Primary school pondering

So we're just about to submit our choices on primary schools. The top three contain a school that is outstanding, a good but walkable school where we like the progress as opposed to straight up attainment scores, and a school that is very small but not walkable. Our boy is on the asd pathway. Nothing hugely worrying but he has particular sensitivities. I was thinking thay it might be better to send him to the small school that has seemingly good provision for SEND As I worry about how he would cope with a larger school (385 pupils as opposed to the small school's 90). Anyone else got a child on asd pathway and wondering how to make this important decision? How do we worry about academia when getting his personal/social needs met is the first priority?

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Not a child on the pathway, but I’m absolutely prioritising social and emotional development for my son who is very shy and sensitive. I know that wherever he feels safe and settled, he’ll flourish and show his potential- whatever that looks like. Our 3 choices are a good/outstanding school that’s a drive away (I work for the academy so he’d get a spot, but we’re unsure about the distance day to day) it’s got an excellent transition policy which would really help my little boy, a good smaller village school, and the local walkable primary school which we don’t really think is a right fit (its also massive) but is our back up. I think my son needs to be in a smaller setting, lots of pros and cons to that. I’m a deputy head, I’ve worked in small and large primaries, and I’ve found it SO hard to pick 😣

@Chloe it is hard isn't it? But I guess if we ultimately end up choosing a school and it's not the right fit, we can move them. Granted new friends would have to be made and more settling in but it's doable. I was happy with the transition and settling in process at local big school. It's just the numbers for me. Need a crystal ball that sees just til the end of reception 😄

My son is on the pathway and we have only applied to one school and its where he goes to pre school already. He hates change and hes doing so well there. We will get in as we are a 5 mintue walk down the road from the school. The SEND provision is amazing at the school even though it is a larger school and the other thing I like about the school is that he is a through so he had go to secondary school there. Meaning less change.

I’ve not looked at schools for Axon but I did for my older daughter and she is SENSITIVE (because she’s autistic) and ironically the bigger school had more resources for SEN than the smaller one… not that it would have been at all a good idea to send her to a three form school but the smaller ones either didn’t have many TAs, had piss poor understanding of autism or told me to look elsewhere 🫠 Tricky to weigh up but I think I’d prioritise somewhere that understands the kids needs more than the school size. If they’re understanding they should be able to make adjustments but even a small setting can cause problems if they don’t get it (Ada’s tiny nursery of 45 ish kids and a 1:5 ratio having done years of damage)

Id speak with their Sen dept personally. My oldest daughter has ADHD and she goes to a big school where we have 560 pupils, (I too work in the same school as she goes to) our Sen is brilliant. Just because a school is smaller, does it mean better provisions.

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