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?

The £6000 is a myth, they don't have to be spending it for an EHCP to be awarded. 2 of my children were successful in applying for EHCP without the money being spent because the school failed to recognise their needs in the first place!

Our school laid it on thick with extra sats sessions for all. Not unusual.

They absolutely can read it for her, my dyslexic DD had a reader for her SATS as well as extra time.

OP get your parental request for an EHCP in ASAP, you want it in place before she starts high school. At this stage all you have to show is she meets the threshold for assessment which despite what school and the LA may try to tell isn't actually that high. Your LA will have a service that supports parents through the SEND process, it's often called SENDIASS or something similar, you should be able to find details on the SEND page on your council website. I would also email school outlining the conversation about not doing SATS to 'clarify what they meant' (which is just a way to get it in writing so they can't later claim they didn't say what they said)

@Maiyakat you can’t have a reader for the reading paper, she could have a reader for the maths papers.

Absolutely this!!! My DD’s school were absolutely not spending £6000 on her. They were spending next to nothing and she had years of severe SEND unrecognised until the wheels fell off- successful EHCP application and EHCP granted straight away without the need for any battles or tribunals.

As a very broad yardstick you need a reading age of 9 years old to be able to independently access secondary school learning materials. As other posters have said you do not need to wait for school to request an EHCP needs assessment. You can do it yourself. The IPSEA website has lots of advice for parents and standard letters that you can use.

Sitting SATS is a red herring here. But I would be going ballistic at the school for the complete cognitive dissonance between them refusing to refer and then saying she shouldn't sit them.

The irony!

And look, you will need to get an EHCP there are some amazing schools for SEN kids but none of them are in the state sector unfortunately in my experience.

There are also educational consultants out there who can help you get the EHCP if you can afford to do that. I went to one for something different but they helped me massively.

I'm so sorry they've done this to you and your daughter.
Sats are a reflection on the school more than the children. Let her sit them but always convince her there's no pressure to do well or even finish the paper.
They've not helped her so do not let them basically hide her and her needs that they are not meeting and apply for an ehcp yourself and if you get a no go to mediation and plead your case.

I have not rtft, sorry, as I need to start work, but wanted to say that my son's year 6 sat results were vital in securing an echp in high school. He had done well in his year 6 sats and high school failings didn't maintain his trajectory. It could be of value to either have the year 6 sat results, or a report from the school setting out why she should not sit them. There has to be written, supported evidence, not just a throwaway request at the end of a meeting!

Also my son was refused an echp the first time, it took changing to a new high school and them having a powerhouse of a senco who drove the process, the local council was also awful and we had to fight for it. I would say having the support of a committed senco is vital, I would start a conversation with the high school as soon as her place is confirmed.

SATS don’t benefit the child at all!
All the results are for is the school, so they can show off in the school league charts!

Lots of secondary schools use SATS to determine academic streams and set flight path for GCSE grade targets. But not all, it seems our grammar school doesn’t use them.

Hi Op
Similar experience. I raised concerns every year from year 1 with class teachers and Senco. School would not test for dyslexia. Had to go private. Dyslexia confirmed end of year 5. Mild, but enough to mean child was never reaching ARE. School still didn’t provide appropriate support.

By start of year 6 I was incandescent. I organised a meeting Head and Senco Governor. Took them through school experience chronologically and where in my view they had failed repeatedly, year on year (politely!) Then explained what they needed to do to ensure support for all the children with dyslexia (several with dyslexia, all unsupported). Put it all in writing so on record.

School had to accept what I had said was true - factual and evidence based. There was no defence. Child and a number of others with dyslexia were then needs assessed, individual plans produced, did their SATS and were given extra time, prompts, readers, whatever they needed. Took 7 years to get the school to act!!

My child actually did well in SATS in the end, with support. Now in year 7 at a secondary school with good management of learning needs. Wishing you all the very best xx

It's heartbreaking as a parent to see that you kid wants to learn but just can't do it as easily as others. Aside from the academic side, you also want them to fit in and not to be 'othered'.

I'd go back to the place where you got the private report done. Ask them about next steps. Take advice / second opinion from someone outside of the school.

I wouldn't be fussed about SATs . Reset this in your mind- and your daughter's mind. Take a holiday during SATs week- if you can afford it, take her away somewhere. Private school kids don't sit SATs. sats were cancelled during COVID. Re prioritise their importance.

I'd spend your time and energy now on looking at secondary. Which is the best school for your daughter? Focus on this. On the future.

I always keep two things in my mind 'its a marathon not a sprint' and 'is this a hill I want to die on'.

Your child clearly has a life long disability.

Gather your emails & meeting notes.

Complaints procedure to council.
Ombudsman complaint.

This was my experience. School said he was “fine” what was actually happening was he was masking. They said they knew better than the professionals who had assessed him because they saw him every day. The LA accepted he needed an EHCP when I said I was going to tribunal after they initially refused. School were spending nowhere near £6000 on supporting him.

A Head and Deputy Head in Manchester have just been banned from teaching for off-rolling children for GCSEs so it didn't affect their results.

I'd make an official come to the Governors about this, and their poor support for a child who is obviously struggling.

If she doesn't have additional needs, why haven't they simply been able to educate her properly? So they've failed there by their own logic.

You need to sort it before she goes to secondary school.

Trust run secondaries (certainly where i live) are so focused on results that they treat kids with additional needs so badly, they end up being removed by parents as they're so anxious and unhappy. So they're not excluding them, but almost like a 'constructive dismissal'. Having an EHCP in place would negate some of that.

I'm so sorry, your poor child.

Off rolling isn’t the same thing as disapplying a pupil from SATs. Off rolling is where the pupil isn’t registered as attending the school.

I have had a similar bad experience with my daughter's state primary refusing to admit she had any needs - despite her being in the intervention groups, what worked for us was giving up on the state system, paying for private assessments and moving to an independent school - obviously this isn't financially viable for everyone but DD's school is full of children whose needs - autism, adhd, dyslexia, dyspraxia were ignored in the local state primaries. Parents should not have to do this, but if you can afford it and can find a school that can address her needs its amazing what progress can be made. My DDis thriving.

In any case I'd be looking for a tutor as if she is reading at year 2 level she won't be able to keep up in secondary.

The school sounds awful

Oh come on. This is either a fundamental misunderstanding of what the term "safeguarding" means, or deliberately over-egging the pudding.

OP has some legitimate grievances around lack of SEN provision for her DD, poor communication from school and the way the situation has been handled. If she wants to follow the schools complaints procedure regarding these issues then she has every right to, but throwing around the word "safeguarding" incorrectly in an attempt to dramatise the situation is unnecessary and undermines the very valid points she has to make.

OP, I work in Education and I also have two children with SEND. There is some good advice, but also some absolute nonsense on this thread. It is completely normal for children working at Year 2 level to be removed from SATs and as many people have said, the school have nothing to gain from removing your DD in terms of results. There is no point in your DD attending SATS booster sessions if she cannot access the work, but this should be handled sensitively in a way that doesnt impact her self esteem. IME it absolutely can be detrimental to children when their parents insist on them taking SATS and they aren't working at Y3 level or above. So the school aren't unreasonable to suggest sparing your DD from this. Where they ARE unreasonable is the lack of SEN support, lack of communication and actively discouraging you from putting in a parental request for an EHCP. Maybe they're right and your DD won't get one (not being entered for SATS due to cognition and learning needs does not necessarily guarantee she will meet the criteria for an EHCP as some posters have claimed) but you won't know until you apply, and you have every right as a parent to do so.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience but teachers are not qualified to test for dyslexia which is why they won't do it and where I've worked, for at least the last 15 years, the LA no longer assess either so the only option is private. It falls under Education not Health so also can't be done within the NHS. Schools can only do unofficial assessments which might show something like 'at risk of dyslexia'.

The HT doesn’t need your consent to disapply DD from the SATS. The guidance explicitly states the HT has the final decision, although they should discuss it with you. DD would still count towards the statistics.

Request an EHCNA yourself. Ignore the school telling you DD won’t get one. Schools often tell parents their DC won’t get or don’t need an EHCP, but parents go on to successfully apply themselves even if they have to appeal. The only threshold you need to consider first is that for an EHCNA. It is relatively low a) has or may have SEN, and b) may need special educational provision to be made via an EHCP. That is the same whatever LA you live in. Any other test, such as needing to have spent £6k or having needs other than cognition and learning, is unlawful.

Be careful with SENDIASS. Some are good, but many repeat the LA’s unlawful policies. Reading IPSEA and SOSSEN’s websites is a better source of information.

Funding issues mean that she would probably not get a 1:1 even with an EHCP

The OP may have to appeal in order to get 1:1 detailed, specified and quantified in F of an EHCP, but if 1:1 is in F, it can and must be provided. It can be enforced if it isn’t. Lack of funding and resources are not lawful excuses for breach of section 42 of the Children and Families Act 2014. EHCPs can be fully funded, but LAs won’t do so unless forced.

A PP nailed it with "cognitive dissonance"
If she's not working at a level appropriate to be assessed by SATs, why is she not receiving appropriate support to meet her needs?
If she's not doing SATs because she's working below that level, what will she be taught between now and May? How will they differentiate for her needs and to enable her to progress? The pupil from DS2's class who did not sit them already had heavily differentiated teaching with a 1:1 support assistant.

There was a significant number of DS2's class who had accommodations to support them in the tests for various reasons, and DS2's was dyslexia.

I found primary very inconsistent with recognising and supporting learning difficulties. DS1 had some support in y2-4 until Covid hit. Awkwardly just before that he got his autism diagnosis and it became near impossible to have clear conversations with the school. Online parents meetings were a disaster and made it incredibly difficult to have a two-way conversation. In y6, school refused to support with SATs because "he was doing well enough" 🤦‍♀️ I let them shoot themselves in the foot by that point. He was going to a supportive secondary, and he'll benefit from the value added and reduced pressure at GCSE as his target grades are low, but the school recignises his strengths. He failed to reach his prediction for SATs "because he was anxious", well whaddya know, that's exactly why autistic (with a side order of dyslexic, dyspraxic) children are eligable for accomidations!

DS2 had finally had a better teacher by y6 after years of his needs not being recognised and being brushed off as coz covid. The teacher responded when I said about DS1's outcomes and DS2 finally got what he needed and came out with meeting his targets. Self esteem is a bigger issue for DS2 so those grades mattered more to him personally.

Now they're in secondary. Their needs are taken seriously and they are thriving. I've done a lot behind the scenes and DS2 still has tutoring to plug the gaps. I echo what PPs have said about Toe by Toe.
Having a child struggling with decoding, we use audio books a lot to enhance access to vocabulary and access more stimulating texts, and go for more accessible, fun books for DS to read. We share reading and take turns.

Good luck OP. It's hard enough when you can see your child struggling, but a bloody nightmare when you've got a school that won't engage and support.

I agree with the posters who have suggested applying for an EHCP yourself. It’s apparent that DD has a significant learning disability, which requires additional provision to help her access the curriculum.

It’s also clear that she is working at a level below that required to cope with the SATs paper, as per guidelines. She will count in the statistics even if disapplied, as has been said.

The school has served her and you, badly, no doubt about that. Whats important is what can be put in place to support her in the future and I’d focus on that.

I would hope that whilst the other pupils are doing practise SATS work the DD will be given work that is more her level to help bring her levels up. No point giving her a past KS2 SATS reading comprehension paper if she can't access it.

I would also hope that the class are not solely concentrating on SATS. That is very much frowned upon by Ofsted, they should be continuing work on other curriculum areas. It does not sound like a good school, failing OP's DD and heaping the pressure on the other children.