Please can someone help

[Madprest]

My child as just started yr 5 and I have been concerned for some time about her progress. I had a meeting last year with HT voicing my concerns and extra help was given. She is on SA since starting school and at the meeting the HT gave me her grades at the beginning of yr4 as average 2a only to discover (after meeting with new class teacher) that she was 1a/1b .Can't understand why her grades was given higher. Anyway she is still averaging at 2a-literacy 2b-maths. I have requested for her to go on SA+ as there as been not much progress over the year. I would really like her to be assessed for any learning difficulty. Her past IEP's for the last 3 years have identical targets. Am I right to be concerned or is it just me. I want to continue working with the school and have a good relationship but I feel like they are fobbing me off. I asked the new teacher where my daughter stood against her peers ( to see if attainment gap is getting wider) and reply was that there are 3 groups- High, Middle and Lower. My daughter is lower and flagged up as UA (Under Achieving). Last year she had a TA with her on a lexia program and this year she will still get lexia but works on her own. I am thinking of going for an assessment on my own and I know school won't be behind me. Thank you for any advice and it is greatly appreciated.

Have you had contact with the schools SENCO? If she is that far behind they should be referring her, in the first instance to the schools doctor and thn to outside help. In the area I live in they don't do tests for dyslexia or the like, it is down to the teachers to observe a problem and the school doctor to refer to the right place. I don't know what thee lexia programe is but my son had an IEP and ended up referred to the hospital for treatment. In what way is she under-achieving? There are many reasons why a child can be behind, my son has dysgraphia, but there is no fund for a formal test.

I'd defiantly make a fuss, our little village school gets one visit from the educational psychiatrist a year. Everything is run on a shoe sting, getting children assessed is an absolute nightmare. Unfortunately making a fuss is the only way.

Madprest - your child is very behind, and you need to make the hugest fuss ever. You are totally being fobbed off, and your child is being failed.

A level 1 is the expected level for a Y1 child, and a level 2 is the expected level for a Y2 child.

By the start of Y5 your child needs to be working at at least a level 3. (Minimum - not average)

Going to SA+ doesn't mean she gets any extra help, that's not how it works. What it means is she is under an external agencey, eg the EP. So if she is seen by the EP then she is on SA+, otherwise she is not. But she won't necessarily get any extra help if she's seen by an EP.

Can you move school?

I'm not sure that a private EP report will help you. Some do, some don't. Because a bad school won't follow any recommendations an EP makes (and not all EP reports even make recommendations), and a good school doesn't need to follow the EP recommendations, because they're already doing them.

If your child isn't reading and writing appropriately, despite adequate teaching, then they have dyslexia. That is the diagnostic criteria. So you don't need to pay hundreds of pounds to hear that.

What difficulties does your child have? Reading? Writing? Spelling? Handwriting? Memory? Concentration? Attention? Sitting still? Riding a bike? Swimming? ??????

Thank you all for replying. Indigo, her difficulties are with spelling and writing and maybe memory. I think a move will be better as SENCO last year did a good job of fobbing me off. I have another child just gone into yr3 and concened about taking him out also. How do I choose the right school for her? Don't want to end up in this situation again.

Can I ask what grades do we pay more attention to, Test results or Teachers Assessment.

1. Difficulties with spelling, writing and memory equals dyslexia. Don't pay someone hundreds of pounds to tell you this.

1. Do start researching dyslexia and deciding what you are going to do to help her. I have written a website with all the things I have done which have helped my dyslexic DD here.

1. Lexia, which the school is using, is a good intervention for kids with dyslexia ( or any other literacy problems)

1. In theory teacher assessment is more accurate than tests. In practice I would believe the lowest score they have given you.

1. Odds are any school will be better than the one you're at. However, to find out, ring the HT and ask them what they do for children who are struggling. Also look at the league tables, ofsted reports and speak to other parents if you can. If you PM me the possible schools I'm happy to look over their stats and reports for you.

Thank you so much Indigo, I am going to look at the site and will keep you posted.