Son and Learning Support

[anonymousbird]

I've received an email from Learning Support at school indicating that my son (Y9/14) possibly has a support need. They will do further tests to see whether this is simply a "blip" or an ongoing issue.

I have asked the school to elaborate on the area of concern, they have said he may have a "processing issue in his skills section" of the assessment that was done.

I have no idea what that means? I don't want to inundate the lady with questions and asking for further explanations, as she has clearly stated this is precautionary rather than definite, so it may come to nothing.

Any pointers gratefully received.

Does he have issues with following and remembering instructions, putting down his thoughts on paper, working to time?

And if he is y9 now is a good time to follow this up and get access arrangements in place for gcses if required.

Thanks for your reply.

Not that I've ever been aware of. He sometimes chooses not to follow instructions (teenager!) but it's not come up before.

Do you think that's what she might have been getting at? He's being assessed further next week so we will get the outcome of that soon, but I was just a bit puzzled, didn't really understand the terminology.

And yes, he's started his GCSE courses but any adjustments or assistance needed being identified now is certainly helpful.

This will mean they have flagged that he may have an issue and preliminary testing has confirmed this. Further testing is needed and then he may be entitled to extra time and other "accommodations".
It is probable that a teacher/s have noticed him underperforming on tests compared to the understanding he has demonstrated in class.

Sorry to be slow to reply, MollyButton, I suspect that your last sentence could be the case. Waiting for him to have his appointment and get the report back from school.

Thank you.

Was it a MidYIS test? There is an explanation of skills and what a low skills core implies here if it was that. www.cem.org/attachments/publications/Using%20MidYIS%20IPRs%20Booklet.pdf

I believe the school does use the MidYIS test. It took place on Wednesday and school will be sending us a report in due course, so I will know more then I suspect. All my son said was that it related to task completion or something - which is really surprising because if anything he tends to rush things rather than linger.

Appreciate the link, thanks.