Are state primaries legally obliged to offer additional help with literacy etc.?

[marialuisa]

My dbro is significantly behind with reading, spelling etc. (scraped a 2c at KS1, but has more than fulfilled the prediction that he won't be on target for KS2). In previous schools he had additional help from the SENCO and a "strategy" to try and catch him up (he's at least 3 years behind) but his new school have not assessed him at all and have told my mum that it's not their policy to do so, or to offer children who are behind additional support.

I thought that schools were legally obliged to offer some kind of help to kids who were significantly behind, am i completely wrong?

Dbro is now Y5 and school is turning into a nightmare. Lots of work from board/text books that he can't do because he can't read the questions, so he gets bored and occasionally disruptive. Dbro is not any teacher's dream pupil and there's a definite personality clash between him and his form teacher (she's shouted in his face and hit him over the head with a book-we've had to praise him for not calling her a "stupid,fat bitch" to her face) but really can't move schools as he's very happy there. just not learning anything and spends a lot of time in the head's office.

i,m sure they must have to offer some sort of support, but hopefully some wise mn'er will be able to point you the way to factual info....good luck

Can he really be happy being hit over the head (er, I think that's illegal, actually), clearly loathing his teacher and spending a lot of time in the head's office? And even if he is happy (however you define it), then who's to say he won't be a lot happier in an environment where he is supported and not assaulted? Also, there is his future happiness to consider IMO. If he can't read or write properly, that could easily blight the rest of his life. If he was my child, I'd move him.

I'd have to agree with Aloha, I think his long term welfare is more important than his current temporary "happiness" at school. He obviously does need extra help, and if the school are not interested in his individual needs because of their policy, I'd want to move him to a school which tries to accomodate pupils' individual needs within their policies.

Yep, but he's my dBRO not my Ds and to say that my mum isn't much good with these sort of things is an understatement! she's dyslexic herself so can't help him at home, for reasons to do with my mum's caprice he's been to 5 different schools in under 2 years. After the head-hitting incident he came home wanting to sue the teacher but warning my mum that he's not leaving that school until seniors.

In truth there are heaps of other issues that have to factored in but would bore you all rigid. my main concern (from 250 miles away)is that the school has told my mum that they do not offer additional support to kids with my bros problems. I have a very real concern that the school (and particularly the teacher) have written him off as he's going to upset their KS2 results even if he does get help.

I've now rung the LEA to find out what can be done. There are limits to what i can do but need to do something IYSWIM.

What a totally frustrating situation. If the school aren't prepared to offer extra help, just what do they propose to do about facilitating your db's education? Must be a nightmare for you, there are times when one wants to take one's parents and tell them to just do as you tell them, but you can't, can you! Hope you can manage to get something done.

Caligula-my mum just wants me to sort it all out! She's even asked that I take time off work to go and meet DS's headmistress and form teacher. Mum has some health problems and (from what DH and i see) seems to be developing some sort of social phobia. The mediaction she's on makes her lose track of what she's saying and she's intimidated by situations that most of us wouldn't think twice about. i've had to give her detailed instructions on how to pay money into her bank account....

Wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for dbro and dsis.

Thanks, that's really helpful. the school is actually a smallish (approx 120 pupils) VA primary with excellent SATs results. Dbr is definitely upsettting their apple cart.

Mum has just rung me in a panic as the head has asked her to go in for a meeting (following a polite but "concerned" letter I wrote for her about dbr). Hopefully this will yield results. His current form teacher has not even heard him read despite repeated info from the family (and dbr himself!) about his probs. A request for more appropriate books was met with a snotty note in his diary saying that it's just as valuable for him to be read to and a change to books that are "light" on text but the actual words are way out of his league. Mum can't always read them either, Ive been trying to encourage her to "come clean" about her own probs to the school, as they might stop viewing dbr as a "problem child from a family that doesn't care" if they understood that she is incapable of helping him out at home.

I really didn't mean to sound unhelpful - you are in a very difficult position. I was just rather shocked by how your little brother's teachers are behaving.

I know, . I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place! He's a very angry litle boy and his life's been pretty horrible TBH. I hate the fact that there's so little i can do.

The LEA (not school I think) do have a legal right to provide a "suitable education". Note it just has to be suitable not the best.

All sounds a bit of a nightmare. Could you talk to the head on the phone. Not ideal and probably not possible but sounds tricky. May also be worth getting your mother in contact with the local parent partnership. They exist for parents of children with SEN- they may help out in this sort of circumstance. They can usually accompany parents to meetings etc. May be worth having a chat with them and seeing if they can help. The LEA would be able to provide then number (would probably be on the council's webpages).

cheers guys. Mum had a useful meeting with the head and form teacher yesterday, apparently form teacher was very uncomfortable, esp when the head hitting was brought up! LEA advisor is now involved (I rang up and pretended to be mum!) so hopefully we'll get somewhere.

Doesn't help that dbro is "bright" esp science and maths so teachers have just assumed he's a bad 'un IYSWIM.