To feel upset about DD being removed from SATS?

[Risingmountains]

I don't know how to feel about this.
I'm upset about it, and I don't know if I am BU.
DD has a diagnosis of severe dyslexia. She is aged 11, in school year 6.
She is currently reading monster phonics books stage 10, which is for year 2 children.
So she is reading 4 school years behind her actual age.
It's been a long, fraught battle with the school to acknowledge her learning difficulties and a fight with them to accept she had a diagnosable condition. They point blank refused to refer her for any assessments. They all absolutely insisted she wasn't dyslexic when I kept telling all different teachers and the Senco that I thought she was. I eventually paid for private assessment at end of year 4 which diagnosed her as severely dyslexic, with very poor working memory, dysgraphia and likely dyscalculia.
Since then they've spent a year refusing to apply for an EHCP, telling me she won't meet the criteria. I've asked several times at several meetings to several different staff including 2 teachers and 2 different Sencos, and they're all refusing to apply for her.
I cant understand why.
Now she's in year 6, and her teacher and the deputy head have told me they don't want her to sit her SATS but have said they need my consent to remove her. They caught me off guard because I had actually asked for a meeting with them about something entirely different, which we discussed, and then once I thought we'd finished, right at the very end as I was putting my coat on, they suddenly said by the way they don't want her to sit her SATS. They said she won't be able to perform in them because of her reading, spelling and maths delay. The deputy head said "It would be cruel to make her sit them".
I wasn't prepared for this to be brought up at a meeting about something different, and felt like they sprung it on me.
I asked for a few days to think about it.
And now I'm full of questions.

1. How is it they refuse to apply for an EHCP for her because they say she doesn't meet the criteria, yet they want to remove her from the SATS because 'she won't be able to do them'.
2. Are they removing her because they don't want her poor results to bring down their overall results? I feel really sceptical about this, but am I right or am I wrong to be suspicious about this?
3. Is it true that it would be cruel if she sat them? Surely she would only answer what she knows? My DD is a very bright, intelligent girl. She is a brilliant learner. But her dyslexia locks her out of reading and spelling to the age she should be able to perform at.
4. Will it affect how she feels about herself being the only one in the class to not sit her SATS? Isn't this singling her out from the rest of the class? I don't want her to feel like she can't do them and everyone else is. I'm trying so hard to keep her self esteem intact. I'm really worried that this exclusion will make her feel a failure.
5. I know the school is running constant extra sessions several days a week that all the year 6 kids are going to, all for SATS practice. Extra sessions after school and at lunchtimes of Enhlish and maths. Even all the super bright/advanced kids are doing these. However, DD is not doing them. No extra sessions at all. She's completely excluded. But noone told me she wouldn't be included, I've had to figure this out for myself and have only pieced it together by hearing about these extra sessions from lots of othef parents that im friends with. Why would the school exclude my DD from these sessions and not tell me about it? I can't get my head around this. If anyone needs extra sessions, it's my DD.
6. School have spent years telling me they don't have the resources to give DD extra support to help her. Years. And yet here they are magically creating extra sessions several days a week for 40 kids. AIBU to be furious about this?
7. DD is suddenly asking me why all her friends are going to extra maths and English lessons at lunch and after school when they are already good at reading and maths. She's asking why can't she go so that she can get better. What do I say to her about this? I'm at a loss.
8. What on earth is she going to do at school during SATS week?
9. Why can't she have a 1-1 staff member supporting her in her SATS? Why are the school simply wanting to remove her?

I feel like my DD is being let down by the school. I have had to fight so hard to get them to acknowledge her learning difficulties, they failed her for years, and now I feel like they're falling her again. Like they just want to remove her from their system. Part of me wants her to sit the SATS so that it shows that the school have made no progress with her reading and maths. Which they haven't. But on the other hand, is the deputy head right - would it be cruel to make her sit them? I feel like they've given up on my DD, but I don't know if I'm BU. If you could meet my DD, you'd see that she's the brightest, cleverest, most imaginative, radiant little girl who is brilliant at learning, is interested in everything, is inquisitive, is insightful, kind, empathic, has a fantastic sense of humour, is loved by her friends, she's honestly wonderful, and she is so, so desperate to learnt to read well. She doesn't deserve to be removed from data like this. But AIBU?

My DS is severely dyslexic. He went to a specialist secondary school for dyslexic students funded by the LA.
DS sat his SATs with the support of a TA as a reader and scribe.

Your DDs school should be supporting your DD to sit them. They have really failed your DD to get this far into her school journey without an EHCP.

I have totally refused to do is allow them to withdraw her from the SATS because they are going to wear those results in their end of year stats!!

Her not passing will be in the end of year stats if she doesn’t sit them, or fails them. All you are doing by refusing to withdraw her is letting her be traumatised by being tested on material she hasn’t been taught to do, making her feel even more stupid, and possibly creating test anxiety that will hamper her on future tests.

Sorry OP you've been badly let down as has your DD. They are putting all this extra time into other students and have ignored your DD's needs.

A similar thing happened to my DS. They were expecting him to fail his SATS so they didn't bother to give him extra tutoring but gave it to non dyslexic children who were likely to pass but were maybe on the cusp. I didn't realise for ages either. He passed two of them anyway.

Apply for an EHCP yourself now, ready for secondary. It will take a year anyway. Schools don't want to do it cos it's extra time and money. Especially primaries. Also start talking to her secondary school now if you know where she will go, or look into specialist. Find a good local EHCP support group as there are hoops to jump through.

She could have a scribe and someone to read the questions to her as an accommodation in SATS. Ask about this and push push push. I'd also ask your daughter how she feels about sitting them / not sitting them, and be led by her.

On the flip side, y6 is bloody miserable with all the extra maths and English so she's well off out of it if you ask me! Maybe time with a dyslexia tutor would be better for her. You may have to fund this yourself though.

Even when a child is dis-applied they still count towards the percentage. (Senco and primary teacher here)
Def apply yourself. The barrier you may find is that a school has to be spending 6000 pounds ‘extra’ on a child through support/provision for an EHCP to likely be considered. Hope you are successful 😊

Insist she sits them. Also ask them, ad verbatim, those questions you wrote down.

Most schools do a really lovely breakfast with the kids every week during SATs week. Can you imagine her missing out on that too?

The thing with SATs is that it’s meant to be about the school and the teachers strive to make the idea so commonplace during year 6 that they don’t feel nervous.

Your daughter is being hugely let down and I genuinely thing it needs serious looking into. The faults seem deep!!!

Some children who are disapplied want to be part of the experience so will be given work to do in the room whilst the others do the tests.

Sounds like they are discriminating against her for their own benefit (I.e. they don’t want her to take the exam because she might bring their average grading down). I would be very cross in your shoes OP. Don’t let them get away with it. Threaten to write to your local mp and paper if you have to and on the school’s Facebook page.

In my last school, children who had been disapplied sat a Year 2 paper, so they didn’t feel left out.

I haven't read the whole thread but we had similar battle throughout primary with our child.
My child couldn't cope with the SAT pressure and burnt out in the December/January of year 6. The constant SAT practice just wasn't good for her self esteem or mental health. She ended up unable to attend school for most of year 6.

The SATS are for schools benefit. No advantage to the pupils so personally I would have been quite happy to withdraw from SATs if this had been an option.

I understand the frustration over EHCP we are secondary school age and still fighting for support.
I would in your case ask them again to support EHCP application through. If they refuse start your own application

God, I'd be furious.
You could have got the EHCP on your own but whilst she is in school, the council would ask to speak to the school so realistically, you would have needed their support. Don't feel bad about that.
They sound completely pathetic. Unwilling to get extra help and then chickening out at the very last.
Make serious steps now. Try and get it in writing that they don't want her to take the test and then use that to get her much-needed EHCP before secondary.
I fought for my daughter and now she has that piece of paper, she happily goes into school getting the help that she so badly needed. I have requested that she doesn't sit the SATS - she's year 6 too. I guess though that her result may be further evidence for you. Good luck x

Her result or lack of will be counted in the school’s results whether she sits them or not. It makes no difference.

Don’t believe a word of what the teachers say to your face. I was a volunteer parent support for others going through the EHCP process, I have heard teachers and local authority staff tell absolute rubbish to dissuade parents.
it is a bit of a minefield to get started but with the help of ipsea/sos-sen and your local sendiass you’ll soon pick it up. The BS that parents are told is quite similar across the board so easy to refute. Honestly your DD’s sel-esteem will get worse if she is left out of the whole class movement towards Sats week. Teachers tend to do all sorts of stuff that is nice like Sats breakfasts and end of sats celebrations. And sadly it will be worse in secondary if she doesn’t have the right support.

I really wish I hadn't read this before bed because it's boiled my blood!

Some posters on here seem to have reading comprehension issues. Whether the DD sits the exams or not her stats will be included in school data, so no advantage for school to disapply her. Government guidance is if a child is working at KS1 level they should not be entered in KS2 SATS. This is for the child’s benefit not the schools.

There are strict rules about readers and scribes. Can’t have a reader for the reading paper apart from reading the general instructions.

I was told my son absolutely definitely wouldn’t get an EHCP by the Head & SENCO numerous times. I applied myself and it soon became clear my few hours ready up about the process meant I knew more about some of the process than the bloody SENCO did! He did get an EHCP but I moved him soon after before the Head was fuming that I’d proved her wrong and I was sick of their attitude and he was still unhappy.
There is loads of help available online and you can contact SENDIAS locally. Definitely don’t delay and apply ASAP for a needs assessment sending the dyslexia diagnosis report as evidence. Ask the school to put in writing that they want her not to sit the SATS and why then you can add that as well. Start a diary of everything that happens. I was also advised to follow up conversations with an email to confirm what was discussed then you have a record of the conversation. If school don’t reply saying they never said that, then it’s accepted as evidence for tribunals etc.

OP, the SATs are understandably a burning issue because you've just found out about the extra classes and that is yet another smack in the face - but have you just filled in and sent off your secondary application form (assuming you are going the state route)? What are the secondaries around your way like for dyslexia provision? I am not discounting at all the awful-sounding attitude of the primary, but maybe channel the rightly enormous frustration into getting the EHCP [urgent!] rather than fixating on the SATs [bit further away yet...]

Rather than making a complaint, make the same complaint but put it in as a safeguarding complaint - that they are harming your dd by not supporting her, by refusing to consider an ECHP and by wasting to take her out of SATS tests and the accompanying treats and support beforehand and afterwards.

That way the school need to take it more seriously, have to give you a reply and make sure that you are happy with the outcome and also it should be seen by Ofsted inspectors the next time the school is inspected.

The schoo it as it’s more work for them but if they hadn’t treated yo/your dd so badly it wouldn’t have been necessary.

good luck…

Their attitude absolutely reeks of disability discrimination.

I had the opposite problem. My son’s school were completely unsupportive until year 5 when they ran booster sessions for the least academically able. He missed lessons like DT, Art and RE to do extra sessions in spelling, guided reading and handwriting (his maths is fine ) - 3 sessions a week !! He was in a group of 5 and made light years of progress. I was livid because I was after this help for years but they didn’t help until SATS. I couldn’t decline the help so I had to bite my tongue. In year 5 he was getting 3/20 in spelling. In the final thing he got 11/20 and was gobsmacked.

In my son’s case, he wouldn’t have been discouraged if given a paper that was too hard for him. If my child was sensitive then I’d want to withdraw them but I’d need them to explain how they were going to deal with my child without making them feel shit.

How has she been excluded from booster sessions when every other child can go? Was there not a general letter out to the whole class offering boosters? If they personally invited everyone except your child then that's a massive issue. Is that what they did?

Of course she shouldn't be sitting them. She'll sit them, and fail, all because you want her to be like the rest of the class when she isn't.

I think she should sit the exam with extra time and a reader.

please apply with ECHP and ask for her to attend the extra classes. School priorities the ‘bright’ kids and tend to focus on them.

I personally would get her an English tutor at home at who understands dyslexia. They are clever tricks to help you read and write when dyslexic. Also we live in the world of ChatGPT/ AI which also can help.

The school is acting appallingly but as regards there failure to test your daughter or look for a diagnosis, dyslexia testing has been unavailable where I am for over a decade. Paying privately is the only option.

Regarding SATS booster sessions, I can't speak for others, but in our school these are run by y6 teachers who are ordered by SLT to volunteer their own time!
Specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, rarely get an ECHP - only 10%. You are blaming the wrong people, there is no money in the system! You need to level your criticism at your MP!

You haven't said much about your secondary choices which is 100 % where you should be putting your efforts at this point. I am not too familiar with ehcps for children with a dyslexia diagnosis as often the diagnosis report says an awful lot and if it is implemented then job done. Have you chosen a school who will do this at secondary?

The next most important thing would then be preparing her for secondary - at this stage I'd be giving up on the school for this and considering a tutor or similar - even during the school day, and using year 6 for enjoying the experience, social reasons etc.

I think you are on a hiding to nothing hoping the school is going to suddenly meet all of your daughters needs in the middle of y6 having not done so before. Whether you should have considered moving her is now irrelevant because you didn't.

I also wonder how aware of her difficulties your daughter is. I have 2 children with sen and they both are fully aware of it. My son is severely dyslexic too and again knows this. I regularly discuss with him what he can or can't do and where he needs "extra help". In respect of his sats - when / if this comes up I will expect to have a conversation with him and take his view. These kids know they fail spelling every week, it will not be a surprise to hear there is a test they might fail. Some will want to do it anyway, others not so. Whilst such difficulties can be upsetting for kids it is our job to steer them through and prepare them for life.
Fwiw I couldn't care less about sats. It is a measure of schools. One of my other children got full marks across the board, it won't be making any difference to her life and I will suggest she doesn't put it on her CV.

Good luck op, stay cool and support your dd for the long game