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.

I'm a SENCO. There is nothing in that EHCP that suggests this young person is entitled to a 1:1. However, I agree with previous posters that it would be bloody hard to deliver this provision without one.

Probably your school decided last year that a 1:1 was necessary because they too realised it wouldn't be possible to meet needs without one. However, times have changed in education and we are haemorraghing teachers and support staff. Nobody wants to be a TA anymore because it's underpaid and under appreciated. Budget cuts mean schools have been forced to make support staff redundant and, as a result, excellent TAs have retrained and moved to new lines of work. What's likely is that your son's school no longer have the staff to provide a 1:1 like they did before and, because Section F doesn't state one, they can choose to withdraw this, or deploy the TA they have put with him to cover lessons because there are no bloody supply teachers available either.

I regretfully have to say my school can't meet need if we get an application for a student with an EHCP requiring a 1:1, as we hsve jist 2 TAs. It's not a funding thing - its that we can't appoint. We've had a TA position advertised on our website for over a year with no applicants.

I think I'm going to ring senco. And tell her the things ds has told me and how he feels etc. I'm going to try and find out who the TA and teacher will be for year 5. I think that will help to start with.

I'm. Doing things in writing as well . But I just want to find a few bits verbally to .

Don’t get bogged down in thinking about the notional SEN budget. It is rarely actually £6k and doesn’t particularly matter to you because the provision in F must be provided and EHCPs can be fully funded. Focus on getting 1:1 detailed, specified and quantified in F because without it in there DS may not get any 1:1.

Yeah I'm not going to worry about that . It just complicates it more. I will just worry what's on the ehcp.

• Children working at predominantly P8 to beginning of year 3 expectations

Does anyone know what the above means?

Presumably they mean old P scales, which haven't been used for years and years. P8 was learning at a pre-old national curriculum level so pre Y1, which was easier than the current Y1 curriculum.

You can see the old P level descriptors here.

That's odd. It's on an admissions page . For a sen school .

Another poster has already said this and I know it can seem like a daunting thought but I would really think about looking at some SEN schools. My daughter is in one and it has been life changing for her and us. She’s in y1 and one of the most able but she still has a lot to learn. There are 8 children in her class and 4 adults, it’s amazing. There’s a whole spectrum of children there - some are non verbal etc and some have just done their GCSEs. I am a secondary teacher and I’m sorry to say, if you think he is being ignored now, secondary school could be far worse. I’ve worked in education for a long time and I’ve seen what happens to our Sen children when their needs aren’t met.

Thank you . Im definitely looking at SEN schools. 100%

Your son is likely to fit those criteria by the end of year 6, unless he makes really amazing progress in the next two years. He might be one of the more able in the school, or he might be right in the middle, depending on his progress.

Just spread your thread I wonder if you will ever update thinking about your son and how he fared

Ds is doing fantastic now within himself. He's in year 5. And he had a fantastic teacher and TA the TA is with him pretty much all the time. He's much happier no longer gets upset about school.

Thank you so much for replying. You fought hard for him to get the right support so congratulations to you. It rang a chord because my nephew is going through the same thing, exactly the same thing all the best.