I need advice ... I have been battling to defer the entrance of my little boy to secondary school for over a year now. One step forward, three steps back all the time. Has anyone else successfully gone through this process?
My son is the youngest in his year with severe dyselxia (as diagnosed in his EP report) which, historically, has meant he has struggled with literacy at school. He also has perfectionist tendencies, again highlighted in the EP report, which has exasperated the problem.
Since his primary school kept him back in year 2, which he repeated in Sept 2014, he has been thriving and made notable progress. The benefits have been on-going. He feels confident and the advantage of being the oldest in his class, offsets the disadvantage of his dyslexia. He was born early and as such, just seems to "fit-in" as a 4 student, it allows him to work at his level and in his comfort zone. Whereas he would be completely out of his depth in his "birth year-group," Year 5.
I feel it is important to stress that we do not question the fantastic support given to SEN pupils at both his primary school and future secondary school but that our main concern is our sons well-being and future development. The impact of missing year 6 at primary school and the subsequent impact of joining a secondary school in 2018, we believe will result in psychological damage and adversely affect his confidence and learning potential to the extreme.
Following a discussion with a schools appeal admission lawyer the fact that he has been kept back for such a long time by the school is a massive consideration. This is now his peer group and where he has made the most progress.
At this point, I would like to draw your attention to the Admission to Schools in Suffolk policy, where on p.20 it states:
"Children out of year group:
It is expected that children will normally be educated within their chronological year group. However, admission authorities will make decisions on the basis of the circumstances of each case and in the best interests of the child concerned in line with the School Admissions Code (December 2014)"
//www.suffolk.gov.uk/assets/children-families-and-learning/schools/2016-08-03-Admissions-to-Schools-in-Suffolk-2017-18-Final.pdf
I need to get the LA to fund the extra year. I am having a meeting with the secondary school tomorrow. Any advice gratefully received.
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Secondary education
Deferring entry to Secondary School
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Cookie17 · 09/02/2017 12:06
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