Any Year 2 Teachers? Would you expect a child's 2 books from Sept to be empty?

[3Daddy31982]

My son has ODD and ADHD. His school books are empty save a few pages of photos of him sat with rocks with numbers on, in group activities. There's literally 3 words in total in the book.

AIBU to expect him to have attempted some differentiated activities? Some writing? WWYD?

Just ask?

Certainly not unreasonable to expect he's been doing something, but whether or not that would be in a book depends on a lot of different factors.

I did. One of his Year 2 Teachers said that was normal. I worked in a primary in North Hull for three years and it wasn't the case then. The children had very little and I mean absolute poverty and they all worked very hard.

Depends. I don’t care about if it’s in books per se, but yes I’d expect a child in y2 to be producing some writing, almost daily. Might not be to a typical y2 standard but something. Obviously there are a few children for whom that’s not realistic but I’d expect you to know if that’s the case for your child! What’s in his ehcp or SEN support plan? What did his y1 books look like?

I have a child with autism and a strong aversion to writing - his books look like those of a child a couple of years younger, but I can see work and marking and I can see progression. And I know that’s involved a fairly amount of extra input from staff (he doesn’t have a 1:1 either) but somehow they manage. It’s fairly fundamental!

If his books really represent the total of his work I’d want a very urgent meeting with his class teacher and the senco. At minimum you clearly need to know more than you do about what he’s doing at school, how they’re supporting him etc.

His echp is really poor. He gets 1 21 for 17 hours. He is waiting for an ADOS assessment. His Year 1 books were pages after pages of white paper.

My eldest has severe autism and his ehcp recommends a laptop as he has slow processing. I'm glad it's going well on your end.

I went into see the head and she said there's no strategies. I know that isn't true. Spouse wants to look at independent specialist school.

Feel awful.

It depends. In general, I'd say absolutely not and agree with PP that in most settings a Year Two children would do some form of writing daily if not in the majority of lessons.

However, if a child is on an adjusted curriculum then it might be that all of his learning is physical and concrete and not recorded in the same way as the other children. You need to ask what a typical day looks like for him and what it consists of.

As a side note, did those feeding into the EHCP say why they thought a laptop would help with his slow processing?

Come on though OP - if you work in a primary you know it isn’t right!

Ah apologies. I misread: is the EHCP for your eldest not the boy in Year Two?

no they both have ehcps. I know it's not right. It's just knowing which step to take next.

@Iamnotthe1

It depends. In general, I'd say absolutely not and agree with PP that in most settings a Year Two children would do some form of writing daily if not in the majority of lessons.

However, if a child is on an adjusted curriculum then it might be that all of his learning is physical and concrete and not recorded in the same way as the other children. You need to ask what a typical day looks like for him and what it consists of.

As a side note, did those feeding into the EHCP say why they thought a laptop would help with his slow processing?

his curriculum appears to be playing on the iPad (all day). I wish it wasn't. He states this as do other children in his class.

Again, that's not always negative. If he's worked at or before the new Early Years Framework then pretty much all of his day would look like play but that doesn't mean it is only play. An iPad may be part of the adaptation for a Year Two classroom rather than how it would be in a Reception classroom. However, it doesn't sound like that's the case here.

The main thing is that you don't seem to have a clear idea of where/how/when he is accessing what curriculum and why he's doing it that way. The school hasn't communicated this to you and it's that you need to know in order to take anything further here.

I really wish it was an adaptation. He's obsessed with Thomas the tank engine. He tells me that he logs onto a website he loves where he can like minecraft build but in this case it's train tracks.

The Head stated nothing gets him to engage and in the same breath refuses to get extra help from outside agencies. I know he needs a different placement.

The hardest part is I always knew this day would come.

It sounds like the EHCP is at least part of the problem. Request either a reassessment of needs or early review to improve it and tighten it up. Then if it isn’t followed you can enforce it. Do you think with the right support MS can meet DS’s needs?

in all honesty no - he's brilliant but not at all suited to mainstream.