VERY long - sorry
DS (9) is Dyslexic and quite bright - high IQ (top 5% of population) and great in everything except processing speed, which is very poor indeed (bottom 1% of population). He also has sensory processing disorder. We've had a private assessment from a very highly respected Ed Psych who works with the LA in her area (London), and we are implementing all the recommendations, with the support of DS's private school.
BUT. Because he is in private at primary level we have not had to go down the statementing route to get to where we are. However, there are some Ed Psych recommendations that will be relevant to us....particularly with regard to having extra time to complete exams, and with regard to secondary school choices.
We are in a very divisive school area - there are a couple of really good grammar schools, and the SEN support at two of the state schools we are looking at is very good indeed. However we are concerned about a couple of the other schools in the area because of my son's SPD quirkiness.
So, I have no idea what (if anything) I can do next to ensure we get our son into an apporpriate secondary school....
- Do I have a hope in hell of getting a statement from the LEA? Unlikley I think as he has no needs not being met already at the moment...
- If I don't get a statement, can I still get support for my son for the 11+ process (ie extra time and/or permission to touchtype rather than processing by hand)?
- Is it possible to get a statement that looks forward to secondary school? If so, what timescales are covered? the Kent test is sat at the start of yr6, with school allocation happening quite quickly thereafter, so I presume that I may need something by the end of yr5?.
- The school websites state that statemented SEN children get priority when the school is oversubscribed, but can you get a school to give priority to a child on the basis of just an Ed Psych report, or does a full statement need to be in place? If you can get an allowance made, how do you go about it? Would it be 'normal' to discuss something like this with the secondary schools now?
- If my son passed the 11+ (probably will) but missed the high academic cut-off for the two schools (again quite likely - multiple choice is his nemesis) would an appeal usually take this into account without a statement being in place?
As you can tell, what I really need is 'statementing for dummies'.... any guidance much appreciated.
Apologies by the way if this comes across as entitled and offensive. I'm very aware that I am extremely lucky to have private options open at all, but I don't really have a clue where to start with all of this.