School SENCO

[Failingatlife22]

My DD has had a formal SEN diagnosis for a year, we have been told of a failure to progress in her state school. However the SENCO has never had a meeting with us even after us requesting one, and no intervention has peen put in place to support her. AIBU for expecting the SENCO team to have reached out by now?

Yes they should have. Have you contacted them?

When you say formal diagnosis, does she have an EHCP?

Diagnosis of what, and where from? Schools are often asked to write reports to support diagnosis - were they not involved in the process?

What is the schools SEND policy?
Does she have an EHCP?
Is she on the SEND register?

If you are concerned you should have raised this with the head ages ago, if the head won't listen and they are going against their own policy you go to the Governors.

What diagnosis does your DD have?

My DD has had a formal SEN diagnosis for a year

What diagnosis?

Children go on the SEN register if they are receiving provision that is additional to or different from the other pupils. In an inclusive school with reasonable adjustments ordinarily available, it may be that pupils with a diagnosis don’t actually need to be on the register.

If your child is now failing to progress, it may be that an intervention could be needed now though.

Speak to the school and find out why the SEN team hasn’t got back to you.

May be they do what they need to do and she is in school. So actually you should be happy no one contacts you with more problems to resolve

DCD
I have been in contact with the school and they are now putting measures in place, they have also taken on board that they should have been in contact sooner. Thanks all. No EHCP yet.

What’s DCD

My dd has a ehcp and the senco told me that no parents ever contact her except for in the annual review. I have learnt to be quite careful around sencos. The current one isn't at all proactive, asked the LA for more funding 8 months ago but never chased it up.

Dyspraxia

Developmental co-ordination disorder.

OP, you should have had contact with the SENCO previously. If your conversation this time was verbal, follow it up with an email so you have a paper trail. If you think an EHCP is required, you can request an EHCNA yourself. IPSEA has a model letter you can use.

My experience is that unless your child's unmet needs result in extremely poor behaviour you have to chase the school for everything.

I don't know how old she is but things you can ask for now / in future -

a proper backed chair so she isn't sat on a backless stool in science / food tech if she struggles to sit unsupported. A wobble cushion can be helpful in building core strength

Not having to write joined up/cursive can be a game changer and what she writes with will make a big difference. Books with wider ruled lines.

Clear walkways in the classroom

Extra time in class - if not possible then no penalties / lost break if she hasn't finished a task.

I don't know if I've seen an EHCP just for dyspraxia, normally it's been when it's comorbid with other conditions however she should have a one-page profile that is reviewed termly it will have a bit on her likes/dislikes, parental comments, what she struggles with and any adjustments that are appropriate for her.

I don't know if I've seen an EHCP just for dyspraxia

I have. Because EHCPs are based on needs, not diagnosis, as long as the child or young person meets the legal threshold it doesn’t matter if a child ‘only’ has DCD.

I realise that but I was reflecting on my own personal experience. I wasn't suggesting the OP not apply if it would be useful from what one person on the internet said

Thank you all, very helpful advice and point that we will add to her one page plan, it really is appreciated, she did not have one until today. EHCP is not required at the moment but hopefully the support she needs will now be in place but we have had to shout for it.

@Failingatlife22 from a parent POV I found telling them what adjustments I wanted in place with a sentence underneath for why got me exactly what DD (autistic) needed instead of starting at the bottom and trialling things. It helped that I had previously worked as a teacher so knew what was common / possible and likely to get green lighted but if you go in solution focus and do most of their work for them if you need to modify it in future they are more likely to say 'yes'.

@Failingatlife22

Please get an EHCP it is a legal document that the school has to follow.

What you have now can be stopped at any point.

Op unfortunately you will have to shout for it and expect every teacher esp at secondary to not know her condition and it's down to you to fill them in... It's a long hard road in UK education system with such ignorance everywhere on sen.

You have to be her advocate

Yes but the DC has to meet the criteria. Most kids with SEN don't have an ECHP as they don't qualify so thats not a particularly helpful thing to say.

Well they have to meet criteria first. Parents can’t just decide they’re getting their child an EHCP.

Also, there are pros & cons to an EHCP. Our DC didn’t get into preferred secondary because they they said they couldn’t meet needs as described on EHCP. Basically some schools don’t want pupils with EHCP’s. Also teacher expectations were so low for our DC due to EHCP. It was ceased in year 8 & he’s thrived since. He hated the stigma.

Unless the school is wholly independent, the LA can only lawfully refuse to name the parent’s preferred school if the LA can prove:
-The setting is unsuitable for the age, ability, aptitude or special educational needs (“SEN”) of the child or young person; or
-The attendance of the child or young person would be incompatible with the provision of efficient education for others; or
-The attendance of the child or young person would be incompatible with the efficient use of resources.
The threshold to prove one of the above is higher than many LAs and school admit. The school can be named even if they object. And parents can appeal to SENDIST so ultimately it isn’t the LA making the decision.

I have been told since meeting with the school this week that she would not qualify for an EHCP as she is not behind at school. They have however now put measures in place from an independent Senco report that we paid for.

would not qualify for an EHCP as she is not behind at school.

A child doesn’t have to be academically behind to get an EHCP. Sadly, LAs and some schools incorrectly tell parents their DC won’t get or don’t need an EHCP.

This is following us being told that she is failing to progress at the end of the last school year. Let’s hope the interventions help. Thanks all for your comments we have found them all helpful. I have learned that the school SENCO is very stretched and we needed to make contact and suggest the appropriate support for DD rather than waiting for the school. I do think it’s something that we will have to keep shouting for throughout her school career .