Fairley House School - Pimlico

[isgrassgreener]

Does anyone go to, or know anyone who goes to Fairley House School in Pimlico. We are thinking about it and would like to hear more about it.
Thanks

[BagLady75]

I know a family who considered sending their 9 yr old dyslexic son there. They visited the school and formed the impression that it was great for younger children, but that the older children tended to have significant behavioural difficulties on top of their SEN. They felt this would be a negative influence on their son and decided against the school. Sorry this is just hearsay but thought I would pass it on anyway.

[isgrassgreener]

Thank you baglady75, I did read the ostead report from 2001 which mentioned some behavioural issues in the upper school.
I must say I didn't witness anything of the type when we looked around and as the children move on after a few years it may be something that is dependant on the make up of the actual children in each year, so it could change quite quickly.
We would have to be really sure that it wasn't an issue though, especially as the fees are so high.

[MatureMum]

My son went to Fairley House School and it was the best thing we ever did. He learned, at last, to read and write and became much more confident and less frustrated. He made lovely friends at the school and I never saw any behavioural problems in his two years there. The Ofsted report is years out of date. For an updated report try googling ISI and CRESTED.

[lazymumofteenagesons]

My son, who is dyslexic and dyspraxic, went to Fairley House for 3 years (year 3-5). He was very happy there and did very well. Now in year 8 in a mainstream independent school which is sympathetic to any difficulties he has. However, he is doing well and requires no extra lessons.
He made lots of good friends at Fairley House and we saw no evidence of behavioural problems. He received occupational therapy as well as one to one tuition if required and they tell you as soon as your child is ready to move back into mainstream.
Fairley House boosted his confidence and made him realise he wasn't 'dumb' just needed to learn in a different way. It was the best decision we ever made to send him there, I can't rate it more highly. They were inspected by the independent school inspectorate while we were there and the report was superb.

[Bink]

I don't know Fairley House but my ds is at a school with a similar "respite" idea - ie time out of mainstream for intensive teaching & then back into m/s when ready - and I think the anecdotal stuff about the older children's behavioural issues is interesting.

We've seen the same thing at ds's school, and it's rather logical - if the aim is returning to m/s, there are going to be children who take longer to be ready to return; the delay is because their problems are more complex than others so take longer to resolve; and complex difficulties typically include a degree of behavioural issues (sometimes emerging later on than the initial presentation of reading/writing/speech difficulties).

So it's not necessarily a fault of the respite school that there are behavioural issues among older children (nor a failing in their ability to teach older children) - it's a consequence of the complexity of the needs of certain of the children the school's taken on. However, it is very worth asking how the school manages children whose needs are more complex, as those children's needs will affect your ds's learning environment. (And I think how honest Fairley Hse is about how it manages those more complex children will be important input as to how good a school it is - ie, I would want the head to be up front about possible issues, & not deny there are any.)