What is the solution for children who don’t fit mainstream OR special school?

[SENCOhelp]

My DS recently turned 5 and started in year 1 last week. He has SEN, nothing officially diagnosed but he isn’t NT and it’s very clear to see this compared to both older DS and his peers.

In reception I would say he thrived. He enjoyed exploring provision but also took part in some of the learning I.e phonics group and a maths group. He is ‘non verbal’ in a sense, though his speech is improving constantly and he is now beginning to communicate more with us so as I have always felt, this is just a matter of time.

He is very bright- can read full books and also knows most times tables, can do crazy addition mentally etc. The school often underestimates him and are still sending sheets with the most basic phonics on and ‘red words’ like ‘the’ when he can read entire Julia Donaldson or Supertato books and does every night at bedtime. I have requested reading books multiple times but get ignored. Not sure if they think I’m making it up so I’ve started recording him reading to show them which may sound unhinged but I’m tired of him being underestimated.

Anyway, it’s been one full week in year 1 and I was hauled into a meeting today with the new SENCO lead (changed 3 times in a year) to explain he isn’t setting into year 1 at all. The trust transitions abruptly from play based learning in reception to expecting them to sit behind a desk most of the day in year 1 and so naturally, he’s struggling with this. My older DS also struggled and complained for months about hating it and finding it boring. I remember him becoming quite upset one day because in art they were no longer able to paint whatever they chose and instead had to paint what was requested. It’s a shock to the system when they’re still only five so very small I feel.

I did remind her it’s only been a week but she’s adamant already that he won’t slot into their way of doing things. She admitted he’s clearly intelligent and isn’t special school level but that he needs 1:1 and they can’t provide this. My question is what happens with children who fit somewhere in the middle? Or is it just this particular school isn’t right for him and I should be searching for one with more play based learning in year 1 and 2?

I would consider homeschooling but DH and I work FT in hectic careers we need in order to keep financially afloat.

Ha this is so true. I did mention this again to the SENCO lead today and will drop it in with the TA who works with him at pick up time too. School reading books are often hugely uninspiring anyway!

My 8 year old would not cope in a normal mainstream but also does not have severe enough needs to get a place at a special school, so we’ve spent a lot of time on this issue.

Your first step will be to connect with your council’s “SEND offer” - they should have a website/somebody who can signpost you to resources in the area. Also look for local charities/parent groups.

What you will find is that in most areas they are various options for the kids that are “in between” mainstream and special schools - in our area for example there are mainstream schools that have resource bases attached (kids may be full or part time in the resource base classrooms, which are run differently so can better meet need), there’s a specialist autism school (takes kids that are academically able), there’s an “outdoor provision” school, there’s a very small private that mostly takes neurodivergent kids, and there is a lot of home education groups that offer various amounts of tutoring/part time lessons so that parents can still work.

There will be options, and funding can be available for all of them, but it can take a lot of research to find the right one.

Definitely apply for an EHCP yourself. I also wanted to check if he's been referred for assessment for anything, e.g. Autism/ADHD? This is separate from the EHCP and there are incredibly long waiting lists on the NHS so you want to get him on there asap. The school can refer for the NHS assessment route or you can go to your GP and ask him to be referred via Right to Choose. This can often be a quicker route although waiting lists are increasing there as well in some areas.

Also wanted to add that the school sound awful! I work in SEND in a mainstream school and have a son with an EHCP. Some schools and SENCOs are better than others but I agree that you should get an EHCP before looking at changing schools.

Ok.

if you have assisted on all school trips and they have not sent any reading books home at all and are sending home simple phonics sheets my suspicion would be that he is simply not engaging at all.

most kids have a very strong attachment to their mother/mother figure and will do things and behaviours at home that are not visible at school.

it’s very, very common indeed for kids to read reasonably well at home and yet absolutely won’t do it for the teacher or TA, especially in reception. They just get overwhelmed and anxious and it doesn’t happen.

this sort of thing usually settles over reception as they get used to lots of other children and being around adults and build relationships.

so reception teachers are quite used to it.

however with children with SN this does not always settle and you can get issues like situational mutism where a child continues to be do anxious that they cannot speak in school.

I have taught at least one child like this. She did her reading with another student, and read at home with mum. After year 2 she was able to do computer quizzes on the books she had read and her reading was recorded that way.

my suspicion would be that he’s literally never read anything in school, and that he is very unresponsive to other adults engaging with him at all - whether that be asking him to do something, suggesting something, saying tidy up time or similar.

if this is the case then he’s probably very, very, unresponsive to social cues which suggests significant delay.

i’d suggest at the next meeting with the Senco or teacher you ask whether he does actually engage in the classroom - so is he actually capable at any point of understanding what he’s being asked to do, and is he capable of doing it?

you really, really need an EHCP because it sounds like from what you are saying that he basically wanders around the classroom in his own little world either not knowing that adults want him to do stuff or knowing but not capable of complying.

either is a serious problem.

Thank you for this, I have contacted them so will see what they say. I do think he would benefit from this although also think it has only been a week so some time to adapt wouldn’t go amiss from the school either!

I know he acts differently at school because the previous SENCO lead observed us against my knowledge at a stay and play and she couldn’t believe A) how calm and still he was with me and B) how much he interacted with me. He has the same TA as last year (she’s moved over with him) so it isn’t a new adult but I guess he just isn’t as comfortable being himself around even her and isn’t showing off his skills in the same way he does at home.

Also should say he has made a marked improvement with following instructions over the past few months. He used to ignore the majority but now will follow most e.g put your shoes on, get your bag, tidy your toys away. He’s very bright, which thankfully the school acknowledges but everything has always been on his terms so if he isn’t interested in engaging, he simply won’t. It’s the same with reading books in truth, he reads the ones he enjoys but forget Biff and Chip or the Read Write Inc ones.

There are a couple of issues here. But key is that the school isn't exactly helpful or poractive so it might be that you need a different state school.

Why are you not seeking a diagnosis? the inability to sit still and need to wander the classroom is a fairly classic ND issue, often ADHD, so I would think a diagnosis would help. Possibly with meds, but even just with professional guidance and ideas. An educational psychologist, at the very least, in the first instance.

At a practical level as the school seems unable to suggest ways to help him stay seated, here are some of the things that were applied for DS - although his challenges were slightly different:

• Movement breaks. Many informal - eg if teacher needs to hand out things to the DC, your DC is one of the children responsible for doing this. Some more formal - your DC and any others that need this movement break are taken out by the TA. Or the entire class does some kind of movement. Our school offers additional PE to chidlren who need it and it's delivered at different times, and for different children. It's a brilliant option adn works so well for a wide range of children (some need more movement, some have fine/gross motor skill issues, one boy's mother was in tears as she told me her DS is too shy to take part in the bigger sports things but when he went to the mini "extra" PE session with just a few children he had been able to score a goal and came home so happy she cried).
• DS's seating spot was carefully chosen to be near a window or door as he gets very hot and uncomfortable very easily. It also prevented him feeling crowded in by other children and allowed him to be more willing to sit in his seat.
• He was sometimes allowed to stand or move at the back of the group if they were sitting on the carpet.
• Fidget items - he was allowed fidgent items but this didn't actually work for him. It does for other children. The closest he foudn to one that worked was a little beaded bracelet thing he could fiddle with. He did like squishy things, but they'd get sticky and icky and that would be it!
• Similarly, he was provided with a slightly sloped seat thing. I don't quite get that one but it was actually quite helpful for him with sensory processing disorder and being left handed.
• Scaffolding for learning - so he missed instructions, a lot. So tasks were broken down and often provided in list format on the table (when younger, as a diagram) he and other children who need this support could follow.
• Bringing his attention back into the room - key at high school level and some of the teachers are better at this than others. Using his name, tapping his desk etc. The teachers he likes best are the ones who do this in a breezy, informal way (he hasn't clocked yet that this is why he likes them - but DH and I have noticed a very high correlation). His PE teacher appears to have even given him a nickname that, for reasons that are beyond me, works brilliantly to keep him focused.

For your part, if you're not already walking to school I would recommend it. Being able to burn off that energy first thing is a useful tool to start the day.

Do you have any Montessori schools with small classes nearby that your son could trial?

Once he's old enough I would get him assessed for adhd. My son was like this and improved hugely with the tablets. He's still a bit dreamy but 10000% better.

The ideal would be a small low pressure private school for ND kids. I looked around some SS and none provide rigorous GCSEs,

well, what you are saying is screaming ND to me.

there are basically two ways to get the education he needs.

1 pay a fuckload of money for private school

2 work within the system and fight for it.

you say you don’t have money so option 2 is pretty much your only choice.

so basically the way the education system is set up is that the default is that a child starts in mainstream. Mainstream has requirements which most children can meet and for most children it meets their needs.

then if mainstream is not working there can be additional resources applied. Think of this as extra help.

the process of getting extra help requires a lot of documentation. You need to basically show that your child is not coping in mainstream and also that them not coping is causing problems in the school.

basically if your child will sit still and do as they are told you’ve got very little chance of getting extra support.

so the evidence for extra support tends to be stuff like incident reports if the child has been violent towards teachers or other students, reports of behaviour from advisory services who come and observe - wandering out if the classroom and failing to engage would come under this category. External evidence like diagnoses, autism assessments, speech and language assessments and ongoing therapy (physical/speech/social skills type stuff) also counts.

it sounds like the school have been using an existing class/other child’s TA to support your child in the hope that your child would improve.

while this is common practice, it’s not great or strictly legal and if the other parents find out and kick up a fuss then your child will be left completely unsupported.

what, if any documentation do you have showing that your child has Sn?

the problem is that if you do not have any, then they start running through the disciplinary processes.

In reception this is usually stuff like having pegs and a sun and a rain cloud. in year 1 the teacher (and class TA if you are lucky enough to have one) will be redirecting your child almost constantly.

it’s a good idea to start working with the school here. You are going to need their documentation and their evidence if you want support for your child.

Being able to sit still, follow instructions and not cause problems for the school does not necessarily mean a child doesn’t meet the legal test for an EHCP. Yes, you may have to appeal, but it can still be possible to get an EHCP. It can sometimes be possible to get EHCPs even if the child is coping in MS too. A moot point for OP’s situation, but DC do not have to start MS before an EHCP is issued either. Some have EHCPs before starting school and some never attend MS.

OP’s DS has SEN. The definition of which is set out in the Children and Families Act 2014. The school must make reasonable adjustments, including to the behaviour policy and make their best endeavours to meet DS’s SEN. A diagnosis is not required for that or to get an EHCP.

I don’t have any documentation to prove SEN however this isn’t required to access an EHCP and the school have always been aware of his SEN, hence him always having a MSP in place. I don’t think disciplining would work with him in truth, he’s pretty unfazed by this at home anyway. He is starting to increasingly follow instructions as I said before but whether he’s doing this at school or not, I’m not sure. He is currently receiving help from another child’s TA, she told me this earlier hence them pushing for EHCP funding to get him his own.

Obviously don’t want him to disrupt the learning of others so some sort of middle ground needs to be found if he doesn’t adapt in the coming weeks, just unsure what this would look like within this particular school.

I'm not disagreeing with anything noted above, but do also look at your local authority "Ordinarily Available Provision". You will be shocked to see what teachers are now expected to be able to provide before any mention of EHCP or SEN Support. You need to insist to the SENCO that the school are providing absolutely everything in it. It may be all he needs.

I'd get moving on an EHCP as fast as you can. Huge changes are expected imminently and if you don't have one in place already, it appears they may become almost impossible to obtain for children like your DC.

If the other child has 1:1 detailed, specified and quantified in F, I hope their parents know their DC isn’t receiving it and know how to enforce provision. The school is leaving themselves and the LA open to legal challenge.

And if it isn’t detailed, specified and quantified, I hope their parents know how they can pursue that so it is enforceable.

He sounds like my dd to an extent though she actually preferred the ordered classroom as it was quieter. Give it another couple of weeks at least, I’d be speaking to the class teacher and senior leadership about what they are going to do, Ed psych, echp etc as it isn’t actually your responsibility to find another school anyway

While it is true that you do not need any documentation or a diagnosis to access an EHCP it certainly helps.

i have been out of education for a while and my kids (both ND) are now young adults so I may be out of date slightly however in general the process is that schools are expected to put in place a certain amount of support before applying for an EHCP.

they are also expected to document at least a couple of cycles of the PDR cycle. That’s the Plan, Do Review (and I think there was a fourth one but I forget what it was).

so the school needs to document that he has needs outside of the normal provision. They need to make a plan for how to meet those needs and write that down. Then they need to actually do the plan and document that it has been done. Then they need to review - did what they did work? Has the behaviour improved/ is the child better at phonics/whatever.

schools can apply for an EHCP without a diagnosis and without any documentation but realistically such applications are much less likely to succeed.

if you have any documentation - speech and language referral, letters from GP or health visitor about concerns etc then it all adds weight to the application.

at the moment his support is coming from another child’s TA which really is straight up not allowed and if the other child’s parents find out the school are going to be in trouble.

2+ APDR cycles are not required! It is not part of the legal test. That is an unlawful myth LAs and some schools like to perpetuate. LAs can say whatever they like, but requiring schools to do XYZ before an EHCNA request isn’t part of the legal test.

@flawlessflipper

you are 100% correct.

forcing the school and the LA to stick to the law is however both tricky and expensive.

this school have quite possibly already documented multiple cycles.

My child has 1:2 and I heard from my son that a new boy has started in his class for the new school year and he was sharing his TA's. I had a meeting arranged right away to put a stop to it and I would've taken it further if necessary or if I find out it is happening again.

Challenging LA unlawfulness does not have to be expensive at all.

There is support out there to help parents with appeals.

Parents do not have to accept unlawful LA policies. And it doesn’t help to have such ‘policies’ perpetuated.

OP, ignore the LA’s SENCO. I’ve never heard of an LA having their own SENCO before but I can’t imagine they are going to be on the child’s side when it comes down to it due to financing and budgets.

What does the school SENCO say? They are the ones who will support an EHCP application and you might need to keep appealing, if you don’t progress at each stage or the plan isn’t sufficient, but that is just what you will need to do.

Good luck.

It's true that a diagnosis is not needed for EHCP purposes, but I don't understand why you wouldn't seek professional support whether that's via a diagnosis or even just from an educational psychologist. They can offer specific, tailored guidance on what you/the school can do to help him which can be fed back into the EHCP, making it 1000x more effective. They can also offer guidance on what you and he can do to improve his ability to manage in the classroom.

The schools often don't have a clue and the reality is that the structure of a professional support helps them to know what is necessary and to think about how to implement it. And frankly, quite often, the school seems to just secretly think it's poor behavior and are not particularly interested in doing much at this age, ESPECIALLY if the child is meeting academic standards.

An inabiliity to follow instructions could be, for example, a processing issue in which case scaffolding etc is a better solution. It could be an inattentive problem in which case you're going to get better sucess by bringing his attention back to the teacher.

First, look at schools that still offer continuous provision in year 1. i would also speak to your GP about persuing a diagnosis as it will help if he has a diagnosed SEND in terms of finding a new school. There are autism specialist schools which have small classes and lots of one to ones but the children still do GCSE, but a child has to have a diagnosis and an EHCP to get a place.