Ds having speech therapy - school put him on the SEN register

[Curlybrunette]

Hi all,

Ds is in year 1 (he's 5.7) and doing well at school, pretty average ability I think, is well behaved and generally loves school etc. etc. His reception teacher recommended speech therapy last (school) year and we went for an assessment and he is having regular therapy now. I was pleased she recommended it as although his vocabulary is fine he just isn't a clear as his friends.
Train comes out as 'prain'
Chris as 'pris'
Green as 'breen'
but the main problem is his 's' sound, it comes out as 'shh'. Ds has had about 6 sessions of sppech therapy and the aboves sounds are pretty much sorted now except for the s/shh which he relly struggles with.

Anyway (sorry for babbling) we had parents evening last week and his teacher was happy with his work and behaviour etc. and said she needed to let me know that as he was having speech therapy, which is an educational help coming from outside of the school he had to be classed as having a SEN and was on the register. She was telling me as we'll get a letter and didn't want me to worry when the letter came.

I don't know anything about the SEN register (is this simply a school register or some national database thingy?) and wondered if this had any implications for ds at all? A friend said that schools likes having kids on the SEN register as they get extra funding, I don't actually mind the school getting more funding if is for the good of the kids, but not to the detriment of ds, if it could be at all detrimental?

Any experience of this would be great
x

It won't be detrimental to him.

He should get more support - to suit his needs - as a result. He should get an individual education plan which sounds formal but its just a document detailing how the school can best support and monitor him. You are entitled to see it I think.

The idea of the SEN register is to.ensure that his learning is not impacted - in his case - by his speech problems.

He won't necessarily be on sen register for ever. Situation should be fluid and reviewed at least annually if not before.

And it should be a school database which will be reported at some level to lea (although prob just how many pupils with particular needs not names etc. But I am not sure about this).

nah, none of the above. every school has three sorts of children that need extra help:

school action list - can be supported with school assets

school action 'plus' list - needs outside help (ie speech and language therapy - an outside professional)

statemented - needs substantial support to access curriculum.

the first two lists don;t atract additional funding as schools are expected to be able to cope with those children within their own budgets, inlcuding psecific sn budget devolved from lea.

statemented children sometimes get individual funding from lea for school.

so, all being 'on the sen' list means, is that he has some speech difficulties and is having support from an outside agency. if you ask the teacher, he's probably down as 'sa+'.

it can't be at all detrimental, as being on the list means nothing except that he's having speech therapy, which you already know. it's jsut so that school can keep track of which child is geting outside support.

The SEN register is NOT a list of stupid children. A lot of children need a bit of extra help for one reason or another. Many children on the special needs register are very bright.

My son had an IEP infant school because with fine motor skills were so weak. he had help from an occupational theraphist. The OT gave advice to the school and the TAs implemented the advice. My son needed an Individual Education Plan which meant he was on the special needs register.

He is no longer on the special needs regsiteer and is doing well at school. If he had not had the extra help it would have been a different story.

dd2 has always been on the sen register. she has an iq of 142 (higher than her paediatrician). so i concur with that.

why would it be detrimental?

the 'friend' who says they get more money if they list more kids is mistaken, btw. if they are low level high incidence problems, the school are expected to deal with them within existing resources. and once they put them on the list, they have to make sure they are getting the support (in theory). so it makes more sense to keep them off the list and play ignorant.

ieps are a pain in the butt and have to be re-done every term for yr r and ever y 6 months thereafter. no senco collects kids to write up that they don't have to.

It won't be detrimental to your ds, don't worry.

It sounds like the school are supporting you both well, and this is just part of the paperwork that goes along with it.

Thanks guys, I do feel we are being supported well, the school is lovely.

x

My twins had speech therapy and were given an IEP at school. I was delighted as they were much happier to do their practice at school than with us at home. Our only problem was communication between the speech therapist and school so the children were doing the most constructive exercises. The school didn't seem to have a mechanism for removing the IEP so it stayed with them after they were signed off from the speech therapist - no real problem but a bit daft. Finally, removed when we moved them to a new school who were bewildered as to why they had one! By the way the speech therapy worked very effectively for them - I think they had three blocks of eight weeks first working on word endings and then on specific letters/sounds that they couldn,t say e.g. 'C'.

The school won't get any extra funding for having a child on the SEN register personally I wouldn't put a child on the register if they were having external speech therapy (only if school staff were delivering a speech programme in school ) or if it was impacting on learning.

It is a form of monitoring . He is probably classified as School Action Plus as he isreceiving help beyond the school and should have an IEP (which may be the letter) with targets so that they can support the SALT (it may have an impact on his phonic reciognsition and reading for example).

I'm afraid that isn't true CustardCake

The SEN code of Practice says
Children who attend Speech Therapy clinics do not automatically need an IEP or entry on school?s SEN Register, unless their speech is adversely affecting their progress.

Usually when an external agency is involved it is SA+ but only if there is an educational need.

Please don't worry, OP. I am sure it just means that they have flagged your child as having outside input and may be able to get extra funding to support him. It is a good thing, honestly. I think you should talk to the school in more detail, though, to find out what the 'register' means. Often, when a child is getting outside professional input, they go on a sort of register, I guess, called 'School Action Plus'. It just means this child is getting support from professionals employed outside of the school. You should find out if this is the case, as if so, he should have an IEP (Individual Education Plan, I think) which sets out the actions they/you think he needs and monitors that this is happening. Do speak to the teacher/SENCo/Headteacher to find out.

OP My dd has been having Speach Therapy since she was 3.5/4, View the SENS List as a positive thing, My dd still has therapy now and as a result of their intervention and suggestions she now has hourly 1-1 sessions within the school where the SENS team focus solely on her speach, she has thrived so much since this action plan was put in place last year x