parents evening

[kazzyann]

Feel like crap parent - my seven year old is "below normal in all at school", distinct impression teacher finds him a pain in the arse she'd rather not deal with. She makes a really big deal about fact he's having extra help with reading and writing. I'm helping him at home but I feel he has given up a bit at school because they are always on his case - nothing he does is good enough. He is a brilliant little artist but teacher ignores this - She simply ignored me when I mention ed this and had absolutely nothing good to say about him. They just go on about his lack of ability to write, spell, concentrate, etc. I feel also that as one of the youngest for his year group she is constantly comparing him to others in his year who are 6 mths older. Do I intensively tutor him or get him extra tuition or do I ask for him to repeat Yr3?

What are the school doing to support him?
Does have an IEP?
Have you had any contact with the SENCO?
I would check what the school are doing before you go down the route of a tutor

I agree with maisiedaisy.

If he has an IEP then he should have targets which are achievable. If he's not achieving them then the school should be looking at breaking down those targets even further until they reach his 'level'.

If he has IEP targets then it's worth talking about them with the SENCO. They should also be able to give you some practical advice about what can be done at home to help reach those targets. They may even have some ideas about how to improve his self-esteem at the same time, eg using his artistic skills to make his own comics which will in turn encourage him with his writing etc.

Many thanks for replies. I need to check this IEP and SENCO with school, never had them mentioned to me (I'll go look up what they are...) Great idea regarding making his own comics!

The SENCo is the special needs coordinator. And IEP is an individual Education Plan and the way schools/ LEAs use them can vary. Often any child who is not acheiving what they 'should' either academically or behaviourally can have an IEP. It isn't usually shared with the child but may be with the parent. It would have very clear goals that should be met by the end of the term/ year and HOW they will be helped to achieve them.

If the teacher had nothing good to say about him, I would want to know what they suggest happens next. And, as a teacher, I think it is bad form not to say something positive about a child at Parent's Evening. Every child has something good about them, even if it is, "She is so helpful" or "He tries really hard to do X"

Make very very sure that your teacher knows that your child is summerborn. I had a similar problem with my daughter, and once I pointed out that she should not be measured against children who were 11 months older than her, the teacher realised that she was not dyslexic, as she had initially suggested, but a perfectly normal six year old!