‘Surprise’ SEN letter

[hangryeyes]

Cross posting here for traffic as SEN room doesn’t seem that busy….

Parent-teacher calls are later this week, today DC 6yo/Year 2 came home with an SEN action plan to be read in advance of this meeting.
This is the first time I have been told they would require SEN support, is this usual? Should they have been in communication over this before a letter?
For background, DC has always been shy and a little anxious, will talk to other kids/has plenty of friends but not adults unless pressed to do so, received some post lockdown reading support (NOT SENCO related, clarified at the time this was to get him up to being an independent reader by end of year 3 and that no additional concerns as he was average/slightly below), school provided a rubber bracelet to chew on due to chewing on jumper while concentrating in class. We had discussed with both pre school and reception teachers about whether speech therapy was required, but both came to conclusion DC was quiet and this was a personality trait rather than a problem, no other concerns were ever mentioned.
Action plan mainly concerns encouraging class participation and encouraging him to express his emotions and work more independently. Also makes references to improving counting and word recognition (although he is in the middle groups of the class, which is clear based on how the homework is assigned on the online app).

I am in agreement that these areas need work, but not so sure they warrant an SEN action plan.

Is this really out of the blue or to be expected? Anything I should specially ask them?

I would have expected a discussion with you before this.
They should have told they were concerned and explained what they planned to do about it. I would let them know that this letter has come as surprise.
If you agree with what they’re suggesting then I would just let them get on with it though.

I am in agreement that these areas need work, but not so sure they warrant an SEN action plan
I'd agree with that OP. Dreadful lack of communication and certainly not best practice.

That sounds fairly normal to me. A bit more communication from the school would have been good though. My ds3 (aged 10, year 6) is on the edge of needing help at school. He currently gets help but that usually stops when he meets his targets and then starts up again when he needs it.

Agree with others that this should really have been a face to face discussion before the letter. Its good that they are offering help. Is it an IEP with a couple of targets ? You don't necessarily need an SEND to be given an IEP.

I was a senco and SEN adviser for years.
There should definitely have been some discussion with you before a letter like that comes home.
Your attitude is perfect - you are not outraged by the areas needing support but wanting more information and clarity. That should have been communicated with you separately from the the standard teacher-parent call. There's little enough time then as it is.

Thanks all, glad I’m not totally off on this one. Nothing was a total surprise, however there has never been any mention of SEN plans previously, and I have explicitly asked, eg last year school report said needed to work on some literacy aspects and I was told it was just an area to work on not that they were ‘at the bottom’.

The action plan included having a visual timetable (not sure on the relevance of that as no issues following instructions/understanding the day’s structure), encourage participation through positive reinforcement and to model language used to express emotions. Also included with it was a guide to the stages of SEN intervention, however no info was given on what stage my child is at as it said this will be provided on the call. If I did not have some understanding/researched I would have been under the impression they were being statemented from the wording!

@elliejjtiny how long is your DC’s plan usually in place for? Do you get much interaction in between review dates?

I’m surprised there isn’t a visual timetable on the board anyway, for year 2. Maybe he’s struggling with the transition between one topic/location and the next?

@Hen2018 there is, as I’ve seen in the background of some of the photos they’ve shared and my Dc talks about it. Agree it is likely there is dawdling/not paying attention.

Wow that's really not good practice at all, I'm sorry you've experienced this.

You definitely should have been consulted first.

To answer your question about targets - if you have a child who does not have an EHCP (education and healthcare plan, which is what replaced the IEP a while back now ) then there are annual targets set for the annual review meeting, these will then be reviewed by the teacher just before a year is up and new ones set for the next annual review. These have to be a year apart, no more, no less, by law.

If your child has SEN of any sort but not to the extent that they need an EHCP put in place, there's no set rules as to when targets need to be met by. Each school is different. They could review termly, yearly or half yearly. If your child has any extra support given such as speech and language input, they will usually assess, set targets and review after a set number of sessions. This said it's unusual to be getting outside agency help without an EHCP.

Any further questions I'm happy to try to help.

@makelovenotpetrol would SALT usually require an EHCP? As I think I said above, it had been briefly discussed with previous teachers (brought up by me), but they had said it was only if I wanted to pursue it and not as something definitely required.

Just to clarify - an EHCP didn’t replace an IEP. It replaced the old Statement of SEN.

Fewer than 1% of pupils have an EHCP.

And my son had outside help from physio, OT, educational psychologists and SALT for years before I applied for his EHCP (aged 8)

@Hen2018 thanks, that makes it a little clearer re using SALT etc.

It might be what other posters think is normal but as other's say its not good practice at all.

However.. Having said that.. They seem to really good when it comes to sen! Offering the bracelets and giving and offering of her tips.
My own school Senco would never have these tips and sttsgeties at all so whilst they have fallen at the first hurdle, how they are tackling your sons issues seems to promising to me.

Thanks @Alpacinoshoohaa, I do think non school they do a lot, it’s more the communications. I will definitely highlight to them that I support what they are doing and that my issue is with how they communicate it to me.

@Hen2018

Just to clarify - an EHCP didn’t replace an IEP. It replaced the old Statement of SEN.

Fewer than 1% of pupils have an EHCP.

Sorry I was more referencing a PP above who mentioned having IEPs - I said EHCPs replaced them as the IEP was informed by the statement of special needs so thr EHCP replaced the statement + the resulting IEP. I should have been more clear in why I was making that comment, sorry

And no, as @Hen2018 said, you don't need to have an EHCP to have input like SALT or OT. A child could have some shorter term requirements which could be addressed by SALT for a short period of time and then the SALT care plan would be implemented by the school and parents / carers once the allotted SALT sessions had finished, and this could then resolve or much improve a particular situation, so the requirement for SALT input is over. A child wouldn't necessarily then need an EHCP they could then access their learning more successfully.

If the children's needs are long standing, have a significant impact on their life / learning / health (this is a very broad spectrum of what would fall under this ) then yes they'll likely get an EHCP, which will trigger things like the annual reviews etc and ongoing given hours of things like SALT and physio a term/ year.

I sort of see you issue, but personally I don't think it's much of a problem.

You knew about the issues already, that's the main thing.
They have obviously done a review and decided that cumulatively it would be helpful for him to be on their SEN list.

They could have phoned you and said 'we want to put him on the SEN list'. Then you would have had loads of questions which were maybe better answered by reading info. So instead of spending time phoning you (and the 10 other parents who might also have letters across the school), they have sent home some reading prior to the proper call.

As a parent of a child who bounced on and off SEN lists, (was off when the pandemic hit and then had a breakdown), I'd much much rather be 'on' the list than 'off', however it is done.

I had a similar situation with DS when he was in Reception (now Y8). He really struggled with phonics, it just wasn't working for him, so school included him in 'learning support' sessions. This was discussed with me face to face however, rather than a letter being sent home. He had weekly sessions with the SENCO, some 1-2-1, some group, and it was a definite help. By the time he reached Y4 however, his reading still wasn't at the standard it should be so school suggested we had him assessed for dyslexia. He isn't dyslexic, but does have a very specific issue with blending, hence the problems with phonics, school moved him off phonics and started teaching him by sight reading which worked much better for him.

He's now in Y8 and has continued to receive some learning support throughout, despite not really having a diagnosed LD and it's been fantastic for him. I was worried initially, however, I've come to realise in his case, it really is just a bit of extra support, very much in his best interests, I suspect he'll get some extra support throughout his years at school and whilst I'd prefer he didn't need it, I'm grateful it's there. There are many different levels of support needed depending on the individual child, so I'd suggest talking to school, finding out exactly what the issue is and how much intervention/support they think he needs and take it from there.

The lack of communication isn't great but it is great that they are recognising that your child needs some extra support.

This blog has useful information about SEN - epic-information.com/

There clearly has been dialogue between you and the school previously regarding addressing your child’s needs. Is it the sudden SEN label that alarms you? If the action plan had simply been labelled ‘child action plan’ how would you have felt then? It sounds like the school are doing a good job of meeting the individual needs of their pupils. I know of parents who have really battled to get any extra support for their child, as some schools do very little without a EHCP.

This sounds to me like they're wondering about ASD from the issues you've mentioned and the things they've put in place. I'd ask straight out although it may only become more obvious as your dc gets towards secondary age. I think these things can be difficult to handle as a teacher, some parents really do not react well to these sorts of suggestions. I'm surprised they didn't speak to you before giving you the form though - but at least they're on it, I would see that as a big plus and they're looking to put things in place to support your dc which is great.

Mmm - I hope they've not produced a plan by cobbling together standard stuff used in other cases and not troubling to make it specific to the child in question .

IME this is done a great deal .

@peridito that’s my concern also, the actions feel quite generic but wasn’t sure if that was just my opinion.

@Bimblybomeyelash yes it is partly the ‘SEN’ part as I’d asked previously and they’d said things weren’t an SEN concern just areas to work on but now this has changed.

@Tal45 yes I plan to ask outright, as I have asked previously at different stages and told no concern for ASD/anything serious. Particularly for the speaking to adults issue, as they said he is fine with kids and at home, they would expect to see it apparent there too.

Thanks everyone, you’ve given me some useful perspectives on it.