School ignoring requests for SENCO meeting

I don’t teach, but everyone is on their knees.
Parents are now so demanding, any student who is bright and motivated, is getting hardly any attention. You have no clue unless you work in a school. Why do so many parents want toilet passes, pastoral passes, resit passes, inclusion time, medical passes etc - then of course 30% expect their child to have extra time in exams.
Most of this is organised by low paid support staff, who are getting demoralised. They don’t get overtime and therefore it is simply impossible to meet everyone’s needs. Our SENDCO also does a lot of teaching. Whenever I phone a parent, many who seem to work from home, they are rarely available. Our in school attendance is appalling because so many students have the right to leave lessons. Where do they all go? Many are walking the corridors and refusing to go back into lessons. In my job, if I am going to care for students and do my job I have zero time for meetings. If you think the NHS is in a crisis you should start thinking about education.

What a lazy stereotype. As much as you would like to portray parents in that light, advocating for DC with SEN is not the same as demanding. Requesting a meeting about their child who is not having their SEN met is not the same as demanding a meeting and is not unreasonable. If the school’s best endeavours is not sufficient and they need more resources to meet OP’s DS’s needs, they should support her to request (and appeal for if necessary) an EHCNA (which is governed by statutory timescales) or at least she suggests she does.

OP obviously has done something before now. A referral to SALT for a start.

You may already know this, but I just wanted to flag that if you have a ND child then the chance of their sibling being ND (not necessarily with the same diagnosis) is high. Also that adhd increases your chance of being dyslexic and being dyslexic increases your chance of having adhd. So if you can see traits of both, then both would be a likely diagnosis.

My experience with school (although my child is younger) is that any diagnosis helps with things like getting senco meetings, support etc. So I’d pick the one he has most traits of and try to get a private diagnosis for that asap , you can iron out the second one more slowly through nhs.

If you can afford private support I would also look into occupational therapy which can be a game changer for adhd.

he’s had never had clear verbal communication, but it’s getting worse year on year (extremely quiet, stuttering and mumbly - now even we struggle to understand him).

This is really concerning @IvoryRain – have you pursued support for this before now? if so what was the outcome? Unclear verbal comms after nursery age or certainly by end of reception is usually something that is flagged as a concern.

Here is a thought for you. We are a high achieving comprehensive. Of the new year 7 intake, 90 out of 210 have some form of SEN needs. Schools are sinking under the demands of SEN. People are having breakdowns and going off sick. It’s simply getting out of hand. And no more money. I would ask why Op has waited until her child is 15. They have been in education for 11 years. If he is getting a detention every day then there is more to it. Maybe email individual teachers and ask for advice, how he is behaving etc. Have a planner at home and keep an eye on homework deadlines. It’s all online. Work with the teachers, because time is running out and GCSEs are round the corner. If staff had meetings with every parent who demanded one, there would be no one to teach your child. In our district there is a 4 year wait for educational assessments.

@arethereanyleftatall JCQ regulations apply to all. You can read them on JCQ’s website. They didn’t change last month.

Similarly, the school shouldn’t be refusing SEN support because needs are recent. The same duties apply that applied before last month. The law hasn’t changed.

DC who mask at school can still receive support and EAA. If DC who are masking are being refused support, their parents should go higher, then formally complain if necessary.

This is fair in one regard, because in the area I live in - affluent - parents will go from private doctor to private doctor to find the one that tells them what they want to hear.

But where it’s very unfair is for the children who mask at school.

And it’s unfair because we now have a situation where some children have already been granted accommodations, and yet children who have higher needs, but more recent, are not granted. If they were going to clamp down, (which is probably right) it should have been done for a whole year group.
or change the whole way exams are done to accommodate all. Ie mix it up - some exams oral, some exams take as long as you need to show knowledge, some fast to show speed of working, like they currently all are. And everyone gets the same.

@arethereanyleftatall even before last month, diagnosis alone wasn’t enough for extra time. Support in schools and exam access arrangements are based on needs, not diagnosis.

I’m not sure if this is nationwide, or just my dds school; but they are now (last month or so) not taking diagnosis in to account, and ONLY going by what their ‘normal way of working’ in school is. There are so so many dc now that have extra time or whatever that my understanding is that they are trying now to reign it all back in.

If the school is ignoring you and escalating that to the HT hasn’t worked, formally complain. Assuming this is a state mainstream school and not independent, remind them they have a duty to make reasonable adjustments as per the Equality Act 2010 and must make their best endeavours to meet DS’s SEN as per the Children and Families Act 2014.

I would also speak to the GP about a referral. At least for ADHD but probably also ASD. Is the SALT an NHS SALT? If so, they may be able to refer on, so speak to them as well.

Schools and local authorities cannot refuse to accept independent assessments and diagnoses purely because they are independent.

If you go for a private assessment, I would start with an independent ed psych assessment.

Does he have a mobile which he takes to school and has with him during the school day?

Private is the only way to get a dyslexia assessment. Dyslexia assessment is much cheaper than a dual ASD/ADHD assessment.

Assessment of what? Depending on what it is, the assessment may not be offered or will be several years wait.

The school’s complaint procedure will be on their website. I would follow that.

Yes I would push for a diagnosis. School cannot do this so I suggest you see your GP and find out what the waiting list time is like. Then yes, can you afford to have him assessed privately? It could be something like dyslexia, or it could be ND – ASC or ADHD possibly. Or it could be something else – my DS's condition was only diagnosed when he was about 12/13, although the issues were apparent before that. Make a note of everything that you think is relevant. What form do the communication issues take? Is it possible that is related to ND or some other disability?

You say it's got worse over the last two years – were there issues before this time? If so have they got worse or just perhaps more marked (as he is now in GCSE years, when the pace of work and expectations from school often ramp up)?

Schools can’t diagnose learning difficulties and many will dismiss them which misleads you into thinking that they can/would flag any issues if they were present.

The only way to know is with a private diagnosis from a specialist Assessor or Educational Psychologist.

I’m no expert, but Dyslexia would be my initial suspicion based on what you’re saying about his disorganisation, inability to complete his work on time and remain focussed.