SEN DD not getting help for her mock exams

[Ballstothisdotcom]

Hi

Can someone offer some advice.

I have been chasing the school to assess my dd who has ADD (diagnosed) and possible ASD (waiting on appointment) to try and get some clarity on what help is available to her when it time to take her exams.

She has mocks coming up at the end of the month and I’ve been told today she won’t get extra help or time because she was sick when they carried out the assessment. I didn’t know when there was going to be an assessment otherwise I would have spoken to the SEN team when she was unwell.

Dd has now gone into meltdown. Her handwriting is on par with a 8 year old (she is 14) so she will on that basis alone fail as no one can read her writing.

I’ve left a message with the school to call me back. She doesn’t have an EHCP.

Help!

Wow, how stressful. I am a mother of a child with SEN in year 11. The best suggestion I can give is contact the SEN team at your council and any local ADD or ASD charities to get their advice. My understanding is that extra time or any support equipement such as a laptop needs to be requested quite a way in advance of the exams.

To use a laptop has to be shown as their normal way of working. You may find you have missed the boat for these exams but for the final exams, if you start the process now it should (hopefully) be okay.

Although might be some wiggle room for a scribe - must be allowed if child broke their arm/wrist just before an exam.

More important to get things in place for exams in year 11 - I assume she is year 10 if she is 14?

What support is she getting atm? Is she using a laptop for all her written work? How has she been assessed previously.? GCSE mocks and exams don't suddenly appear without warning. You could have been talking to the SENCO, finding out what the exam board allows long before now.. I would make that my first port of call, either contact the board directly or check online to see what their regulations say. I'm sorry to say that while the school have been less than proactive so have you.

Sorry, that sounds very harsh, Didn't mean to. But sometimes you have to be that parent.

You need to speak to the school senco. The mock exams are just set by the school and marked by the school staff but you need them to assess her before the external exams to see if she is entitled to any additional support. What about exams in yr10 and yr9 etc how did she cope then?

I do exam access assessments. Can your daughter use a laptop or will she need a scribe in exams?
There often needs to be an exam access assessment to get a scribe or extra time but there are other things the school can put in place without an assessment. Rest breaks due to her ADD, a laptop, and a reader should all be possible if she needs them. Fight for these to be in place for her mocks (even just some of her mocks if not the first few) so that they are her normal way of working in exams.

It might be too late for these mocks. If so, focus on getting it sorted by the November mocks as those will be the grades going to the sixth forms. The mocks now aren’t really important for future admission decisions.

I have a year 11 child with SEN and no EHCP. I'm finding without an EHCP we have no way of getting Ds the support he needs. School ignore us mostly. They now want to charge us for SEN support (it's a state school).

Ds uses a laptop for exams and although he had an OT assessment the only proof you actually need is that it is the child's 'normal way of working'. Ds has never been assessed for extra time so I have no idea if he would be entitled or not.

If the Senco doesn't reply to your next communication I would then contact a member of the senior leadership team. Unfortunately you will have to push because in my experience nobody in school will care at all.

She is in Year 10 so this is her first round of exams.
She gets very little support at school. I’ve been asking for her to have a laptop but there is a waiting list.

I’ve been asking for her to have assessments but I’ve just been told the day they held them she was off sick. But I never knew they were taking place. And they weren’t rearranged.
I’ve been really unwell and have had quite a lot of surgery over the last year so haven’t always been able to push and push.
Her progress reports have been coming up with OK grades but she falls apart under exam conditions.

Hi OP I work in exams and there is definite wiggle room for the SENCo to authorise laptop/extra time/scribe etc, (check out the JCQ website for the rules) you need to email the exams officer and SENCo at school, if you don’t think the SENCo is proactive then cc the head of year and head of school in.

So these mocks while they matter aren’t the most important?

You don't need an EHCO but it does have to be adjustments that your child usually has to be used in exams. My child (ASD) has extra time and uses a laptop in class and has done since year 7 so he will get it in formal exams.

Sadly it does seem to be down to the senco - we are very lucky with ours.

A laptop would be enough. Not a scribe because of the difficulty she would have in speaking to someone (huge anxiety)

So these mocks while they matter aren’t the most important?

Exactly. That fact could help your DDs anxiety a bit to let her know. I felt terrible hearing she is in meltdown. Sometimes the school make out every mock to be of equal importance. They are more to plan out Yr11 coursework and revision.

The ones in November are the most important ones. Those grades will determine what offers she gets for sixth forms / colleges (BTECs, etc).

Obviously, try and get the SENCO to approve something for these ones, but if it’s too late for these mocks, there is still plenty of time to get the formal exam arrangements in place before November (I’d get it done by summer holidays).

If she is still in Y10 you do have plenty of time to get things organised for GCSEs. As well as a laptop, ask about rest breaks (being able to have 5-10 minutes down time with the clock stopped during the exam if she needs it) and taking the exam in a smaller room (if exams are usually in a big hall) if either of these would help with her anxiety and ADD.

Mock exams are to give the students a taste of the real exams and the teachers an idea of what the need to do to improve.

Schools are shit for assessing the dc needs. I have been asking since ds15 was in year 5 for extra support. I know he's dyslexic, he had help before but it stopped and since they say I have to do it myself. But do not explain how.

He is extremely stressed spend so much time revising himself but when it comes to test he can only complete 8 questions out of 20 so instantly his mark goes down.
It's all very shocking.

Wow reading some of these stories I’ve realised how lucky we are.

Balls we got Ds his own laptop that he uses in lessons with extended writing (proof of normal way of working). He obviously has to use the school laptop for exams and tests but he prefers his own for lessons. It took months for him to agree to use it. He was worried about bullying and was initially picked on and called names but I think things are ok now.