KS1 SATS results - don't know what to do next

[meggiesmummie]

Sorry if this is a bit long but would appreciate everyone's thoughts.
DD2 is just 7 and has just finished Yr2, she is a happy, bright little girl who loves school and has lots of friends so I don't think there are any concerns socially.
However, she really struggles academically and has done really since Yr R. We have spoken to the school on a number of occasions and have always been told not to worry too much. She has had an IEP for a couple of terms and whilst her reading and writing and maths are improved, we are conscious that she is still behing where she should be.
Wehave just had the her report and sats results and are thoughts were confirmed as she got a 1a for reading and writing. From what I gather only 4% of girls were in this bracket so she is in the bottom 2 girls for KS1 (despite being told she was by no means at the bottom!.)
We have also been assured that her IEP will be picked up next year, but I guess the real issue is that I am losing confidence in the school, or maybe I expect too much.
Although she has the IEP, the targets she has are very limited and even if she achieves them they don't seem to update them more than once a term unless nagged. We had a meeting with the SENCO at the beginning of this term but she disappeared shortly after and doesn't appear to have been replaced.
DD has a notebook where teachers and parents make comments re reading which we dutifully write in. As at the middle of July an adult at school had not written in it since 26th May. I wrote to the school to complain and was told they had stopped bothering with writing in the books because it takes too much time. To make it worse she constantly forgets to change her reading book despite constant reminders from us. Her teacher says they want them to be independent which I support but that doesn't work when she daydreams! I have spoken to the school repeatedly about this over the last 2 years with little success.
I'm really starting to worry that when she moves to Yr3 in September she is just going to get further behind and don't know what to do next. We are seriously considering private school now but for a child who finds change really hard it will be a really big step fo her to move so don't want to take that decision lightly.
We have spoken to headteacher twice who seems to take in what you say but doesn't seem to really follow through. (and I know this is petty but all her communications are full of spelling and grammatical errors which doesn't make me feel any better about her!).
The school are really reluctant to consider dyslexia although I think she shows signs of this - should I be pushing them to assess her?
I'd really appreciate your thoughts............

What is the national average at this age? 1a doesn't seem that far behind especially if young in year.

I've had 2 of my dds have IEPs and they were only reviewed once per term.

I would ask the teacher what they think would help your dd improve.

I'm just a mum though know nothing about education really

2b is national average at the end of yr 2, so she is reasonably behind. You don't mention maths? how did she do there.?
From your post, I'm not sure your school is fantastic. you should have much better communication than this,...know your dd's strengths and weaknesses, what they are targetting etc. That said, I know many schools are reluctant to assess etc until yr 3, just because they are still very young.
If I were you, I would get in quick at the beginning of yr 3, make an appointment with the teacher/senco and get it clarified exactly what extra help is going to be provided.
If this is not forthcoming, I would think of moving.
FWIW I moved my ds2 with mild SN beginning of yr 3 due to lack of support/poor communication

It's a bit scary the difference a decent SENCO makes ours was/is fantastic

IEPs are generally reviewed termly. When you attend the meeting to discuss them don't they tell you the review date?

TBH at level 1a she is not far enough behind to have external assessments done by outside agencies.

A good plan would be to wait for 2-3 weeks after the beginning of term. Then make an appointment to go and speak with her new classteacher. Tell her your concerns and why you are thinking of moving her to a private school.

Trouble is, it doesn't matter if she is dyslexic or not - they teach all struggling readers the same - whether or not she has a dx.

1A is far behind. I think it puts her in the bottom 9% of girls nationally. If she is on an IEP (which means she is on the special needs register) then the school also agree it is a problem.

I wouldn't push for a diagnosis - it won't change anything. I would assume she does have dyslexia and research everything you can about it. There are a lot of conflicting theories and definitions, so it will take you a while to get your head round it.

You could push for her to be seen by the Ed Psych or the SpLD Team (specific learning disability team). But in my experience this was a waste of time. The professionals are as rubbish with dyslexia as the school, so their advice for my DD was to continue everything school was doing as school was doing all the right things

So, in my case pushing for the SpLD team was a total waste of time. However moving schools (to another state school) has made me feel much more positive. I've spoken to her new SENCO and she's going to get an hour a day small group work to help her reading / writing.

As for researching dyslexia, start by checking out these things:

Easyread
Retained Reflexes
Davies Method
Irlen Syndrome
Auditory Processing Disorder

Don't be suckered in by the synthetic phonics brigade who claim the only reason your daughter hasn't learnt to read is because she hasn't been taught synthetic phonics - unless you feel she really hasn't been taught to read properly. ( As opposed to being taught properly - but being unable to do it despite adequate teaching)

If you speak to the school and their attitude and support doesn't improve then I would look at moving schools, particularly looking at the support they give with this kind of thing however I wouldn't go private, I'd spend the money on supporting her as and when required and finding activities that she is good to help build her confidence and esteem.

Dd2 isn't behind in her maths but really lacks confidence in her ability so she and another girl go out and do something called "steps". I'm using this as an example of how a school could (should ?) support weaker learners.

oops posted by accident

Dd4 had severe speech delay when she started in reception so was on the SEN register, had an IEP although the reason why her speech improved was due to other treatment she was part of a group of 4 that were struggling with speech and again at least once per week they did small group work focussing on helping them all improve and also making them feel less isolated.

Again another example of what a school could be doing!

Indigo I'm sorry you haven't had a good experience with the professionals I don't think it's good advice to tell Meggie not to push for a diagnosis.
Meg, IME, getting referrals and diagnosis means other professionals coming on board who can actually help. My son is dyspraxic/dyscalculic and once we saw the Ed psych, he referred us to the OT. Once we were in their hands we actually got practical help and advice that worked!
Is the school really small?
We moved from a tiny school once I realised they'd never have the resources or funding to help.
Ds2 is now at a much larger junior school and goes out every day for individual or small group work. He has a combination oof Fizzy (dyspraxia) Units of Sound (phonic issues) and Springboard (maths)

Ingles - yes, it obviously does depend on the LEA. You were very lucky to get a referral to the OT. But that was for dyspraxia - not dyslexia. (Of course OP's DD may have dyspraxia - research it and see what you think.)

Moving to a bigger school certainly did help us (from a one form entry to a three form entry).

My experience has been that all of the dyslexia professionals (and SENCOS on this board) just talk about synthetic phonics. And synthetic phonics is definitely not a cure for dyslexia.

I spent a year fighting to get a referral, which caused me a lot of stress - and didn't get a single recommendation from them. Despite their report saying she was below a level 1 and this was a cause for concern.

It would have been a much better use of my time and energy to not fight for an assessment and instead do my own research.

However, of course each LEA is different.

And my experience of getting no recommendations is also unusual. Usually they give loads of random recommendations (scatter gun approach) - which makes the Mum feel better - but doesn't actually help the child.

IndigoBell there isn't a cure for dyslexia but there are ways of learning to cope and the reason SENCOs and EPs recommend synthetic phonics is because it is the most effective method for the vast majority of children.

meggiesmummie I would be asking for SMART targets that are reviewed more often (although not always generating an IEP) are all her difficulties in literacy? does she know all her sounds ? can she hear clearly? has her eyesight been checked? What is her speech like?

Actually I don't think it matters what the SN is,and I think it's more down to a good school than the LEA...
Our school has bent over backwards to support ds2,..our previous school refused to acknowledge there was a problem.
When the OT came in to school to assess ds2 for the first time, I was present, as was the senco and his class teacher, so we could discuss the recommendations immediately. The school had implemented everything within a week...
That is how the system should work and does, in a good school.
Anyway, we're getting a bit ahead of the OP...
Your school should be supporting you and your dd, but you must push and don't worry about being a pain.

I don't think a diagnosis is necessarily useful other than to validate concerns. It shouldn't make a difference to the support a child receives and neither should the size of the school. In fact it is sometimes easier for a child to be overlooked in a larger school.

I never got results for ds1 but I wouldn't have been surprised if it was 1a for all.
Yr 3 was his year, he went from barely reading to being in the top half of his class. He could have easily started school at 7. DS2 has just come out with 3s, he just got it all from day one and loves doing it.

I wouldn't wait too long but I would ease off for the summer and give new teacher up to the first half term to come up trumps. I would ensure she is targetted for the 'everyone counts' scheme and extra reading. I would schedule testing too so that if she still needs it you're not on a waiting list.

Unfortunately that's not true Mrz... if you are in a tiny village school, as we were, with 2 years per form and 1 TA who has to work with children with severe SN, they are not going to have the time to run booster support for children with mild SN. and there is definitely no budget for it when there are only 60 on the roll.
I'm sure children can be overlooked in a larger school though, but if you are on Mumsnet posting about it, the chances are you're an involved parent so that won't happen.

Please try "Toe By Toe", a book to help struggling readers, especially since your child might have missed out on or not understood some of the early literacy teaching. It is often used in schools but is very very easy to use at home and is designed for non-specialist use. You need no further materials except a pencil to tick the sounds/words as you go. I used it with my daughter who wasn't reading well and was thought to have a possible auditory processing problem at the end of year one for 10 mins a day. As it may be used for older readers it gets a bit more complicated toward the end so I remember stopping at around page 80 with the idea that we could pick it up later. She never looked back and I did not need to use it again. It is a bit dry because it depends upon repetition which can be boring but it really drills them in phonics and gets results. It is available on amazon. Here is the link: www.amazon.co.uk/Toe-Structured-Multi-sensory-Reading-Teachers/dp/0952256401/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UT F8&s=books&qid=1280136295&sr=8-1

Good luck

I'm sorry ingles that isn't true and while it may have been your experience it isn't the situation everywhere. Obviously there are variations between LAs how SEN is funded but in general the same amount of money per child is included in the budget regardless of the size of the school. I'm not a fan of SEN children working outside the class with TAs as I feel these are the very children who need more teacher support/time/input rather than less due to them being removed for part of the day to work with TAs.

Mrz - IndigoBell there isn't a cure for dyslexia but there are ways of learning to cope

I get it now. This is where we fundamentally disagree. I believe that the symptoms caused by dyslexia, such as slow reading, can be cured, and I fully expect my DD to (soon) catch up and be able to work in the school system without any extra support.

The SENCO and Ed Psych and a large number of teachers posting on here, believe that dyslexics can be taught to read (using synthetic phonics) but that they will always struggle, or be slow at reading, and need to learn ways to cope.

MeggiesMum - good luck. It really is a minefield of contradictory theories out there. The school will do, and almost certainly already have been doing, synthetic phonics with your daughter. Which leaves you free to decide whether you want to more of the same at home - or whether you want to try an alternative approach.

IndigoBell that is not what I'm saying at all. A child who has dyslexia can't be cured but that isn't the same as saying that a child with dyslexia won't ever be able to read and write to a high standard. And as a SENCO I don't believe that dyslexics will always struggle or be slower than their non dyslexic counterparts but they will have to work harder and find strategies that work for them.
If you are searching for a cure you aren't going to find one but if you are searching for ways for your child to learn to cope with the difficulties associated with dyslexia and eventually catch up you will have greater chance of success.

Dyslexia can't be cured because it isn't a disease, it's a different way of thinking - but the symptoms of dyslexia, like difficulty with reading, can be cured.

I'm glad to hear that you don't think dyslexics will always struggle - my previous SENCO definitely thought my DD would always be slow (which is ultimately why we moved school.)

However you do think they will always have to work harder - which is kind of the same as saying they will always struggle, isn't it?

Not at all but the hard truth is if you are truly dyslexic then you will always be dyslexic but you can overcome the difficulties and lead a successful life.

I think the truth is that there are two very different ways of looking at dyslexia:

1. That it is a reading problem that can be overcome by lots and lots of synthetic phonics.

2. That it is a different way of thinking.

The highly successful dyslexics I work with don't have to struggle or work harder. They are brilliant at their / my job because of the differences in the way they think.

Anyway MRZ, I'm very glad to hear that your expectations for the dyslexic children in your school are identical to your expectations for the non-dyslexic children. (i.e. presumably that their marks will reflect a combination of their ability and effort.)

I just wish that more people I came into contact with had similarly high expectations for my DD.

In truth there are many ways of looking at dyslexia and I think if you ask the "successful" dyslexics you work with if they have had to work harder to get to the point they are at now you may be surprised. Yes they are good at their job but that doesn't mean they wouldn't struggle in another field of work. We all recognise our strengths and weaknesses and choose our careers accordingly. As someone with a real difficulty with heights I was never going to make it as a highwire act but that doesn't mean I can't have a successful life.

Hi All, thanks so much for all your replies. Have just sat down after really manic first day of hols to read it all!
In answer to some of your questions, no its not a small school, about 45 children per year but they are in mixed year groups 1/2, 3/4 etc.
Her maths is not great, she got a 2c but I am surprised as I would have thought that was actually worse than her reading. She really struggles with Maths as well and when sat down with number square or similar struggles to work out in which direction she is moving. Knowing that to count in tens she has to move down a row is not something she has yet grasped.
Ingles - well definitely try and make an appointment right at beginning of term. For last 2 years it has taken til December for them to start talking IEPs with us and don't want to waste a term this time. I am slightly hopeful as her teacher for next term is new to school so don't know her but I hope she may bring some fresh thinking.
Jem44 - thanks, I am going to look at amazon now for toe by toe.
Cargirl, it's interesting you say not to go private, because part of me has wondered whether I should use the money to pay for extra tuition/support instead. Part of my problem is that I feel endlessly guilty that I don't spend enough time helping her myself. I work fulltime and often long hours so difficult to fit it in. I am also not the most patient teacher in the world and I found school really easy so I just find it hard to understand why she doesn't 'get it'. She obviously senses this because she gets very defensive as soon as she sits down with me although I try really hard to be patient!
I am going to do some reading round dyslexia and then think some more about whether to push for an assessment. I just feel a bit that the school are in denial and would rather sweep her difficulty under the carpet.
This is hard isn't it!

2 of mine are flying academically, 1 average, 1 too young to know for sure. I've done the same with all of them - absolutely nothing!

Dh reads to them before bed when they are little, I only make them do homework once they are year 4 because I'm not into pressuring them. My priority has always been to ensure they were happy at school and behaving themselves there.

I think they learn when they are ready unless they have a specific problem (as perhaps your dd has) dd3 went from learning to read after the Easter (almost 6) to being on free readers just after the Christmas so about 7 months .

Only adding this so you don't feel guilty you, what you do or don't do at home probably won't make a huge difference. I would spend your time and money trying to find out why she is struggling to learn and what can be done to help that IYSWIM.