to be livid with the school over this letter?

[hellsbells76]

My 5 year old DS has just started year 1. We had a couple of problems with him in reception year - not concentrating, being over-tactile with other kids, the occasional scrap - and after meetings with the teacher, instigating reward systems etc, it seemed that things had improved last term.

There was a (generic 'Dear Parent') letter from the SENCO in his book bag last night informing me that he had been 'selected' to attend a before-school 'Beam' session which is 'designed to aid children with gross/fine motor difficulties and who experience difficulties with hand eye co-ordination, sequencing, listening skills and concentration'.

I'm furious that I've been sent a letter listing a whole string of problems he could possibly have, but without even the courtesy of a personalised letter or phone call to identify why they feel he needs to attend these sessions. I'm really worried now, just as I thought things were improving. Obviously if he needs the session then I'll be happy for him to attend, but surely if a child has been identified as needing the intervention of a SENCO, the first step should be to have a meeting with the parents to discuss how we can all help him?

Anyway, just wanted to vent - I have asked the school to contact me urgently to discuss but wondered if this sort of thing is appropriate or just typical of the crap communication at this particular school?

hells bells, i wouldn't be surprised if our kids go to the same school! ours is dire at communication also, and no, YANBU, it is perfectly ok to expect a chat before a letter like that, even a quick 5 mins with the teacher to reassure you. Our school does rubbish like this frequently, i just feel glad i am able to read the letters as lots of our parents cannot read at all - they must be seriously in the dark! its like the school has no empathy with the parent, and just wants you to accept that what they are doing is right and no correspondence will be entered into! Ridiculous to think you won't want some input.

YANBU, the school should take the time to discuss this personally. Apart from anything else, sometimes letters don't reach home and are mysteriously lost on the way.

Why are they doing the club before school? Doesn't that mean your DS will have to get up very early? I would have thought an afterschool club would be better.

Typical state school stuff. I live in the USA, but my children were born in England. I regularly get generic letter addressed to my ds (6) and I'm sure soon for my dd (4) offering extra help in learning English!! Clearly they don't differentiate between kids born in the UK and kids born in El Salvador. I got quite agitated about the first one and then just binned them after that.
And, by the way, unrelated to the above, my ds had a few problems listening, concentrating etc. and he was offered extra help. Since it was during school time and they started him in the extra help unbeknownst to me, I didn't make a fuss when I finally found out (via ds). It was a total waste of time. They weren't doing anything that was radically different than what was happening in the classroom and ds' problem was mostly just being a 5 year old boy who was more interested in recess than reading. Eventually he just matured and by the end of the school year he was fine! I tried to read interesting books at home and as soon as he was able I gave him the Captain Underpants series to read himself. I think that from conversations I have had with other parents, the issues my ds had are fairly common for dreamy, bright boys and they will grow out of them eventually. (Go read the latest biography of Einstein by Walter Isaacson...it will give you heart).

Yes, sometimes schools get it wrong with communication. What they are very loth to tell you, but would help you to understand the situation, is how many children this letter is being sent to. If practically every one, that's why it's so impersonal. If very few, then you would naturally want to know more about why your child was selected.

I have just had the same problem with a letter from my dd's secondary school.

Er,if you had meetings with his teachr re difficulties in these areas,then surely it is a given that he needs help.

Be reasonable.There is more than enough paper work to do.

Good for the school.Sounds like a terrific idea.

Communication with schools can be a pita, and I understand parents' concerns about this, but generally I agree with Moondog.

I'm wondering whether the letter invited you to discuss things if you wanted to?
As other posters have said, it sounds to me that the school have already begun a dialogue with you about some areas in which Ds could improve and they have started a scheme that they feel would help said areas. I don't think you need to worry that there is something new they are not telling you.

ok, bit of an update. his teacher (also the SENCO) called yesterday and it sounds like it's a colossal breakdown of communication, mainly down to his (useless barely-out-of-her-teens NQT) reception year teacher. apparently he's on the special needs list and has been since easter last year when i apparently agreed an IEP (individual education plan) with them for him. now i remember the teacher showing me a bit of paper with a list of areas where they wanted him to improve and targets etc, but i thought it was an informal agreement between us and at no point did she explain the significance of this, i suppose i was just expected to know what it meant and it hasn't been brought up or referred to since.

also turns out that they were doing these 'beam' sessions all through reception year (again, first i've heard of it) and they've just identified kids who would benefit from continuing with it in year 1.

i did make my displeasure at the useless communication in general between school and home clear, and pointed out that as a lay person i could hardly be expected to understand the significance of an IEP, she did agree that this should have been made much clearer to me.

anyway, we've agreed to see how he progresses after a couple of weeks of these sessions (3 times a week starting at 8:30 so manageable) and meet up to discuss his progress then. thing that winds me up is that i actually want to be an involved parent and i'm not the type who'll just dump him at the gates and consider him off my hands, but they make it so hard to have a dialogue with them!

also not particularly happy with a 5 year old being labelled special needs because of what seems to amount (judging from yesterday's conversation) to 'fidgeting in assembly' and wondering whether a more experienced teacher would have put him in that box but that's probably another thread...

hellsbells my ds(6) is on an IEP too, it's really just so he can get more one on one attention on things that he struggles with (fine motor skills). though i think some of it is down to his laziness