Ds helper at school. Ds stressed and upset.

[Ds8and9]

So my son is 9. He has autism and learning difficulties. He has an ehcp. One of the things he finds hard is to take in information/instructions. He's working at year 1 level. The ehcp says he's to be given extra time to take things in etc. He's also meant to have a sort of 121. It's not strictly a 121 but would normally be on the table ds is one with a few others . That's how it was when he was in year 3 and he was really happy.

But ds has told me . That his helper hardly ever sits with him or helps him. He said she's hardly ever in the class and always going of to the dinner hall or to do something else. But I don't know if this is true as ds has no concept of time. I did mention it to senco once . And his helper then spoke to me and said M is doing really well. I wish I could spend more time with him. That's the only time she has ever communicated with me since last September.

Ds has recently told me that when he's been told what to do his teacher went away for a bit. Came back to check om ds . And shouted at him because he had not started his work. His ehcp says he needs things explainer to him in a simple way. And time to take in what's been said.

Ds also told me that his teacher said to him M it's about time you started doing things yourself . This was when ds was asked to get was certain book out of his desk but came back with the wrong one..

When he was in year 3 his helper was fantastic he was always with him. Would keep me updated. Explain things clearly to ds .

With ds and some of the tomes that have been said o have just said to him never mind. You Bern finished soon abd get a new teacher in September.

I get stuck what to do . I don't want to over protect ds. Also things are not always what they seem. I'm not sure about saying much to the school because I doubt they are going to say yep we spent minimal time with him . And ignored his EHCP.

I'm lt sure if there's anything I can do / say to maje sure year 5 is better when he starts in September.

It can encourage dependency

This is a line LAs and some schools like to roll out in order to save money. A well trained TA, deployed correctly does not lead to dependency.

The child isn't on this thread so that is entirely irrelevant.

But, with the best will in the world, very few TAs are well trained. If a child has 1-2-1 funding they absolutely should get what they are entitled to. But it's good to shake it up a bit. The teacher should work with the child sometimes. TAs can, and should, be swapped out.

Training, qualifications and experience can be included in F. This is why the EHCP needs amending.

Your post demonstrates perfectly why TAs need to be deployed correctly. TA support isn’t instead of the teacher input. It should be as well as. Any school doing otherwise lacks understanding and is behaving very poorly.

As to whether TAs can and should be swapped out and it’s good to shake things up that depends on the EHCP. OP’s DS’s is poor, but not all are, so you absolutely cannot make such sweeping statements.

A lot of those provisions would require a 1.1 support or a specialist school class. There is absolutely nothing there which says he has any entitlement to any number of 1.1 hours.

I think you need to request an annual review.
I would also go through each piece if provision and ask them to specify who, when and for how long. It would not be possible for the class teacher to do many of those things on the list.

My own dd was working at year 1 level in y3 and in the end I moved her to a specialist setting. She did have 1.1 but the gap between her and her peers was too wide for the education in the school to be adapted for her. This might be something else to think about. If the gap is too wide then what you end up with at best is a TA doing all your son's education as he is unable to access any if the regular curriculum with his class.

Seems to be 12k via local authority.

I sent senco an email this morning asking what the funding is spent on the said for small group work , 121 when needed. Speech and language.

I would speak to your son’s school before the summer holidays. At least this way they know that you are not happy/have worries. If he has a ECHP they need to be helping him. Maybe you can mention the differences in your son from last year.

The reason I used the word helper. Was because DS uses that word. I was thinking about him at the time of typing so that's probably why I used it. I know the school well and they know us well. I'm pretty sure they would know what ever wording we used would not be to cause offence. They have never gone all snow flake me.

Well, in my authority that would be quite a bit! For that, I would expect your child to have much more adult support. I think working as part of a pair or three with an adult would be acceptable, so that there is a social element to learning with peers (all children like to sit with friends), but I would expect that an adult would be working with your child at least for all Literacy/Maths/Science lessons. I would want to see daily 1:1 reading with an adult and maybe phonics/pre-teaching sessions as well.

My advice is to speak to next year's class teacher and to the SENCO. £12k is a lot of money.

He was basically getting the things you suggest in your post . When he was in year 3 . I'm definitely going to speak to senco and make sure things are better for year 5. Even if it's someone he can gel with better.

OP, you really need to request an early review from the LA because if the provision isn’t detailed, specified and quantified in F the school doesn’t have to provide it.

So can I contact person from the LA who told me about the funding he gets. I'm not sure how to do it.

On their website, IPSEA has a model letter (no. 5) you can send to the Director of Children’s Services. You can copy in the caseworker if you want.

Thank you

In my local authority you could just telephone the SNO (Special Needs Officer) at the local authority and say that you would like an early annual review and that you would like them to attend. Y

I am a primary SENCO, and parents who wanted an early annual review would either speak to me and I would contact the SNO or they would telephone/email the SNO and the SNO would let me know.

Obviously, you could send the letter as suggested by @BrumToTheRescue if you preferred. I am just letting you know how it would work in my school.

Making the request in writing yourself is far better. It is done ASAP not at some point in the future by the school. It also creates a paper trail that a phone call does not.

IPSEA’s letter can be sent via email.

I've no idea why you're being so unpleasant to the pp. I agree the use of the word helper isn't ideal and it's absolutely fine to suggest OP might use a different word.

The SENCO should be able to provide you with a provision map of where that funding is going, but essentially with £6000 notional plus £12000, he should have 1:1 the majority of the time (if he's fine at break and lunch, that would fund all class time). It's a really decent amount of funding.

I just spoke to ds. He said he gets taken out of his class . Once a week for the speech and language.

Ds said TA mostly covering other classes.

He said he doesn't really get help anymore. And he's scared he's going to get told of.

He tells me he can't do anything. Teacher telks him to sound out but he can't do it. It does not work for him. He can't do anything. And he's really scared

Ds just told me the above.

What is £6000 notional? I have never heard of that far as I know it's the 12k?

School funds the first £6000 in nearly every case. Schools are supposedly allocated money for this but in reality it's part of their overall funding and isn't amended for the number of children on the SEND register.

I assume he does not get 6k from the school then. Why would they give that if the LA are giving 12k.

I guess really I just need to contact them to review and do my best to see hes set up for September

I know that you said that you wanted him to stay in mainstream school, but the reality is that this school is not working for him. If he is three years behind now, the likelihood is that he will be four or five years behind by the end of year six. Can you honestly see him surviving in a large mainstream secondary school? The beginning of year five is the time to be visiting secondary schools. I would include special schools if possible. Special schools are set up to teach children with learning difficulties and the curriculum is tailored to suit each individual child. They are also incredibly hard to get into in most cases so he will need to have his name on the waiting list quite soon. My oldest son is autistic and went to a special school where he thrived because he was one of the most able there. He also learned a lot of life skills, which are so important. It was a lovely, nurturing environment and he had far more opportunities than he would ever have had in mainstream, including making some lifelong friends.

I would also suggest visiting some specialist schools. My dd went to an independent asd school where she thrived. I also wanted her in mainstream. She was so much happier and better served in specialist.

I totally agree. I will be looking at both. I would love for ds to move to a school that some of his friends are going to . He's been with them since he was 3😭. But i do get that it may not be possible. And he may even be happier in a sen school. And as yiu say the learning will be talied for him.