are taken out for specific English lessons. My understanding - based purely on their reports - is that these are children who are really struggling (not just poor spelling etc) and who are then in a tiny group to try and bring their English up to a possible pass at GCSE. (The bottom set for maths is also very few children, maybe less than 10; my children are under the impression that these are both similar groups of children).
There is definitely SEN support at the school; a number of children have SEN support.
My own impression is that a lot of parents with children with SEN want their child to attend DAO, partly because of the nurturing feel and partly because they think that their child will do better simply by being surrounded by clever motivated children.
I would not imagine that your child - unless the school truly felt that she would do better in a particular small class and it sounds unlikely that would be the case for your daughter - would be in a specific class for any subject. I am good friends with a parent who has a child with quite severe dyslexia at DAO - they are a sibling and wouldn't have got an academic place; they sound much more significantly affected than your dd - they nearly always win the effort prize for their teaching group, they are thriving (though they are unlikely to get stellar exam results) and they are very happy.
If I had a child with specific learning needs, I would be quite happy for them to attend DAO.

[loobylou]

And feel free to PM me if you want to!

[Daogroupie]

There is no such thing as a special class for those with additional needs at DAO.

All the classes in Y7 are mixed ability.

All incoming Y7s take the CATS tests in June and the results are used to create the classes containing a broadly equal mix of siblings, distance places, academic places, staff places and music places.

Your dd will get help in the class if she needs it or help outside the classroom if she prefers

All the parents I know of who have had students with additional needs have met with the Head of SEN before the start of Y7.

I suggest you phone up and explain that you have a September Y7 starter and make an appointment to meet with the Head of SEN.

That will give the department the chance to go through with you exactly what is on offer. DG

[exam2019]

I don’t know DAO but you should make an appointment to see the SENCO and take copies of our DD’s work and diagnosis reports. You should ask for her to be put on “SEN Support”. In practice this just means she’s on their radar but unless this is an exceptional school it probably means very little! You can ask what interventions she might get but in our (bitter) experience you’ll have to press hard to get her any help. Usually it’s easier if you assume that you’ll arrange your own help and anything school does s a bonus. It’s good you got this identified now as it will protect her self esteem. There’s some great stuff and positive role modelling on Made by Dyslexia’s website. Best of luck

[loobylou]

It's interesting how many rumours abound about DAO. Before dd started I had heard that all Islington children were in a separate class, that all the "local" children were in a separate class, that there was a separate class for the "least" academic....
None of them were true obviously.

[ToadMum]

It's interesting how many rumours abound about DAO. Before dd started I had heard that all Islington children were in a separate class, that all the "local" children were in a separate class, that there was a separate class for the "least" academic....
None of them were true obviously.

Thing is, thpugh, unless you want to accuse cherrypie999 of making it up, the HT did try to put off parents of DC with 'needs'. The school will be funded for thise students on the same basis as other secondary schools, so the question might be, why do the schools DAO would prefer those students to go to manage their funding so much better?

[loobylou]

It's interesting how many rumours abound about DAO. Before dd started I had heard that all Islington children were in a separate class, that all the "local" children were in a separate class, that there was a separate class for the "least" academic....
None of them were true obviously.

Thing is, thpugh, unless you want to accuse cherrypie999 of making it up, the HT did try to put off parents of DC with 'needs'. The school will be funded for thise students on the same basis as other secondary schools, so the question might be, why do the schools DAO would prefer those students to go to manage their funding so much better?

I'm not accusing anyone of making anything up. But cherrypie had heard rumours that her child might be in a separate class which was what I was addressing.
I can't comment on the head's statement. I don't know why she would have said that, assuming it's not been heard out of context. My impression of her is that she's very inclusive but I wasn't at the speech...