Teachers do not adhere to Statemented 1 to 1 support, do not believe in sub-levels, make APP assessments up....How much of what parents are told by schools about teaching is a box ticking exercise?

[Regards]

Following on from this thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/primary/1859219-Im-a-teacher-and-happy-to-answer-any-questions

and this:
community.tes.co.uk/tes_primary/f/36/t/381051.aspx?pi2132219857=1

I realised I was incredibly gullible when my DC first started school. What exactly should we believe concerning what the teachers tell us, how much is a PR job to cover up the ugly truth?

Oh swallowed Designated 1 to 1 support, as in the support assigned to additional needs.

Started off needing this, no longer does. Of course it needs reporting. No wonder the system is in the state it is in.

If a child makes progress then of course I would share it. Who wouldn't?

If they didn't then the trail wouldn't continue and it would be brought up at the next review.

No talking about another child merely sat a table either. Talking about being given no extra TA support (compared to the other children who had no SEN). TA not in same room, TA taking whole class etc.

Do you know what, I am in the process of applying for a primary place for ds at the moment, we are hoping he will get a place at learning unit for children with complex needs within a ms setting.

He is 3, and I don't need this thread to have made me feel worried for my ds. Already we have had constant battles with the sn nursery he attended and now the preschool he attends.

you know i can see it's stressful to feel you have to be on guard for your child all the time and to have to fight to get them the help they need. i suspect though there's a point where that fight can turn over into something else and become obsessive and controlling to the point of unhealthy.

This^^ makes me seethe, because i have heard this attitude aimed at other parents by the nursery/preschool staff,and know that the same has probably been said about me.

I don't know if it is one of the myths addressed in the This is My Child campaign, but this stuff about controlling parents and quips about munchausens by proxy is horseshit.

Thing is it wasn't....Very difficult to bring up. Agenda set. One parent against all the other 'professionals'. Brought it up squirming and vagaries ensued. Dealt with now (I hope) Took a lot of time. A real shame. Some of the teachers are lovely. I feel sorry for them but something must be going on.

hazey at the point where someone is saying they wouldn't want their child's ta to leave their side even if there was a major incident going on and the teacher was being physically attacked then i think it's ok to question the mentality of that person.

it's not saying all parents of children with sn or most or even a significant minority. it's addressing a tiny, teeny, minority who perhaps understandably work themselves up into such a state over it all that they lose all sense of perspective and reasonableness.

Regards I can't comment on your experience.

You all that it be shared. I do. I can't make everyone else act in the same way.

If the school are being shifty, how did they explain the lack of progress towards targets.

asked not all

they lose all sense of perspective and reasonableness.

People generally can do this. Not just parents with children with SN. Teachers can, other professionals can. Anyone who does or does not encounter any amount of stress can. It is a meaningless generalisation.

Soap There was progress. Coped well. Not matched by what was reported.

Regards. The school said they had not progressed as much as they had?

What I mean was academic progress was fine, no longer received a high level of support, no longer needed. Targets became a teacher's 'wish list'. An average child could not have come up to them.

exactly regards - all people can do this. it wasn't a statement about parents of children with sn but about a certain type of parent who'd find something to be an obsessive control freak over whatever it was. if that type has a child with sen or an allergy or ill health that tends to be the thing ceased upon to vent that.

swallowed How can you tell who is that 'type' and who is genuine? That is who is trying to get genuine needs met when they aren't.

'demanding that teachers cannot use their professional judgement in order to best support a child is throwing the baby out with the Bath water'

No it is flouting the law. Teachers have no business using their professional judgement to override the provision specified and quantified in a child's statement. Just because this practice is rife doesn't make it right and it certainly doesn't make it legal.

'starlight if really cannot see the difference between carefully crafted opportunities for children to progress and depriving a child of support, then I fail to see the purpose of this conversation.'

I suspect it is you who cannot see the difference, if you think that 'carefully crafted opportunities' are the equivalent of redeployment of a TA.

It's not scaremongering. We are all agreeing on what happens and goes on, we are just not agreeing whether or not it is right that it does.

However there is no room for disagreement here because there is a law which states what is to happen.

What a lot of posts since I last posted. I have skimmed most of the comments and it makes me so sad and a little angry. Firstly, I have to disagree with the SEN training; I am highly qualified and experienced in working with SEN children in a mainstream setting. Ofsted observed me teaching a lower ability class with a few statemented children and the rest on action and action +. They said my lesson was outstanding and all children, including those with disabilities and SEN, made excellent progress. He also commented on my excellent use of a TA.

I find it offensive that due to experiences in a handful of schools, you can claim that I am inexperienced and under qualified to teach. I care very much for the children I teach. I know their targets inside out and plan for them. That includes independent learning and working successfully with a peer. This is not, as some here believe, me letting them struggle. It is carefully planned and managed. I will also let the parents know using a home school book or diary that x has worked independently or with a peer during a literacy lesson. I almost always have positive replies from parents to say thanks for letting us know.

I am sorry that your experiences have been poor but all I can say is talk to the school. If the school don't know how you feel they cannot address the issues. I really don't think there is anything else I can say to convince you that some teachers are actually good.

'you probably need to examine your own expectations'

I have. It is a bit difficult to get to the bottom of the expectation issue when teachers assure you your expectations are being met as to do otherwise would admit to breaking the law.

But once I realised, I removed my child from the mainstream state system as do numerous of other parents of children with SEN, often far too late and with significant damage caused.

Parents are free to read this thread and the comments of both parents and teachers (and some parents who are teachers) and make up their own mind about the credibility of the posts.

I am extremely glad of this opportunity to put this discussion out there for their judgement and hope that some children have improved life-chances either from the parents being quicker to see issues with their schools or because teachers have thought about the issues raised on this thread and investigated some of the things that have been said by parents.

Worried

Talk to school = tick

Not all teachers are bad = tick

I don't think we are arguing this here.

The 5 schools that my child attended were 'outstanding' their teachers rated as 'outstanding' with 'outstanding' SEN departments. That doesn't mean they didn't fail my child or break the law. (Getting your child into an outstanding school is a perceived benefit of having a statement).

I have experience of a lot more than the handful of schools that my child attended though.

Again Starlight you are choosing to ignore the meaning of what has been said by more than just myself.

I would not be prepared for my child to not make progress because his teachers were too scared of minute counters or were to scared to use their judgement to make new, exciting developments for my child. The parents of the children I teach feel the same.

Stop trying to make generalisations across a whole nation of children. Your doing no one any favours.

Who has run through 5 schools in a year?

So how do I allow the child who has 'rely less on adult support' as a target achieve this? Whatever I do will be 'breaking the law'. Then am I incompetent for not planning activities that allow the child to succeed? We cannot win. Thankfully I have a good relationship with parents and know that they will come to me with concerns.

Ofsted outstanding means nothing in my book. Since if the best schools I have been in, and by that I mean child centered have been satisfactory or good. Some of the worst have been outstanding.