Teacher gave us SNAP-IV form out of the blue - AIBU?

[primmy713]

I have a child in year 5, and since she was little, we have always been told by teachers that she often day dreams in class. We are very well aware, and sometimes getting her to sit and start her schoolwork can take a few prompts, but she always completes it and does very well. Her test scores over the past few years have been very good, and she enjoys school a lot. She's quite social, and like any girl her age chats to her friends (and sometimes in class!), but other than that we've always been told she's a good, kind and respectful student, and her tests scores prove the same.

She has a teacher this year who I always thought was just OK. But we never complain, we just get on with it. At our first parent teacher conference this year, she complained how our daughter fidgets in class and struggles to focus. We worked really hard with her over the past month, and now she's nailing all her subjects and one of the top performers in her class.

Last week during our parent teacher meeting, her teacher presented us a SNAP-IV form and said she believes our daughter suffers from ADHD and can't sit in her seat. She said that she often will get up in a lesson to sharpen her pencil, and it takes a few prompts to get her to start her school work, and somehow she always manages to finish them.

She never shared her answers for the form, but my husband and I filled one out ourselves and met with the SEND coordinator who reviewed our two forms, and said that the teacher had 18 marks against her vs our 7, so she probably wouldn't quality for ADHD support, but all agreed that her taking her time to start assignments was a red flag. She asked about her reading ability, and I explained that she's an avid bookworm who can read fluently. Her last set of state test scores show reading at 125 and grammar at 121.

So I am really not sure what to do with this information, besides explaining to my daughter to take school more seriously by not leaving your chair during lessons, and disrupting the teacher by talking to classmates etc. I am a bit angry and annoyed, why did she wait to share this? Is this normal behaviour to spring this on a parent with a SNAP IV form?

No not all - very organised. She knows where everything is. She's involved in a lot of activities/ sports etc and always packs everything the night before.

Same for school lunches, she has a look at the menu, and if she doesn't like what's on it, she will get up earlier, pack her own lunch...

What were the things the school put on the form?

I don't know - she didn't share it with us unfortunately. I was told by the SENDCO she would send it over to us, but it's been a week and nothing...

It’s not.

it’s not needed for all.

there are also several different types of meditation options and at different strengths.

I expect my Y3s to start a task immediately. Children often mess about for their parents (my own do the same) but in school it is expected that children start a task as soon as they have been given the instructions. This is achievable for the vast majority of children by this stage of Y3.

You don't know how your daughter will develop or what might happen in the future. Often people with adhd can cope in one setting but find the following year much harder.

But it might not be adhd anyway. She could problems with receptive language or visual processing problems, where colums all merge together, or dyslexia or even PDA, which makes it hard to start a piece of work.

Ivwould be watchful for now but get her assessed by an Ed psych and speech and language therapist if it continues.

If you don’t actively “do” anything about the possible diagnosis and just keep it under consideration things will become obvious over time. Bright children with inattentive ADHD often do well in the earlier years of school, but struggle when the academic and executive function demand increases later on.

I don’t think you need to rush to an assessment, but I’d also be grateful that an observant teacher highlighted concerns so you can keep an eye on things.

Wow! I was getting ready to join the chorus - but that would be impressive for a 10yo with ADHD. My 11yo has quite severe ADHD and despite vast amounts of support still wouldn't be anywhere near capable of the sequencing that this involves. I'm not discounting the possibility; it might just be that your DD has got a really good routine that helps her be organised. And you say there's a family history of ADHD so you may well be unconsciously putting in the scaffolding she needs. So I'd keep an open mind but it is really positive whether she has ADHD or not that she's evidently doing so well.