changing schools

[madstitcher101]

My daughter was being bullied at her present school (still is as she is still reporting to us about incidents happening). We believe that it had been going on for a long time and it got so bad that she was freaking out about going into school every day. Even now she's not happy and doesn't want to be there. The school itself has gone from being a satisfactory school to one needing improvement. We have been thinking very seriously about moving her to a different and hopefully better school. Trouble is, we are going to have to move her younger brother too. He is in year 1 and he has high-functioning autism. He has started to settle a bit now into year 1, although we have been having a few problems with him not wanting to go into school but we think that he was/is picking up this from his sister's reluctance to go into school.

 

We can't just move the one child and commute between two different schools, it would be impossible especially as both of them have to come home for lunch so I know they are having something to eat. My husband is worried that if we move him to a new school it may set him back, that he may not want to go and his behaviour will get worse (if that is possible). I share his fears about this but at the same time I feel that my daughter needs to be happy at school, she used to love school but she hates it now. She is a very sensitive child who worries and gets anxious about anything and everything. I still believe that she is on the spectrum but we have to wait and see about that as she is having appointments for therapeutic play which we are hoping will highlight something. There is a school which has places in both years and we are going to go and have a look at it and a chat with the head about the children. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[bjkmummy]

i would go and view the school and take it from there. moving children at any point can be difficult and as parents we worry that we are doing the right thing. i also say the school visits are a bit like looking at houses - within a few minutes you usually get a feel whether a school is right or not. all schools are different and there are some fantastic schools out there. i have had my fingers burnt in the past when i chose a school more for convience ie close to home when i knew it probably wasnt right. since then i have always listened to my inner voice and chose school that were right for my children even if it meant a bit more disruption on my part. i have 3 children - 2 are now settled and very happy - just the 3rd one to go and if i finally get his school place sorted i will have 3 children aged 11 and under in 3 different schools in 3 different counties!!!! 2 of them special schools

[madstitcher101]

We went to see the school on Wednesday and we were really impressed with it. It felt right. We would have no hesitation in moving our daughter there but we have a bit of a dilemma with our son. The problem is that he seems to be settled in at his present school and we are worried that if he is moved that we will be back to square one with him, that he may not settle down there. I have got in touch with Autism Outreach and hopefully they can advise us on this.