Nursery have referred DS to SENCO

[notsomumsymum]

DS has just turned two and goes to nursery for 1 afternoon a week.

His key worker spoke to me a couple of weeks ago and said that he isn’t massively keen on their sensory room and doesnt really like messy play. Fine...we don’t do loads of messy stuff at home but I have taken him to the local sensory centre and haven’t had any issues.

His key worker also said that they would bring someone in and kind of sold it that this person would be watching my son and seeing whether there’s anything that the nursery workers can do to help him.

I’ve now been told that a referral to SENCO has been made and they’ll be doing an assessment on him next week.

Does anyone know what this entails? I’m panicking a little bit that they think something is wrong, but I’m not sure how they can tell by being with him for just 5hrs a week!

I haven’t identified any sensory issues at home...he loves water play, not scared of noises or busy places. We’ve been to discos, fireworks displays etc and he’s loved everything!

Has anyone been in the same boat? Thanks.

Good nurseries look out for signs that something may need looking at and then they bring in the experts. My nursery has acted on any little concern I have raised either by having my DD further assessed or offering additional support. I take it as a sign of a well run nursery. At this age it is better to assess 10 kids with no issues than miss one who could be helped.

I wouldn't look at it as if something is wrong but more as the nursery want to get support for your child if he requires it. A friend of mine told me that her son was assessed for autism. The nursery only gave one reason for the assessment - his older brother had the diagnosis. As a teacher and mother of a son with autism my friend knew the signs to look for and knew what the result would be. It was just the nursery being cautious. There are many children who don't get diagnosed unlike late in primary school or even secondary. How he is assessed will depend on specifically what he is tested for but it may be as simple as observing him or it may be that they set up some situations with toys to see how he reacts to them. Contact the nursery and ask them for more detail in what is being assessed and how.