To not understand how a third of Y1 has SEN?

[Powersout]

I mean of course it's possible but statistically wouldn't this be very unlikely? My daughter is Y1 in a mainstream state school, 2 form entry so 60 kids in all. I have a friend who is a governor and she has told me that there are 20 kids in the year with SEN and that she learnt this last year when they were in Reception. I have to admit that I wasn't totally sure as to what counts as SEN but even after looking at the definition I'm puzzled as to how so many kids had recognised SEN in Reception - if they had ADHD or dyslexia then this wouldn't have been diagnosed at this point would it? What counts as a SEN diagnosis - could a parent just state that their child is anxious on an entry form and this go down as SEN?

I have to admit that I am a little concerned about the impact of my child's teacher having to deal with all these additional needs and teach the kids who don't have SEN at an appropriate level. I know that they have to tailor the curriculum accordingly but I'm worried my DDs progress could be hindered somewhat.

Am I being unreasonable to find this level of SEN shocking and be concerned about the impact on my child?

Sounds about right for a country dead set on pushing kids with complex needs into mainstream in order to save money.

SEN stands for Special Educational Needs. This doesn't just mean learning difficulties or diagnosis like autism but could include things like a child requiring a wheelchair or being diabetic or having epilepsy.
Things that will have little effect on their learning but may require a few things in the classroom to be changed.

Your governor friend is the one being unreasonable, I’m afraid.
I presume she realises that being a school governor is a big responsibility and that she should not be sharing the confidential information.
As a teacher, I find your post extremely worrying.

That does seem a high percentage. Sometimes a school has a good reputation for looking after children with SEN, so more parents of SEN children apply there.

Your friend shouldn't have been sharing that information tbh

33% isn’t unheard of, but is higher than the national % of pupils with SEN.

The definition of SEN is set out in s20, CAFA 2014:
20 When a child or young person has special educational needs
(1) A child or young person has special educational needs if he or she has a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her.
(2) A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she—
(a) has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or
(b) has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions.
(3) A child under compulsory school age has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she is likely to be within subsection (2) when of compulsory school age (or would be likely, if no special educational provision were made).
(4) A child or young person does not have a learning difficulty or disability solely because the language (or form of language) in which he or she is or will be taught is different from a language (or form of language) which is or has been spoken at home.

A diagnosis isn’t required for pupils to have SEN.

A lot of SEN in Reception classes will be speech & language related. Hearing or sight impairments. Some will be developmental delays or autism/suspected autism.

It can include dyspraxia, hypermobility and hearing loss (which my youngest GC has). I'd say that is the situation in her class, tragically one little boy is going blind, one has down syndrome and there is a mix of other conditions. With my eldest DD and my youngest it was apparent by reception that they had additional needs. My eldest GC had a bowel condition which has now been corrected. I don't know if having a MPA would come under her use of additional needs. Inclusivity was never going to work, without the funding and training that never happened.

""What counts as a SEN diagnosis - could a parent just state that their child is anxious on an entry form and this go down as SEN?""

No, but you could have asked her and reminded her about confidentiality.

They are also the covid children - the ones who missed out on normal social development during their formative years as a result of lockdowns.

Covid

No diagnosis is needed to be put on the SEN register. However, if a child is put on the SEN register then they are saying this child needs more than just good quality teaching; they need different strategies or adaptations in order to learn successfully. It's not something you'd casually just put children on as you then have the responsibility of putting these extra measures in to place such as writing SEN plans, communicating more regularly with parents/carers, monitoring the SEN pupils, comparing data to children who are not on the SEN register and so on.

You can absolutely be put on the SEN register for anxiety as per your example in the OP (this would come under social, emotional and mental health) but only if it requires provisions or strategies over and above typical good classroom teaching.

If your friend hadn't told you the figures would you have been worried?

@IdaPrentice makes a great point too.

Oh, that's really enlightening, thanks. So it would be the teacher who puts them on the SEN register?

When l was teaching couple of years back in a very leafy secondary, we had loads of kids on the register. I clearly remember 2 y7 classes that had 90% SEN. 45-50 % was the norm. It was never 33%

It will be the SENCO of the school who does so.

But unless they have an EHCP then they have no priority do they? The school is really oversubscribed so siblings and catchment take all the places I'd guess.

Both of my children are or were on SEN register (one isn't any longer as her issues are resolved) but both are ahead academically.

She had glue ear and hearing and speech sounds were delayed. Her support was sitting near front, making sure staff looking at her so she could lip read and having 5/10 mins speech therapy daily. No longer on SEN register but was in R and yr 1.

Other one very academically capable and well behaved in school. Is autistic and needs movement breaks/ELSA/check ins to ensure she doesn't blow up at home and stays happy and willing to go to school. but causes no issues to other children/class teacher or disruption in class.

Not all those on SEN register will need significant adjustments.

Some people use sen as a catch all term for anyone with some additional needs or requirements. That could be anything from a severe learning disability to someone with visual perception issues or epilepsy for example. No diagnosis is required for someone to be classed as having special educational needs. While I understand your worry in a way often the requirements or additional needs are easily addressed and managed without disruption. A couple of dc I know for example: one requires a snack mid morning and afternoon due to a medical condition and so just eats a bar at her desk, one needs a visual timetable on her desk, one needs low lighting. Of course some children will have greater needs and could require more of the teachers time or become dysregulated. I doubt all of the 20 have such needs though.
For what it's worth my own dd and 3 of her friends would be classed as sen under a catch all term, they are the brightest and most well behaved in the class. They are the class reps and what have you so it's not all doom and gloom.

Also your friend should not have shared that info with you as it's confidential.

90%!! That must suggest that kids with SEN are being moved into catchment.

As I posted, it isn’t unheard of for 33% (or even higher) of a year group to have SEN, but it is higher than the national %.

It would be unusual for 90% of a year group to have SEN, but I suspect that wasn’t the case in the example you gave and it was higher in those 2 classes you mention and a lower % in the other classes in the year group. This may be because of setting, streaming, having a nature group, targeting support or some other reason.

When l was teaching couple of years back in a very leafy secondary, we had loads of kids on the register. I clearly remember 2 y7 classes that had 90% SEN. 45-50 % was the norm. It was never 33%

90%! Wow. How did the school make adequate provision for all those children? Do you think it had a detrimental impact on the academic progress of the children w/o SEN?

I would be more concerned that a school governor has no understanding of confidentiality, GDPR and safeguarding and would suggest that training in these areas is needed urgently.

Some parents move in order to get a place at a more supportive school. Some schools have an exceptional social and medical needs admission criteria which a minority of cases may fall under. Looked after children receive priority and are statistically more likely to have SEN.

SEND numbers and challenging behaviours are going through the roof in state schools.

No one seems to know why and schools are at crisis point with no budget, demoralised exhausted staff and TAs leaving because they can get more money stacking shelves.

There seems to be a professional pride and a martyr mentality amongst teaching staff that prevents them from loudly announcing and protesting in the streets about this but it’s happening.