IEP For My Son and what this actually means?

[vickibee]

We were called in to see the school, you may recall that we had a meet withn the Ed Pysch in Nov, fortunately that turnes out well after her assessment. However the class teacher is concerened about his progess and he is only achiveing level 1. Suggested referring for Special Needs and an IEo, was told to go asay and think it over
It is a high achieving school and he is only just below L2 . IMO he has always been late doing things, he didn't start talking til three and I am sure given time he can catch up. Could this be about the school and pressure to get results. They suggested I pay for extra tuittio to get him up to scratch for KS1 sats? He was 7 in February and is a happy chappy, more of a doer than a thinker. When you talk to him he has good general knowledge and is very articulate but can't record factual information, teacher says he can write creatively though

Help?

Nonnickname, this does sound like my son, he has trouble with spelling sets, I would describe him as a doer and not a thinker. How can I find out if he is dyslexic then?
He struggled with reading initially but now he seems resaonable at it for his age. It is like the words on the page are just being read though and not processed in his head.

Sapphire - The school is very middle class with a lot of rich familes attending. I do feel like the school pauper just because I need to work and other Mums look down on me. I reckon the School thinks everyone is rich and can afford such things

well you could try and find a psychologist privately who can do a dyslexia test (we are currently doing this for our daughter) or the school should be able to do a test within the school I believe and then if it indicates a problem should get him assessed by the school's Educational Psychologist. whilst he has been seen by the Ed Psych if they didn't do a dyslexia test with him then they wouldn't know. He quite possibly learned the words as whole words if he stuggled with phonics. what is his reading like now? what sort of level is he? If he is learning the whole words then he will struggle with new ones and he may be able to manage at the moment but as time moves on a gap will open up again.

I think you do need to raise it with the school SENCO and explain his father is dyslexic and what problems there are. it could explain a lot.

He failed the phonis test in Y1 and has to repeat it this time. He got 24 when the pass mark i think was 32. He eads the books the school send home quite fluently, I think his reading seems OK but I am not a teacher. His writing isn't bad and like the school said he can write creatively but cannot recall and write down facts, for example their topic was the Great fire of London and he could talk ablout it freely but could not write down simple answers to questions. How mush is the dyslexic test?

A relative of mines children go to a similar well to do, middle class school and seems all parents home tutor. Makes life very easy for the school.
Even so, I still think shocking that the school so openly condone the cop out of relying on parental money to throw at an issue.
The school should work with you and your ds.
I would be tempted to let Ofsted know next time school is inspected how lazy they are.. Can do that anonymously if you like.
Good luck with getting the school to do their job in supporting you and your son properly.

Dyslexia is a complicated condition and lots of LAs now refuse to test for it. Parents need to pay for private assessments in order to get a diagnosis.

You may find that paying for a tutor is the worst thing you can do. They need to recognise his difficulties and spend time and effort working out how best he can be supported. The record this creates via the IEP is his key to continuing support.

SMART is an acronym which describes how the targets should be met, i.e. measurable, realistic, time-bound, etc. I can't remember what the other two mean. It is good practice to involve parents in writing IEPs but not all schools can be bothered with that.

We've just been told it would cost four to five hundred pounds to have DD1 assessed by a private Ed Psych.

That is a lot of money Goldmandra...

it is very expensive privately yes. We have been quoted £750 for dyslexia and some other types of test. in all 5hr of the psychologists time plus report writing etc so when I consider that then the price doesn't surprise me but still it is a lot to find and we are having to think very carefully and rely on help from family to find the money.

I didn't realise a lot of LAs now refuse to test for it, I haven't heard that before.

it does sound to me like he has something along the lines of memory/processing or dyslexia problems and the school SENCO should be helping to find out what these are not telling you to go and pay for tutoring.

you could try going to your GP for advice, could possibly refer to community paediatrician. not sure if you can self refer and I am not sure if they are the people to talk to about a memory issue for example but he deserves to have help and proper support put in place for his particular problem.

Smart targets = specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-based. In other words, "by x date he will be able to read any CVC word on sight."

Many people refuse to test for dyslexia before year 3 because many of the symptoms are things that many children do before that age, then as they develop non-dyslexic children stop doing them.

Ed Psych visits are like absolute gold dust for schools in our area - I don't know what the rest of the country is like but I can't imagine it's much better. Our SENCO has had to plead with our EP to see a year 2 child whose reading & writing is at 1c, so if your son is at 2c he certainly wouldn't get seen round here.

You need to pin the school down on strategies they'll be using to help him recall and write down facts and ask them to tell you what you can do at home to support him. It's in their direct interests to get you supporting him in the way that they are as their strategies will be far more effective that way.

You describe him as reading the words on the page but not processing them through his head. That suggests to me that he's not comprehending what he's reading - not taking it in. My solution to that (if he was in my class) would be to talk, talk, talk about what he's reading. Read to him and discuss the book you're reading. Get audio books for the car - stop it at a cliff hanger and then talk about what might happen next and why. Ask the school for suggestions of questions you can ask when discussing books with him - I have lists I give to parents.

And DON'T get guilt-tripped into paying for a tutor. 10 minutes a day with you will be far, far more effective than an hour a week with a tutor. Can your DS sequence stories or events? I sometimes photocopy pictures from a book and then ask the children to put them in order - can he identify beginning, middle and end of a story he's just heard? His teachers really should be helping you with this. Don't feel guilty asking them for more guidance - it will make their lives easier in the long run if you are supporting him effectively at home.

Oh - and you can't refer to the community paed, but your GP can refer you. When you go and see the GP you need to talk about the widening gap between him and his peers, and that you'd like the paed to investigate possible medical reasons for this. A friendly paed told me this is what you need to say! If you suspect a specific learning difficulty (ie dyslexia) then an EP would diagnose this not a doctor.

Absolutely do not pay for tuition to see your child through Y2 SATS!

I would like him to achieve a level 2 as he is not far off so extra help to get there could be good? It sounds like he will be the only one in his class at this level and that would be bad for him

I think vickibee people are shocked that a school would suggest paid tutoring at home.
You are being made to worry too much about this by the school.

Of course you would like him to get to a level 2, that's not unreasonable. However, you should not have to pay for tutoring! It is the school's responsibility to provide appropriate support. It does sound like a dyslexia assessment might be helpful.

The school has an incentive to give him the extra support he needs right now because they need him to do as well as possible in his SATs. This isn't for his benefit. It is for their figures.

Your DS's support needs won't go away because the SATs are over but the school will have less incentive to support him.

You need to make them put the support in place and keep it there even when SATs have finished.

If you pay for tutoring to get him to level 2 he is likely to end up with no support after SATs and continue to fall behind.

If he doesn't get a level 2, it will be a bad thing for the school but a good thing for him because it will be a clear indication that he needs support and you'll be able to use it to insist that they give it to him.

No school should ever be putting in extra support just to get a child to a certain level in SATs. Support should be offered to maintain a child's levels consistently, throughout the key stage. It's bad that they are only stepping in now because SATs are looming. It is disgusting that they are suggesting that you pay a tutor to pick him up where they have let him down.

Please don't pay for extra tuition before SATs and please don't allow the school to give him a boost to get him through them and then let him fall behind again. Take this opportunity to insist that consistent, long term support is put in place to ensure that his levels are brought up to national expectations and kept there.

Thank you so much to all who have replied, Initially I panicked but can see an IEP may be good for him long term and set the school targets for achivement as well as my son. I would really like to have an assessment for possible dyslexia but given the cost it is unlikely the school will agree, one can but try.