Daughter is considerably below average at school, but I'm not sure what extra help she should be receiving?

[luvinthesun]

Hi, thank you to anyone who reads this! I am very concerned regarding my daughter and would love some advice as I don't want to appear a problem parent to the school.
Basically, my daughter is struggling. She is in year 6 and is well below average in anything literacy based. Her comprehension skills are very poor and she struggles to retain information. I am concerned that she has slight special needs so I am paying for her to be assessed privately.
Her teacher has been very cooperative with this, but after receiving back some forms today that he had completed for me in preparation for her assessment, I have become concerned about a few things and would really appreciate advice.
Firstly, she has been on a IEP since year 1, but see from the completed form that she is no longer on one. I do intend to speak to the school about this but wont have chance until Friday. I was under the impression that an IEP would not be stopped without discussion from the parents first?

The form also said that she receives extra help each week in the form of two 50 minute sessions (consisting of 5 children). I thought she was receiving extra help daily so also not sure whether to bring this up and would like advice as to what tends to be the norm?

I'm really sorry for the length of this post, I just want to know if my concerns are valid I guess. I really like her teacher so don't want to offend him!

[Flanks]

Hi Luvinthesun

IEPs are funny things, they actually don't 'really' exist, in that they were officially replaced years ago. Now what schools call 'IEPs' are really monitoring documents which exist for all students, which allows teachers/support to track comments and progress. Some schools use them differently and more/less effectively than others.

The two sessions a week, I suspect, are small group support sessions outside of the classroom environment. They are frequently used, and often very effective, ways of allowing students to attain learning in a more relaxed and safer environment. If they are doing this with peers (as in this case) it removes a lot of the anxiety which could be caused if they felt unusual or different for needing a bit of help.

I do not know the school of course, but I also suspect there would be a support worker in her class. So there will be 'support' in her lessons, but not specifically and only for her.

Your decision to have an assessment done is definitely a good one, especially as they often give causes to be enthusiastic about real strengths.

Finally, don't worry about being a problem parent! If you do it in a polite way you will be appreciated. Schools are not nearly as bothered by it as you might think, in fact they often appreciate prompting because it helps them not forget!

[NWgirls]

OP

You don't mention the school's senco in your post; if you have not done so already, you should ask for a face to face meeting.

In year 6 you might find the school quite keen to see if extra time for SATS is possible. Tests that pinpoint particular problems (working memory? Processing?) below certain thresholds will be helpful. Dyslexia? That (ed psych?) test will hopefully be helpful in terms of planning additional support / interventions.

My impression is that nature and type of support vary greatly and need to be tailored to the child