Not enough support in daughters class.

[User473847284737]

This has been going for a year or two.

shes in year 3. No formal diagnoses as such but she has an EHCP which she's had in place since pre school. She does not need 1:1 but needs some degree of extra support. Her issues include speech delay, her speech was quite far behind at the point of starting reception and unclear, she has made huge progress but still quite far behind for her age, she has motor skill delays, can't run or walk down steps very well, she struggles to get on & off the toilet, was told she has hypermobility and low muscle tone but it's believed she also has dyspraxia which could also be the reason she struggled with clarity of her speech.

she is really quite far behind at school, working at beginning of year 1 level. She can't really read much. Her speech therapist said it can be tied to how significant her speech delay is. She really wants to learn though.

also, we believe she's showing signs of asd. It's extremely likely as her older brother is on the spectrum (diagnosed aged 4). I'm also just about to contact the gp over an assessment for myself as it's been obvious for a long time I'm on the spectrum. I score 190 on raads r, over 65 suggests autism.

I believe Dd masks a lot and copied with her friends are doing.

Despite this she is quite social, has lots of friends (but I feel like the gap is widening between her and her peers as they get older though).

anyway, back to my op. She's in a class of what I believe is 25. There is at least 5 of them needing extra support. Dd is the only one with an EHCP as far as I know. the senco told me there is only 3 in the school with an EHCP, 2 are mine so only 1 other. There's lots of children needing them but aren't getting them. I've been quite lucky that my oldest has been supported, Dd is not. She's not making much progress at school. I can only do so much at home to help her academically, I'm no teacher.

I'm not saying for one minute she needs more support because of this, children should be supported EHCP or not. But my issue is with the school. There is often only one teacher and ta in the class which I don't believe is good enough for the amount of children needing support. some of the kids in the class are generally just disruptive too but don't have sen. It's a really challenging class from what I can gather. I can sympathise with the teacher

but is 1 ta enough. Surely there should be more?? I know it all comes down to money but it's not good.

Speech and language yes, OT no... speech therapist has recently said that a referral for OT should have been made by school but never was. I was never told this.

i don't think I can even refer to Ot myself without school involvement?

She's been under physiotherapy previously but never OT.

17/24 children in my class are very much working below age-related expectations at age 10. Eight of these children have EHCPs but no allocated funding and I have no TA.

This is all about the values of our country's 'leadership' and - crucially - money. I'm sorry your daughter is not getting the support she needs; sadly, she's not alone.

It should have been made by the school if it is part of the EHCP and they are responsible for doing that.
It should be part of the EHCP, whether the school or the LA /NHS provide it varies on local arrangements

You need to appeal the EHCP and get the additional assessments written into it.

You as a school can fix this. It’ll be a slog, but each and every one of those plans MUST be written with the advices in section K written as specific and quantified support in Section F including hours of support. Then the LA can be held to account and those EHCPs will then be properly funded. I have in all my years seen only one plan which had hours and finding in it without going to appeal. ( and I drafted it.) <preen>

F

Please everyone on here contact your MP and complain about lack of support and lack of funding.

I work for an LA. We are all made to jump when an MP’s letter comes in. Raise the profile about the state of our school funding.

OP, you can ask your GP for a referral to OT. I’d be very pissed off if the school were supposed to do the referral but haven’t!

You could request a reassessment of the EHCP - as part of that all professionals should assess your DD and you can request an OT assessment. Speak to IPSEA for advice.
www.ipsea.org.uk/asking-for-a-re-assessment-of-a-child-or-young-persons-needs