IEP - should I know about it?

[flossyfloo]

I have just found out my DS has an IEP - not big news to me, he has a speech disorder which is what the IEP is for.

It seems to have been in place for the past 4/5 months. I don't know exactly what the targets they have set are or what work they are doing with him to achieve them.

There is a bit of a backstory to this but I just wanted to know, is it usually good practice to include a parent in this kind of matter? Or is it a case of because the IEP is for speech which they know he is receiving help for from speech therapists, I do not really need to know the ins and outs of it as it details the school's involvement rather than my own?

Yes. You should be involved in planning the targets. It doesn't always happen but it is best practice.

It is best practice to involve parents fully in drawing up an IEP, to have them present for any reviews and target setting. Though, it doesn't happen as often as it should.

It's fairly common for parents to just receive a copy of the completed IEP, which while not ideal does at least keep them informed.

It's really bad practice to not even inform parents that there is an IEP.

Happened to us with DS1 who had been on one for months before we found out about it. Wasn't best pleased but seems to be fairly common practice after I asked about it around other parents and on here!

Thanks for the replies. I wanted to make sure I wasn't being unreasonable expecting to be kept informed of things like this and it seems like I am not! I actually still haven't been informed he as an IEP (I found out as I read a report about his speech which happened to mention his IEP) so I've not seen it!

Ah interesting survivingwinter. Maybe I should ask around at the school a little to see of it's common practice there.

It might be common - but that doesn't mean it's acceptable...

'The school is often the first point of contact for parents. Parents should be fully involved in the school-based response for their child, understand the purpose of any intervention or programme of action, and be told about the parent partnership service when SEN are identified. Schools must tell parents when they first identify that a child has SEN. It is vitally important that schools welcome and encourage parents to participate from the outset and throughout their child?s educational career at the school. Schools need to regularly review their policies to ensure that they encourage active partnership with parents and do not present barriers to participation. Schools should seek to actively
work with their local parent partnership service.'

SEN code of practice section 2.10

I know the green paper on SEN is looking to change a lot of things, but it's talking about more parental involvement not less.

Thanks for that link tabulahrasa, interesting reading. I'm trying not to be too negative about everything the school are doing (or rather not doing) but couldn't help going through that document mentally ticking off everything the HT is not adhering to

It's depressing when you realise how little they do sometimes

We are given a copy of the IEP at parents evening for me to agree and sign off. This year I've also been given a list of things DS needs to do to achieve his expected end of year level target. (His iep is for writing)
He's in Yr4 now, and has had an IEp since year 1 so I'm usually chasing it up in second week of school year.

Have you asked them about it?

Have only just found out about it redpencils so haven't asked about it yet. We have a meeting arranged for after the Easter break about other things regarding DS's speech disorder so I think I'll wait til then. The other issues need dealing with more than the fact I haven't seen the IEP so don't want to give them the chance to direct their efforts elsewhere, iyswim?

Oh yes, I know what you mean. I'd rather have them on top of the problem, offering the right support, more than having the paperwork up to date. DS gets pretty good support overall, but I'm still in there every couple of weeks checking up, raising issues and stuff.
Keep on at them.

You shoukd be more than informed. You should be asked to be involved in drawing it up.

At the meeting ask them for the date of the IEP meeting that term so you can plan childcare/diary etc. to ensure you attend, given that you are thinking through a few ideas.