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Primary education

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ds still has an IEP - i want it gone

28 replies

southeastastra · 16/05/2011 16:35

can i ask the school if they will do this? he's going into year six soon and i don't want this hanging around him at secondary. :(

it's for comprehension, i don't understand why he still has it though - he reads freely and writes alot (himself with no prompting) am a little peeved that he still has this and yet i have no meetings with the school about it..

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sarahfreck · 16/05/2011 16:40

You should be having regular meetings/discussion about his iep - I'd ask for one and find out exactly why they are wanting to continue it!

mrz · 16/05/2011 16:41

It seems an odd reason for an IEP to be honest.

southeastastra · 16/05/2011 16:44

his targets are things like spelling 40 high frequency words and to be able to consistently form complex sentences. even i hardly understand what it's for.

i spoke to the teacher a while back about it but i wasn't much clearer. would the school get extra money having more kids with ieps?

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mrz · 16/05/2011 16:51

Has it been reviewed recently?

southeastastra · 16/05/2011 16:53

yes just got the new one today, which will be reviewed in July.

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IndigoBell · 16/05/2011 17:00

You should ask for a meeting with the SENCO to discuss if he can come off the SEN register.

madwomanintheattic · 16/05/2011 17:12

no, they won't get any more money for him having one.

i suspect it will disappear in transition anyway, but if you don't understand what it's for then ask again. they should have been telling you whether he's meeting his targets etc? is he behind his peer group? national average? has he just taken sats? presumably if he has done ok on the lit papers they won't bother renewing...

that said, once in secondary, there are an awful lot fo learning support depts that are so overworked that nothing gets reviewed - even annual reviews for statemented children are basically cut and pasted and renewed. the system is so clumsy that often there isn't time to actually sit down and discuss what an individual child needs in terms of support, so some kids do end up with unnecessary stuff, whilst others who need more support put in place still end up managing on not enough...

make noise. it's the only way to get to the bottom of whatever.

southeastastra · 16/05/2011 17:31

thanks

i do find it so confusing i've spoken to the senco who had to look his marks up in the book as she didn't teach him. i really am not sure what exactly he's struggling with. words as far as i can tell! i will make another appointment to see her but if the last meeting is anything to go by will be just as confused. :(

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IndigoBell · 16/05/2011 17:33

When you make the appointment tell her what you want to discuss, then that gives her time to prepare for the appointment.....

madwomanintheattic · 16/05/2011 17:39

ask how far behind he is in real terms - ie what level he should be attaining in terms of national or local average, and where he actually is. ask if they are using 'smart' targets. ask if he is making up ground. ask if the help they are giving him is adequate (the specific intervention/ support should be detailed on the iep for each target) and if he is therefore meeting his iep targets.

google 'smart targets for ieps'

and ask about transition arrangements to secondary if he is still well below average.

southeastastra · 16/05/2011 17:45

thanks for being specific, that will definitely give me something to go on.

his teacher at parents evening seemed to think he was fine. it's annoying to get so many conflicting opinions about how he's doing.

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mrz · 16/05/2011 17:52

They obviously aren't using Smart targets if one is 40 HFWs Hmm

IndigoBell · 16/05/2011 17:56

Well, not being able to spell the HFW in Y5 does sound worrying....

Are you sure you want him off the SEN register? Rather than receiving the extra help he needs?

southeastastra · 16/05/2011 17:59

i don't understand really what they are?! his spelling is quite good imo! i am worrying now!

of course i don't mind him staying on it if i understood what they are trying to achieve

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somersetmum · 16/05/2011 17:59

Don't be so hasty to get rid of it.
In secondary school he could get benefits, such as extra time in external exams for having it.

madwomanintheattic · 16/05/2011 18:09

i would focus on 'where he is' and 'where he should be' in the first instance, i think.

i really hope that the teacher's 'fine' doesn't mean 'as fine as can be expected given we don't expect much from him'... sometimes teachers assume that parents have the ability to read between the lines when they actually haven't given you any information... how long has he had ieps for? how did he do in y2 sats? what levels-ish is he working on?

mrz - it sounds as though it's a really lazy rolled-over target from aeons ago - i suppose it might be that they just haven't ever signed it off and keep reprinting it every six months?...

was really suggesting op googled smart targets to get an idea what an iep should look like... to get some background info prior to school meeting.

maybe hold off on the 'get rid' opinion until you understand the school's rationale - although they don't seem to be great at explaining...

southeastastra · 16/05/2011 18:13

he was pretty low on his year 2 sats - can't remember exactly what they were - he has great strenghts though, can recite all kings and queens and dates of battles etc, and writes and writes alot at home - it's weird.

feeling like i should have questioned this alot earlier :(

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southeastastra · 16/05/2011 18:15

great just googled IEP smart targets, and teachers can download IEP writers. this isn't very helpful to parents is it? can it not be written in plain english?

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madwomanintheattic · 16/05/2011 18:20

don't stress too much - school should have been more specific, really. (and there might not be that big of an issue? tbc!)

there have been quite a few threads on here when parents have gone 'why tf did i not know ds/dd was so far behind?' there are a lot of schools (and teachers) that seem to find it hard to lay out exactly where dcs are so that parents understand. definitely the school's fault, not yours. but you do need to get a grip of the school and get them to explain everything so that you understand it. and don't leave until you do!

then you'll know whether you need to worry or not. Smile

it's human nature to think 'school aren't worried, so there's no need for me to be'. schools are used to dealing with ieps and nc levels and whatever day in day out, you aren't. so they need to be explaining what it all means, not just giving you a number or a fact 'he's on an iep' and expecting you to know what it means.

give them a call. make noise.

madwomanintheattic · 16/05/2011 18:23

here you go:

something like this?

'Goals are all part of writing the Individualized Education Plan-Program (IEP). More importantly, writing good goals that meet the specific child's need are critical to the process. A large number of educational jurisdictions tend to use SMART goals which stand for:
?Specific
?Measurable
?Achievable
?Relevant
?Time Limited
Using SMART goals makes a lot of sense when writing your IEP goals. After all, well written goals will describe what the child will do, when and how he'll do it and what the time frame will be for achieving it.
When writing goals, keep the following tips in mind:

Be very specific about the action. For instance: raise his/her hand for attention, use a classroom voice, read the pre-primer Dolch Words, complete homework, keep hands to him/herself, point to I want, I need augmentative symbols.

Then you need to provide a time frame or location/context for the goal. For instance: during silent reading time, while in the gym, at recess time, by the end of 2nd term, point to 3 picture symbols when something is needed.

Then decide what determines the success of the goal. For instance:how many consecutive periods will the child remain on task? How many gym periods? How fluent will the child read the words - without hesitation and prompting? What percentage of accuracy? How often?

What to Avoid

A vague, broad or general goal is unacceptable in the IEP. Goals that state will improve reading ability, will improve his/her behavior, will do better in math should be stated much more specifically with reading levels or benchmarks, or frequency or level of improvement to attain and a time frame for when the improvement will occur. Using "will improve his/her behavior'is also not specific. Although you may want behavior improved, which specific behaviors are targeted first along with when and how are a critial part of the goal.

If you can remember the meaning behind the acronym SMART, you will be prompted to write better goals that will lead to student improvement. It's also a good practice to include the child in setting goals if appropriate. This will ensure that the student takes ownership over reaching his/her goals. Make sure you review goals regularly. Goals will need to be reviewed to ensure that the goal is 'achievable'. Setting a goal too high is almost as bad as not having a goal at all.

Some Final Tips:

?Include any curricular modifications. If the curriculum states that the goal is to count to 50 and you state count to 10, this is a modification.
?Include any curricular accommodations. This will include things like: scribing, a quite setting to take tests, assistive technology etc.
?Provide any support staff that will be involved in the IEP
?Indicate materials and or resources to be used
?Most importantly, make sure the IEP is based on priorities for the student.'

apols for lengthy c+p...

southeastastra · 16/05/2011 18:48

thanks madwoman. that makes it clearer, no mention of any SMART target in his iep at all, just lots of recommendations of things he already does (use a dictionary Hmm) will call school tomorrow to clarify this.

thanks again all

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Ahojj · 17/05/2011 07:17

If you type up the targets and provide us with the levels he's working at (which you should have been provided with in his end of year 5 report) then we can advise better.

IndigoBell · 17/05/2011 08:01

Ahojj - not all schools provide levels in school reports. They don't have to and some choose not to. Some schools try to never discuss levels with parents.

But it would also be possible to have good or great NC levels and still need an IEP.

madwomanintheattic · 17/05/2011 16:03

it would. (dd2 prime case) but it doesn't seem to be the case here. difficult to say...

southeastastra · 17/05/2011 17:10

oh i don't think that's the case for ds! (i wish!)

have meeting on friday

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