Reception teacher wants to involve SENCO - formal issue or just extra help?

[WinlessChunder]

Had DS's Parents Evening last night. She's very happy with him in terms of settling in, behaviour, sociability, reading, writing, numeracy etc. She does have concerns though about his co-ordination, clumsiness and seeming inability to carry through more than one instruction at a time.

He finds things like putting his shoes on or getting dressed hard and takes much longer than his peers. His gross motor skills aren't great and he's rubbish at anything sporty. Of course I'm aware of these things but as his behavioural and academic areas are all fine, it's never seemed appropriate to consider a formal issue (or am I just naive about these things?)

The teacher wants to speak to the SENCO about putting together a programme of exercises to help him. He would have time away from his class each week to work with the SENCO on them. I'm happy about this because it's a positive strategy to help rather than just telling us it's an issue. However, what I haven't got to the bottom of is if there is a diagnosable issue that he will always have to deal with or if he is just behind a bit physically and will be able to catch up with this extra help.

I did try and ask this question at the Parents Evening but she seemed to just skirt around it a bit. I guess I'll speak to the SENCO but wondered if anyone had any similar experiences/thoughts?

Sounds great. He has problems with gross motor skills, and school are giving him extra help with it.

This could mean he qualifies for a diagnosis of 'dyspraxia', or it could be more mild than that. School won't assess him for anything - they're only providing extra help.

So it would be up to you if you wanted him to be assessed for dyspraxia, or if you're happy with the support he's currently receiving. But school almost certainly won't push for a diagnosis - or particularly care if he gets one.

Schools ( whether a class teacher or indeed a SENCO ) can't offer a diagnosis, they can only deal with the implications. So, whilst it MAY be possible that your son has

• a condition that is ongoing/needs treatment
• a difficulty which will improve with age
• delayed in his development of gross motor skills

( and a whole range of possibilities from one extreme to another) the school can only deal with the outward signs of these by providing additional support/activities which will go towads helping with these problems.

School are offering some help which is great - if there is any underlying issue they can not move it forward with out observations and evidence. The extra sessions with the SENCO will help with this but she cannot make the diagnosis but needs supporting evidence if she/he asks for other intervention.

If the school is graded inadequate in more than one area it will usually be placed in special measures and given lots of support.

wrong thread mrz

i think this school is probably fine.

what everyone else said. school are offering help, not dx. if he responds well to this support, you have your answer. if he doesn't, maybe the next step would be to seek a more formal assessment via health, not ed. if it's impacting his life. that might lead to dx.

but you have absolutely nothing to lose by accepting support for your child in areas he struggles with.

ooops my laptop did a flip and jumped back to the previous thread

I would have loved this for ds (or for myself for that matter). I know motor skills seem such a minor issue for a bright child who behaves well, but it can really hold you back if e.g. you get the wrong pen holding technique; a small intervention now can save big trouble later.

They probably won't know yet if it's a diagnosable issue or just developmental. It was years before we realised ds' issues were down to hypermobility- and then I started wondering if this hadn't been behind my similar problems as a child.

But the kind of exercises he will be doing will help to strengthen him in any case.

Had similar last year with DD1, she did special exercises with a group for small and large motor skills and we had exercises to do at home too. It was really helpful and her writing and other skills have come a long way. He won't be the only child needing help and it will probably be just a lot of fun and games!