To think the education system is failing my child?

[thedcbrokemybank]

My ds is in Y3. We had parents evening last night and his teacher was fantastic and really seemed to understand him. I have raised concerns over dyslexia before (very strong family history) but his KS1 teacher was never concerned. When I mentioned it to his teacher last night she said actually I may be right but it would only be mild and therefore they wouldn't be able to pursue support but would put interventions in place if they thought he needed it. I am happy with this response but...
The curriculum doesn't support this. He is a bright little thing, he just has trouble with getting things down. He is interested in the world, creative and imaginative. They have so much to cover in the curriculum that he doesn't have the time to develop at his own rate. It's so prescriptive and results driven that he doesn't get the opportunity to develop the things he is good at. Confidence has always been an issue for him and I can just see this getting eroded as time goes on because, try as he might, he can't keep up with his peers. We support at home obviously but I don't know where to start. I feel like he is being failed by our education system. AIBU??

Most children are being failed by our education system because it is now being driven by assessments and tests, so the curriculum has lost flexibility, breadth and depth. It is tragic and cruel and breaks my heart.

I do not know what you can do.

Look at speech to text on pages
Look at clario app for PDF to read and write on documents

Let him practice and see how much the results differ

I'll give you more info but have to dash back

Yes as PP said, pretty much everyone failed in the education system as it is. Woeful lack of funding, totally ridiculous assessments. Agree that children have to "prove to fail" before any support in place for those who do struggle. Assistive tech can be of great benefit for those with dyslexia if you can get school on board. You have to become a tiger parent and really get on top of it though as in my experience nothing comes to those who don't make their voice heard sadly.

Have you had him assessed for dyslexia? Ideally the school would lead on this, but as they don't seem motivated, could you get it done privately? That's what we did and just having the report was helpful so it was no longer a vague conversation, but tangible findings that we could take to the school and implement the recommendations together. Even if it is mild, there's still steps they can take to help him and extra support they can give, differentiating work etc.

Surely the first step would be to get his dyslexia (or not) assessed and diagnosed by a professional and, from that, decide which support he may need?

If he is dyslexic, then he will benefit from support and strategies regardless of the "demands of the curriculum" - unless you are envisaging an education system in which literacy and numeracy don't feature much.

I would also be cautious about judging what him 'developing at his own rate' actually looks like until you know what you are dealing with and it (if there is something) is supported. I couldn't keep up with my class age 9 because I had undiagnosed short sight and couldn't see anything. I didn't need special provision to allow me to develop at my own rate, I needed a pair of glasses.

If your real objection is the prescriptive nature of the curriculum, that's kind of separate to any possible dyslexia and the cure is home education.

The best thing to do is get him an ed psych assessment. They are expensive but really worth it. A private one will go into depth look at the difficulties and make recommendation. I paid £500 for one in Bristol a few months back.