First meeting with SENCO tomorrow, any advice please?

[Gentle]

About 3 months ago my DD's Year 1 teacher broached the subject of special needs. I'm meeting the school SENCO tomorrow and wondering what to expect.

It's still a bit of a surprise, really. The school recently had a bad Ofsted and started to introduce new targets for the kids, which is good, but the pressure change is astonishing and DD is suddenly being assessed as very poor at reading, writing, and virtually no progress in maths since reception. Parents evenings have always told me that she's fine, not the quickest in class but no concerns either and things will click into place soon - but at the last one 2 months ago, we were introduced to a scoring system which shows that she has fallen way behind. I was stunned.

I decided to start helping out at the school one morning a week (not at all convenient for the family but I felt it to be important) and I always come away frustrated because I can't figure out what's going on in class (and I am a very smart cookie ). Teacher gives me 10 kids and says "Can you do literacy with them please?" and that's all the instruction I get for the next hour - if I ask for more guidance I get answers like "Do some reading. Do some writing." I have to ask the kids where books & pencils are kept. Everyone seems to fly by the seat of their pants.

I see DD just sitting on the edge of the carpet completely tuned out and I can't say I blame her. Her usual table comprises 2 non-English speakers, and a boy who will not sit down at all without a tantrum. There was another girl on her table that DD got on well with, but her parents have removed her from the school (don't know them well enough to know why or where they've gone). DD's teacher has now gone on long term sick leave and there is a new supply teacher every couple of weeks. I do feel that the school has let her down and perhaps we have too.

I have noticed myself that DD has some problems with attention and is not the quickest reader, but I am not sure what a statement of SN could do to improve this. My husband has dyslexia that went undiagnosed until his 30s so I'm all for early attention to any special needs, but I'm not sure this really is.

Anyway, not really sure what I'm asking you all. What should I expect? Did special needs come as a complete surprise to others, too? Thanks.

[WetAugust]

You should ask what level of SEN support your DD has been placed on, i.e. Schools Action or Schools Action + . The answer will probably be none - as if DD had been formally placed on SEN support you would have had a letter.
So you should ask SENCO for formal intervention by placing DD at the appropraite level of SEN support AND should ask for an IEP (Individual Education Plan) to be devised with your input. The IEP should identify DD's specific weaknesses, state what will be done to provide additional support to overcome these weaknesses and set goals for improvemnt.

Her improvment against these goals should be measured at least once a term and if there is little / no improvment then you should ask that she's placed on a highre level of SEN support (which may eventually lead to an assessment for the need for a Statement).

[WetAugust]

Oh and yes it did come as a surprise. It would be very useful for you to obtain a copy of the SEN Code of Practice (SEN COP). That lays down what schools should do in the way of SEN support and also details the processes involved. The more knowledge you have about SEN support in school the better you will be able to support your DD by fughting for what she requires and is entitled to.

Best wishes

[bramblebooks]

the sen code is downloadable from teachernet - pop it into google!

I'm somewhat at her approach to getting you to help with literacy - does she provide no planning at all, ie, direction to the children about what they are writing? Literacy hour gives a specific period of input from teacher, short period of writing and then a plenary session. If she is not giving specific input concerns need raising with the head.

On the positive side, if they do feel that there are identified issues that they can support with then that's great. It'll be interesting to see what they're offering in terms of extra support and what they suggest so that you can help her too - working together produces the best results!

All the best for your meeting.

[Gentle]

Thanks everyone, this has been really helpful. It'll be good to go in with some background.

[bramblebooks]

Let us know how you get on. The teaching situation doesn't look good at all, no wonder the children are unsettled, even before considering sen!

[Gentle]

Had a great meeting, our SENCO is very smart & sensitive. Her observations about DD match ours exactly - very sociable and interested, quick with facts, stories & creativity, but struggles with letters, patterns, grammar & maths.

She was very professional when I raised concerns about the class in general and agreed that these had been identified in school and were being dealt with - I didn't press it, but I'm sure the teacher's long term sick leave is probably not for a broken leg. It's easy to forget that teachers are people too and under a lot of stress (particularly with this recent Ofsted report).

DD is having a morning with an educational psychologist next Friday (seems quick - he happens to be at the school for something else so we got lucky!) for assessment. I really feel we're all working together. SENCO agreed with me that we shouldn't rush to diagnose something, although her gut feeling is language difficulty of some sort.

I studied neurolinguistics at university and work in child protection; I'd always thought that DD hadn't quite "set her switches" grammatically, but because she is so bright, happy & outgoing, people have dissuaded me from this over the years - "Look at her, she's obviously fine," etc.

I've come away feeling really pleased and encouraged, still a little worried about the class she's in, but glad that action is being taken. I'll probably post back here after we hear how things went with the Ed Psych.

Thanks again for advice & support everyone!

[bramblebooks]

Great news, the ball's rolling.

[aprilflowers]

Hi - there is a genetic componet to dyslexia- if your husband is dyslexic and your daughter is showing the above signs - early intervention can be very effective.
It may be worth getting a private assessment from a specialist dyslexic centre - in addition to the borough one
The lea educational psychologist will admininster the same battery of tests - depending which is appropriate but the private assessment will be far more detailed giving you a wealth of information on areas of strength and where the problems are.
I know it seems early days and poor teaching may have contributed but once you get a diagnosis you can really push for specific interventions and focused strategies

[Gentle]

Thanks aprilflowers.

DD had her ed psych appointment today, she completely loved all the attention and came bouncing out of school happily chatting about her new friend and being allowed to take her school dinner into the assessment room! So all good stuff.

I knew that when I asked her how it went, I'd get little by way of reply! So far, the only activity I've gleaned is that she saw a picture of some tree people and talked about what they were all doing. I'll ask her again over the weekend, but don't want to badger her about it either.

We're meeting with him next month to see what his observations are. I want to know NOW, but will try to remain understanding and not get all PFB about it!

[aprilflowers]

Once you get the report - you need to look at the verbal reasoning and non verbal reasoning.
If her verbal reasoning [ and sometimes her non- verbal reasoning] is higher than the reading and/or writing and/or spelling scores - it is the key indicator of dyslexia.

[stroppyknickers]

v interesting aprilflowers - just butting in! we just had ds' reading assessed 0 massively advanced in non - v, comprehension and vocab, behing in reading/writing - they have mentioned dyslexia...

[moondog]

'decided to start helping out at the school one morning a week (not at all convenient for the family but I felt it to be important) and I always come away frustrated because I can't figure out what's going on in class (and I am a very smart cookie ). Teacher gives me 10 kids and says "Can you do literacy with them please?" and that's all the instruction I get for the next hour - if I ask for more guidance I get answers like "Do some reading. Do some writing." I have to ask the kids where books & pencils are kept. Everyone seems to fly by the seat of their pants.'

That is staggering, absolutely staggerining.Can't say i'm surprised thoguh.

[Marney]

I Have a daughter with dyslexia it was really difficult all through primary school The school was obsessed with if a child has difficulty learning to read they must have low self esteem.I was also told on one occasion by the senco i would have to accept my 7 or 8 year old would never be capable of doing gcses
Now age 16 she is dong well top group for science .If your daughter is in a primary school able to accept girls can have dyslexia and willing to help you are lucky .At age 7 my daughter was no where near level 2 .But she is now going on to do chemistry biology and maths at A level She was at a very big primary school and in clsses of about 30 I think which was ridiculous .I went into school when she was about 6 the poor teachers couldnt hope to do much they had far too many children to cope with My daughters dad was dyslexic and i have the eqivalent proplem with maths