Parents/Teachers of Reception Children

[Anna85]

My DS is 5 and has Autism and ADHD. He has just finished Reception and we got his report with scores for "Early years Profile". Apparently this is where they assess areas like Reading, Writing, Social/Emotional development etc and they then give an average score.

My DS scored 2.5 and was told that the peer average at what a child should be at is 6 so you can see my DS is a bit behind.

Now the school does not seem to bothered by this but I kind of am. He is 5.5 and still cannot read or properly write his name. I know he has difficulties but the school dont seem bothered about it. Your probably thinking he is still young etc and can catch up but it shows he is behind then the rest of his class yet doesn't get no extra help for this. We r now going through the Statementing Process but looks like it will be turned down! Should I just sit and ride out year 1 and see what happens?

you do not need to have a statement to get extra help. have you spoken to the teacher or special needs coordinator and asked what they are going to do to support him?

try posting on the special needs board. they may know more.

Yes normally post on Special Needs forum as DS has Autism but he is not going to get no extra 1-1 support. Will just be small group work with the class! But if the other children are performing above him cannot see how that is helping.

A SN mum thought I should post on here x

You've probably already done this but I would arrange a meeting with the class teacher for year 1 and the SEN co-ordinator to discuss your concerns. I think there are two areas for concern:

1. discuss your concerns about DS and ask they why they are not worried. Find out exactly what support he will get. Does he have an IEP?

1. do you know exactly why the statement application is failing? I know these are shockingly hard to secure but I am surprised that the school is on the one hand pushing for the statement so young and on the other hand so unbothered by progress in class.

As a parent of year 1 kid, I would agree that children in year 1 are still very developmentally separated and the teachers are geared up to deal with this anyway. I see year 1 as an extension of reception and transition to more formal leaning in y2, so you still have time to help him with those basics.

The '6' score refers to an average, so inevitably some children will be below and some above. Is your son '2.5' across the board or in some specific areas?

You may want to consider a two pronged approach:

• arranging a meeting with his new class teacher and head teacher to discuss your concerns and to hear what their view is, including in relation to obtaining a statement. You may want to explore if the school has access to other additional support, such as the reading recovery programme and any other programmes they may have access to. This in part may depend on how large his school is, small schools tend to have not as much access to additional resources as large schools.
• activities you can do at home to support your son's learning, such as lots of reading together with you pointing to the words, practising writing his name, mark making to develop fine motor skills, listening to songs, story CDs, making puzzles, playing games - practising taking turns, etc.

I think that it is important for you and school to work together. This could involve moving him to another school with more resources if you don't get anywhere with his current school. Good luck and I hope you get the support your son needs.

The trouble I have is his concentration! I will have to do some research to see what things I can do at home to help in ways of books, games etc...any ideas grately recieved :-)

I don't think you develop the ability to concentrate overnight, it is a long process. Many many five year olds are not able to concentrate for very long.
I would suggest doing jigsaw puzzles - first easy ones, possibly do them together ('to keep him on the job'), then slowly help less and less but still watch him to encourage him. Ideally choose a nice puzzle of something or some character he likes. Does he like playing with trains, cars, lego? All these things can be used to build the ability to concentrate. You can agree to build a round railtrack, oval one, one with a bridge, one with crossings, etc. You can agree to built a race track for cars using paper, empty kitchen rolls as tunnels, cushions as mountains etc or a nice castle with 4 towers. All these things require concentration and persistence and your help maybe needed, so you negotiate whilst making these things. Other activities could be playdough, making bracelets (good for fine motor skills), drawing things he likes - you can draw together for example aeroplanes, rockets, race cars, you can look up a picture on the internet and try to copy and then adapt it. You can make cupcakes or cookies together, looking at the recipe together, doing the measuring and mixing together, setting the timer, this involves a range of skills, all very useful. Reading should be fun. So if he can only keep his concentration for short periods then choose short books, like Mr Men. Listening to story CDs is also a good way to build concentration. Learning at this age is mainly through play and the most important thing is to develop the right attitude, disposition to learning. I think the most important thing is that almost any everyday activity can be used as an important learning opportunity. Good luck.