Teachers/SENCOs How would you get this child reading?

[Smorgs]

DS is 9 and still not reading fluently (About Level 3/4 Oxford Reading Tree). Started a new school in September but I can't see they've designed any sort of 'catching up' program for him and just expected him to just catch up in class with the others. As a consequence he is making very little progress.

For background, we are British and live in France. DS was born in France and always attended local French school. He started at a private bilingual (Eng/Fr) school in September after a complicated few years. He struggles reading in French too. Sees an SLT but she can't decide if it's dyslexia or just bilingual issues combined with his ADHD diagnosis. We pay for a one-to-one in class who is trying her best but isn't qualified as a TA.

I just feel very lost as to what should be happening. The French state sector is very behind on SEN but this is a private bilingual school and I thought they'd be a bit better. But also I'm aware that they can't perform miracles and also the pace in the classroom is very fast as they have two curriculum to get through.

Can anyone give me an idea of what level of support he would be getting in the UK for comparison? What should I be checking the school is doing? We have a meeting on Thursday and I just want to be fully prepared. Thank you

I am neither but had the same problem with DS.

Don't try to make him read things which are too high level for him, rather the opposite.

Barrington Stoke do books with a higher interest age than reading age which were a hit. The level 3/4 books are just not interesting at that age.

Comic books, i.e. Asterix type and graphic novels. Dogman, Amulet etc.

I would stick to English at home, leave French to the school.

French state sector is very behind on SEN but this is a private bilingual school and I thought they'd be a bit better. But also I'm aware that they can't perform miracles and also the pace in the classroom is very fast as they have two curriculum to get through..
If they're trying to get through two curriculums as opposed to teaching separate subjects in different languages, are you sure this is the best move for him?

Sees an SLT but she can't decide if it's dyslexia or just bilingual issues combined with his ADHD diagnosis.
I'm sorry, but at 9 years old and from what you say he's been in local school since the beginning, bilingual issues really shouldn't be an issue now. He's had enough exposure to both languages. I think I'd push for a new assessment or a second opinion.

FWIW, DS is a couple of years older now and he does now read more. But we had lots of argument where the TA was telling us he needs to read "real" books rather than comics or reference books and we were of the opinion that any reading is good.

probably the biggest help was buying a new Switch game and refusing to read the instructions/dialogue for him

My DD has dyslexia, her tutor uses Toe by Toe which is designed specifically to be used by parents so is very step by step and goes back to basic phonics and blends. My 10 year old now reads fluently when aged 8 could hardly read at all. Her comprehension, inference and spelling have all improved immeasurably with just following the programme 4 times a week and with an hour of tutor support a week.

There is also a specific type font which is supposed to help people with dyslexia read more easily. It emphasises different parts of the letter, Might be worth looking at?
You can also get books in which each syllable is printed in an alternate colour to show how to break the word up. DS has other issues, but he was only able to decode words after I decided to give up on the phonics way and used flash cards with him for a few weeks. It seemed once he had "learnt" to read a few words he was able to understand how to read.

Thanks for those tips PagesofSlime
Yes it is a big ask doing two curriculum but this was sadly our only option. We had previously been advised to drop all English reading at home and concentrate on his French so this is his first year of formal English tuition.
I've heard of Barrington Stokes actually but just assumed they were too advanced for him at this stage. All his French work has been re-printed in different fonts and colours... but strangely not in English?

Thanks Jellycatspyjamas I hadn't heard of Toe by Toe, I'll look for it. We subscribe to Teach Your Monster to Read and Reading Eggs, which is helping a bit although all the 'fun and games' bits are a bit distracting.

We had previously been advised to drop all English reading at home and concentrate on his French
Oh yes. The it-must-be-your-fault-because-you-speak-english-at-home defence meaning the school don't have to do anything because it's all your fault . Which is absolute bollocks by the way because pretty much any speech therapist who knows what they're talking about will tell you to speak to your child in your native language and that being able to read in their native language helps rather than hinders them. We never did any formal English learning with ours either.

FWIW, both my DC are bilingual. Neither were taught or "forced" to read in English. My youngest started to learn to read at school at 6, suddenly realised she could read in English too and before the end of the school year was reading Harry Potter. Don't let them fob you off with the bilingual excuse!

I don't know what the attitude is in your part of France, or how he has settled into the new school or if he has any social difficulties, would it be worth considering him repeating a year if it's allowed? And don't accept them just telling you he has difficulty with x,y,z ask what they are going to do to help him. Make sure they give you some solutions, action plan and review time.

I second Toe by Toe - you'll get it on Amazon for around £30. It looks very, very boring but most children I've used it with have loved it, they can see their progress clearly. It is also very easy to use from the adult's point of view - you just pick it up and run with it.

Fonts - you want a rounded font with a bit of space between the letters such as Comic Sans, Arial, Helvetica, Verdana. There is an Open Dyslexic font depending on what you use, you might be able to download that. If using Google suite, the dyslexia friendly font is Chelsea Market.

We also use Nessy Reading and Spelling in school - it is a structured online programme which goes through all patterns, rules etc which might be good for your DS, he might not actually be aware of the "rules" of the English language? It has been produced for schools but with these things you can usually buy an individual subscription.

Keep on at the school - from his level of need they should be doing more, regardless of language. In a perfect world (covid has left us hugely short-staffed) I would expect a child with similar reading difficulties to have targeted support daily,
with a structured programme, in addition to differentiated tasks in the classroom. If it is dyslexia, then there are specific resources which may help, such as reading rulers and covered overlays - you could try these things out anyway, it won't do any harm and might support him. In the meantime, try to find anything he enjoys no matter what level it's at and read to him so that he gets pleasure from reading in that way. All the best to you and your boy.

My son wasn't a keen reader so I bought us a computer game (this was years ago) called Monkey Island. Then I switched the settings to Text Only - no voices. The action in the game depended on conversation and the player choosing a sentence to say to the wicked pirate. I told my son he either read the words (with me beside him helping him sound it out) to choose a sentence or we couldn't play. By the end of the summer holidays we'd nearly finished Monkey Island II. (And now he's in his 30's and recently downloaded the same games onto his phone).

It was enormous fun for both of us - very innocent and simple fun. I noticed the other day that they're available for pc on Steam these days.

He might be a bit young yet, but something to bear in mind for the future is Dark Reads. The interest level is 12-16, but the reading level is much lower. I second Barrington Stokes and Toe by Toe.

I suggest toe-by-toe as well, at home.

Thanks Thegirlwiththeeagereyes that great to know what he'd expect to be getting in the UK. We use Nessy too actually

Thanks so much everyone, really interesting to hear your experiences

How is your ds with phonics?