How do I know if a school can meet my child’s needs?

You have been on the school tours and weighed up the pros and cons and finally you feel you have an idea of what might be a good fit. (Our Choosing a School tool is really helpful for this.) For some parents they have a really strong frontrunner, seemingly nothing would stop their determination to get their child into that school. For others there is a school (or perhaps a couple) that they like, but feel doubtful or confused about whether it really is the right fit for their child.

Here are few tips for giving your first choice a little ‘health check’ to help you to know if the school will be able to meet your child’s needs.

Provide the school with information

Share with the potential school as much relevant information as you can, to help them to get a sense of your child’s needs. Include professional reports (speech therapy, educational psychology etc.) as well as any information about how they are getting on at their current setting. If your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), share this too, even if it is in draft form. When the school are able to see what support a child needs to help them to access learning and play, they can then consider whether they have the staff expertise, facilities and resources to meet this need.

Ask what reasonable adjustments can be made

Sometimes we really love somewhere, but it doesn’t offer some of the specific provisions your child requires. It is always worth asking if there is any flexibility or creative ways to get around this. The absolutely perfect school with everything on the list of requirements might never come up. So what tweaks could be made to turn something which is nearly right into being a good fit? Could speech therapy be brought in on a regular basis to provide support? Is there different equipment which would make a difference for your child in terms of their access to education in that setting? There are schools which will really go out of their way to make things work – fantastic! These places are goldmines. Others … not so much. This flexibility will tell you a lot about how easy a school will be to work with going forwards too. Although, of course do be reasonable in what you are asking for. No school is going to be able to provide a unicorn on request! There will be some practical limits relating to budgets, space and staffing.

Take some advice

If you are finding the decision difficult to make, do feel you can ask some of the adults that work with your child and know them well. If your child regularly sees a therapist ask their opinion on whether your preferred school is likely to be able to support your child. You can also ask an independent professional to visit a school (if the school is willing) to see what SEN resources the school have and whether that is likely to be sufficient. Alternatively, the school may be happy to arrange for one of the teachers to visit and observe your child in preschool. Sometimes, watching a child in a familiar setting tells a teacher so much more than the paperwork ever would. Often paperwork doesn’t give the full picture of your child’s lovely personality, or the great way they are able to interact with adults they know well. Kids are always much more lovable and charming in real life. Initial concerns may melt away and practical solutions found. (We can live in hope, right?).

Ultimately there are never any guarantees that a school will work out. But when both parents and teachers are willing to commit to doing their utmost to make a placement work this is the best start we can give to our children. Although good intentions are not always enough, they are certainly a good place to start!

Subscribe to download our FREE Choosing a School Tool . Use our tool to help you to:
* Identify what is going to be most important for your child at school
* Compare what schools are offering to help you to make a decision

To make an appointment to discuss choosing a school for your child email sarah@confidentkids.co

We can help you to:

- Create a list of exactly what you are looking for based on your own preferences and priorities as well as recommendations from professionals working with your child

- Identify which schools are likely to be most useful to visit

- Consider what questions to ask schools you visit

- Navigate the application processes