As a teacher to be surprised at how many in my class have SEN?

[Floatingcactus]

I teach a reception class of 26. 4 of them have an EHCP plan, 6 are waiting assessment and at least another 4 are showing possible signs of SEN including speech delay.

I’ve been teaching for 10 years and I personally believe there is an increase.
I don’t know if lockdown plays a part or whether it’s down to other factors.

The absolute decimation of early intervention services like children's centres is having an effect on children starting school?? Well, who would have thought??? 🙄🙄🙄

Interesting thread. I work in a secondary and in every class there are one or two students who have medical passes to leave the classroom to go to the toilet.
All students have open access to toilets between lessons lunch and break and so on. To minimise disruption students are told not to wait until lessons. But every lesson someone goes off for a toilet trip with a medical card.
This is new to me in the last few years. I was so amazed I actually checked. There are more than 60 students who are designated in medical need of frequent use of the toilet! I do think this is odd.

And now they’re coming back, as family hubs. Plus ça change…

I work in SEN. I think some posters might be conflating issues - having SEN obviously doesn’t automatically mean getting an EHCP so a potential over diagnosis of SEN means more on the register not more with EHCPs.

The reasons for the explosion of SEN are many and complex IME - there’s a vast difference between a child being diagnosed with autism who may or may not require additional support to a child with incredibly complex trauma who comes to school every morning in fight or flight mode.

The appalling cuts to the education budget have also cut services to the bone and schools (rightly) see a child having an EHCP as meaning they can access a few extra pounds to support them whereas 12 years ago we had far more TAs that were able to support without the need for a TA.

In summary, the system is fucked and the damage it’s doing to the children and families is incalculable. It’s a national disgrace.

I think it is also possible OP that your school has a good reputation for SEN, so more apply, or that because it is undersubscribed (? 26 is not 30) parents of children with SEN know this and apply there thinking the smaller classes will help.

Trust me, when you have a child referred for ASD/ ADHD assessment, they’re all over your parenting (even when you have other children who are patented in exactly the same way and have no issues).

I think you'll find parenting has become a very much more rigorous and hands-on affair than it was, for example, in the 1970s and 80s.

I agree @HedwigIsMyDemon - many children are experiencing trauma manifesting as additional needs.

Yup. Not a typo. 3 children with 1:1s who are mostly out of class but no in class TA. Its stressful to say the least!

Quite.

We have a lot of need in my year currently but my goodness, the parents.

As I like my A-level students to say in their essay conclusions, this is a complex issue with no clear answers.

Personally I noticed my daughter's SEN during lockdown as I had a chance to observe her trying and failing to learn at "computer school". It would have taken longer to gather the evidence and get a diagnosis without that experience.

My builder is dyslexic, was ignored at school and left with no qualifications (his sister has a degree). Fortunately for him he's very successful.

I think it's a mix of more awareness, higher standards (in terms of it's thankfully not ok to just ignore students' lack of progress in the classroom any more) and Covid delays, exacerbated by large class size and a high student to staff ratio.

What it is absolutely is not is easier diagnosis. It is extremely hard to get a diagnosis or any effective support in the UK unless you can pay. The score here so far is £4k us, £0 local authority (unless you count what they spend on admin and lawyers).

Oh, FFS. 🙄

SEMH is an additional need. But yes, trauma is definitely a factor.

Regarding behaviour, probably the outward effect of more stress on families trying to make ends meet. For primary we could also throw I to the mix students starting school before they're ready and an inappropriate curriculum.

Same with my school. I personally thinks it's a combination of dealyed early diagnosis, partly down to COVID and slashing of specialist provision. I believe we need many more specialist units attached to primary schools.

delayed

All of that will not change the fact that these are conditions kids are born with.

You can't parent your way out of a life long disorder

Our area hasn't done 2 year checks for years, unless you request one. Baby clinics are few and few between too.

2 year check used to be a good opportunity to catch speech delay and give an opportunity to address it before school. Hardly adequate in itself but better than nothing. But when they are only done at parental request, they are much less of a safety net.

It's so sad to in many classes think that it's not just 2 or 3 kids in a class of 30, it's a 1/3, or in OP's case it's nearly 1/2. That's not manageable for any teacher.

@alltheevennumbers hmm that’s an interesting assertion - yes much more hands on (in some cases) but also far fewer boundaries. I wouldn’t have dreamed of behaving or speaking to my parents in the 80s the way parents let their kids speak to them now. No or few boundaries at home cause untold issues for schools.

I think lockdown must play a part. So, for example, we know that doing rhymes and songs with young children are massively beneficial. In communication, vocabulary, coordination etc. All the toddler groups, rhymes times at library's etc shut down.

During this time young children's lives just got smaller. No trips to the supermarket with mum or dad, naming fruit or veg, less little trips out. It must have played its part.

At the same time, early help services have just been removed. So, things that could be improved with OT or speech therapy, are not, and the gap.is widening.

Surestart centres have closed, less opportunity for kids to do things like messy play, which we know are great for young kids, but parents (including me) sometimes don't want to do at home.

Maybe some mum's and dad's spend too much time on phones and not enough time talking to and reading to young children. Judgy I know.

@Willyoujustbequiet SEN doesn’t just cover conditions that children are born with though. Many children get EHCPs due to years of neglect that can manifest itself in all sorts of ways in school.

But equally then we can’t put it down to support services being reduced because of the same reasons?

How would this avoid a neurological disorder that could be genetic in nature?

You may as well say stricter boundaries will prevent left handedness.

@Moonicorn early intervention is vital and life changing for all children with SEN. The lack of support services has devastating consequences for families needing this intervention to support their children.