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3 year old with CP Quad - How do you choose the right school?

Hello
We are staring down the barrel of this process with the council telling us we don't need to worry for ages, and decent schools telling us to start now.
My head is full of the burden of choices I will make for our son. How do I choose whether it is more important to be part of his local community even though the school might not be perfect, or whether I follow a special school route where his complex needs for physio and SLT are more likely to be met but it could be miles away.
I am completely new to this and would love to hear from any families who have already been down this route and can offer any advice.
We have visited one special school, plus Ingfield Manor and they are so different - how on earth do you judge it!
Catherine
We are staring down the barrel of this process with the council telling us we don't need to worry for ages, and decent schools telling us to start now.
My head is full of the burden of choices I will make for our son. How do I choose whether it is more important to be part of his local community even though the school might not be perfect, or whether I follow a special school route where his complex needs for physio and SLT are more likely to be met but it could be miles away.
I am completely new to this and would love to hear from any families who have already been down this route and can offer any advice.
We have visited one special school, plus Ingfield Manor and they are so different - how on earth do you judge it!
Catherine
Replies
My son started the pre-school at his named school this september, after we started looking at schools when he was 2 and a half...so my first comment is, your are absolutely right to start thinking about it now. A decision made is one less to worry about, and once you have it named in his statement there will be no concern of not getting into your choice.
My second comment is the decision is the same as with any child, special needs or not. Go look round the possible choices and go with your gut instinct. There is no right or wrong answer, and although none of us would want to do it...what is the worst that could happen if you're instinct is wrong? You change schools later.
My son has athetoid CP and is profoundly deaf - we looked at the local mainstream, one with SRP (special resourced provision) for the phsically disabled and one with SRP for the deaf. Before we looked round I thought it was going to be an impossible decision, but it was easy in the end. The local mainstream head was like a bunny in the headlights - so I knew straightaway they would not cope, and the school just didn't have the space to cope with a child in a wheelchair. The other two was more of a choice between which 'disability' to concern myself with more but I was lucky that the 'deaf school' is modern and able to cope with the access side of things as well as being a fantastic school anyway that I would happily choose for any child of mine.
My final thought is one of the reasons we felt confident focusing on the deaf side of things for his education is that with the right equipment, training and attitude anyone can cope with the needs of the physically disabled (but you have to have a specific knowledge to teach the deaf well in sign language).
Best of luck