year 3 child senco

[jcash17]

My son struggles with school always has he is under school action Plus and has left year 3 on a 2c we were hoping this would be a little higher to give him a chance when he leaves year 6 however the school do seem to be doing all they can and has extra help for maths literacy reading he is in a small group for precision teaching and we have plenty of homework every Night he has poor visual memory and cant seem to retain information is there anything else i can do we read at home go through work books is there any assesments i can ask for the senco teacher has said he would catch up but i dont think he will

This is in the holiday topic, you should ask to get it moved to one of the SEN boards

I've reported it for you and hopefully MN will move it to a more appropriate board for you

Hi. No Senco can say your child will definitely 'catch up'. He may or may not. However children do develop at different rates and he may well be a late developer. It sounds like he is already receiving a high level of support from school. 2c is below average for end of year 3, but is not really low. If you have identified a poor memory as the main problem (and it is a pretty common one), throwing more workbooks and homework his way will not make a vast difference. For an exellent memory boosting effect, get him an Xbox 360( or PS equivalent - I am not selling these things) and stick Minecraft on it, together with Zoo Tycoon, any Lego game, Kinectimals, Just Dance and some other games (Not CallofDuty!). Most of these games are pitched just above his age and require good memory, concentration and learned responses. They are cleverly concealed exercises in increasing memory space and retention. They will also improve both fine and gross motor skills if dexterity/clumsiness is an issue. Play board games too.
Also, get a cd or a download of times tables set to music. For children with memory issues, learing these as lyrics to music is much easier than trying to make chanted or rote-learned tables stick. Learning times tables is the single easiest way to improve maths scores at primary KS2 level, and makes everything else in maths clearer too.
Finally, (and I think this is what the Senco was trying to achieve by saying he will catch up) please don't let your son see that you think he is 'behind' - it can become a prediction that he associates with himself, and could hold him back. Always try to see your son as a potential 'late bloomer', maintain high expectations of his eventual success and look to celebrate his skills and talents as they are revealed.