Hi, my name is sallystafford! My daughter who is 14 has ataxic CP

sallystafford

I am currently living in South Africa but me and my children are British. I have not lived in the UK as an adult and my children were born in SA. We are returning to the UK to live likely next year. My daughter who is 14 has ataxic CP, and while she is mobile and communicative, she does battle with work pace and processing and has a concession for extra time and a scribe. I know she will have to be assessed in the UK for special needs schooling. Is this a process I can only start once we return to the UK and if so, what sort of time frame would there be before she gets admitted to a school?

Alex_Alumni

Hello @sallystafford thank you for joining and reaching out on the forum this morning. I hope you don't mind but I've you post over into our Education category so that it's easier for everyone to share their thoughts.

I'm afraid I'm not an expert on the subject, so I can't answer your questions directly at the moment, but I do know that the Independent Provider of Special Education Advice (IPSEA) is a great organisation to get in touch with for support, if you are moving back to England.

It would be useful to have a record of any documents which detail the support your daughter currently receives, or that you feel that she would need support with in the UK.


You'd need to enquire with schools in the area you are moving to about levels of support that they would be able to provide reliably, but these could be anything from mainstream to specialist schools depending on what you are both happy with. 

Scope has information you might find useful on support that UK schools can provide, and what support they must provide by law. 

When I was at mainstream primary and secondary school, as someone with CP, I did have support for a scribe as well as extra time, and support with navigating school physically too, but I wasn't really aware at the time of what went on behind the scenes with the Learning Support team to help make this happen.

I often had the feeling that the team had to fight to ensure that pupils who needed support were acknowledged, and that there was enough funding to be able to give that support.

Do let me know if there's anything you're unsure about and we'll see if we can help help further

Alex

sallystafford

Alex, thank you so much for your quick and comprehensive response, very helpful indeed.I will definitely check out the recommended sites!