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?

Good point. I think I feel that my child isn't being stretched enough which is probably nothing to do with SEN stats. I mean I don't know how many with SEN are in my child's class in particular.

She shouldn't have told me it should she.

Agree that Covid has had a huge impact on all children, but those Y1s would have been 2/3 years old. Completely isolated from everyone else, no social skills being developed, parents may have been working from home so may not have had full attention of an adult, all whilst the Dc were going through such important developmental stages.

I’m surprised it’s not more than 30%

And yes, your governor friend should really be keeping her mouth shut.

@Powersout the SENDCo puts them on the register and then will update official school records to show if they have an EHCP or not. If pupils transfer schools, this often follows them so a new school will see when they were put on the SEND register or taken off it.

Having a diagnosis doesn't actually mean a child has to be on the SEND register as they may cope brilliantly with good classroom teaching.

It's not as simple as that.
Presumably a certain percentage of children on the SEN register will likely have an EHCP, if they name a school that meets the child's needs and provision they can achieve a placement without being in the local area.
A proportion will be foster children that have priority alongside SEN as well.

Governor here, also very surprised and concerned that your friend shared that confidential information with you.

“And yes, your governor friend should really be keeping her mouth shut.”

Governor meetings aren’t totally confidential. The minutes are available for anyone to read. SEN percentages aren’t a secret! They’ll be on any Ofsted report and any other relevant info. ‘Keeping her mouth shut’ is not a nice expression in education where appropriate reporting and accountability is very important.

My last school in a very deprived area- average class had at least 40 % SEND.

Social and emotional need was huge for us .

Lots of children have speech and language ( especially in the juniors )

ASD
ADHD
ODD

Then children with hearing aids /

So 12/30 children (40%) was not that high.

Some classes had 60%

Sounds like the school must be really on the ball if they've identified that many children with additional learning needs already by year one!
SEN doesn't mean behavioural problems or disruptive. A teacher would have to be able to modify teaching a wide range of abilities with or without SEN. I would wait and see how it goes, as this is not necessarily a problem at all. It really depends how the class is managed.

Oh really, that's good to know. It hadn't actually occurred to me that it would be confidential before reading this post - not like the figures were attributed to classes or she knew names!

@Powersout what I will add is that many strategies used for SEND children in a mainstream setting can benefit all children. E.g. a visual timetable on the board to help with transitions for autistic pupils can be helpful for all children know the plan for the day/week.

Who are you a governor for? Hogwarts? Some shady secret society? It’s not confidential. Lots of people and outside agencies need and will be given that information. It’ll be on the public copy of the minutes. If your school are hiding information like that then the governors are not doing their job.

Teaching strategies that support children with SEN benefit the entire class if done well and doesn't need to hinder the progress of other children. What is more concerning is when it isn't done well and the children have challenging behaviour due to in appropriate teaching

Being on the SEN register does not mean the child isn't academic either, DD has ASD and always been top of the class but needs some support with noisy unstructured time.

It could be a medical condition, kidney, heart, mobility, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, speech and language, sensory issues with eyes or ears all sorts which will already have been picked up. Dyslexia, ADHD, ASD and similar conditions are more likely to be picked up at 8 or 9 years or even as they start secondary.

One of our local primary schools put the percentage on their website it's around a third

Thanks. My DD also likes a lot of structure and can be quite hypersensitive so any strategies they're putting in place for emotional regulation can't be a bad thing.

I was just going to say, there can be some real benefits to non-SEN children sharing a classroom with SEN children.

So you think gossiping with a friend about children known to the friend is “appropriate reporting”?

The Governor has shared a statistic it's not exactly private or confidential information. She's not gone through the 33% and said which children have SEN or what their issues are

Not sure where you are a governor but I clerk in many schools, both secondary and primary and regularly record SEN numbers in minutes which are a public document!

Governors should and must be questioning
SEN numbers, where needs are based and what resources are available. That challenge is crucial to governance and is recorded as such.

This is not confidential information and does not break any GDPR/DP legislation.

Anyone is entitled to ask for a copy of governor minutes (some schools publish on website) once they have been formally approved at the subsequent meeting.

@Screamingabdabz well, aren’t you pleasant.
Confidential information should be dealt with on a ‘need to know’ basis, a Governor telling her friend about how many kids are on SEN register is not appropriate. This level of information would not be on our minutes and shouldn’t be used for gossiping about the school.

She has merely quoted a percentage which is probably already on the school’s website somewhere. If she’d given personal information that would be a different story. Governors have a safeguarding responsibility and subscribe to the values of public good - the idea that she should ‘keep her mouth shut’ sounds sinister. It’s not the mafia.

Sigh. 🙄

It wasn't really used in the context of 'gossip'. I was talking about the effect of Covid actually and she said that there 33% SEN in my DDs year (latest intake with stats) compared to about half that in Y6.

I don’t think your friend should be a school governor.

If you don't think she's being stretched enough it's worth talking to the teacher, I certainly wouldn't mention the SEN stats though.

I think there's roughly that percentage in my DD's class. She's also on the register despite being very able academically and well behaved. SEN doesn't automatically mean disruptive so I'd put this knowledge to the back of your mind.

Ooh, another late night SEN/ND thread. 🤔

IF the thread is based on a real situation, the company you keep says a lot about you. An unprofessional, gossipy, judgy friend. Lovely. 😅