Extra 1 to 1 sessions (for parents to pay) in private school - what is the cost?

[Budur]

My daughter is in Y1 now and has been struggling through the year and is at the bottom of the class. She has speach therapy that we pay for once a week at school (very clear speach but not articulate enough) and has recently had an assessment done by the education ps who confirmed that there is an issue with her comprehension on top of the expressive speach and gave good tips to help her with that. Her reading is great, 2 years ahead of her age but she can't answer questions on what she has read properly or write them down well, but overall is a nice girl, so not disruptive at all.

She's not confident and is one of the youngest in the class, being end of July baby which affects her results. Ideally we would like to keep her a year down but under current system it's not possible. The problem is that her school only goes until 7 so next year she needs to have exams to move somewhere else and the school is not sure whether she'll pass entrance exams. We think she's just immature and needs time to grow up but there's just no time for that.

Headteacher proposed 1 to 1 additional sessions with her during school hours (she does very well 1 to 1 but not in the overall class environment, and is already at the max level of the learning support having a session on something with them every day). We are yet to hear how much it would cost. They are thinking of bringing someone from the outside for this as obviously current staff are busy with their classes.

I think it should be an extra teaching assistant just for her for some session (the proposal is 3 mornings, 2-3 hours) as there is a qualified teacher in the class. I think it would be a better way of giving her extra support in the classroom compared to separate tutoring. I only know that tutoring can cost anything from 20-50 pounds an hour which is well out of budget (as it would be on top of school fees), but this is more of a support in the classroom and possibly would be more like teaching assistant hourly rate which would be a lot less? Also, if school would bring someone from outside will it go through their accounts/taxes etc. and we'll end up paying more or will it be paid directly to that extra support teacher? If anyone has experience with this would be much appreciated.

We really need to get her into some private school from 7+ that would not be competitive and have small class sizes to let her develop so we are prepared to do extra things to help her with that. obviously goes without saying that we do as much as we can with her every day after school but she's already tired after school. I feel she just needs to play and grow up a bit and not face this when she's not even 6 yet...

"And what is the speech therapy you pay for aiming to achieve- I'm not sure what "not articulate enough" means in this context.

Sorry to quiz you- but I do have some relevant experience and knowledge- I might be able to offer constructive help with some mor information.

Ok, you hot house her, and get her into a selective school, then what?
Do you think she will be able to keep up with the other children who sat the exam! Do you think a selective school will be as willing to put in the support?
To put it blunt I think you will be setting her up to fail, and struggle though out school.
There are many non selective schools in London, they may be a little further away. But I beg you to have good think about what's going to happen later on.

Has she been assessed by a NHS speech pathologist/technician or just by the school?

She does have learning support every day with specially trained teachers who we like and met regularly together with her class teacher and it's all included in her fees. But I suppose there is so much they can do without taking attention from other kids. She doesn't like big groups which is another reason yo try and keep her in small classes.

So looks like to get proper support in state schools you need a statement. They are monitoring her for that and if she won't be progressing they will be trying to get it for her. If she won't get into any private schools we def would be moving to be close to good state schools. How does it work applying to a different borough? And from searches it looks like you will have higher chances of getting into your pref school if you have a statement, is it really true or depends on the area?

With speech - she doesn't talk much and at first we thought that it's because of two languages but after a certain point it became clear there is something else going on. She reads beautifully but can not answer questions on what she read, so comprehension is an issue as well as expressive speech. She talks in short simple sentences and often we ask her to think and reconstruct sentences as words are in wrong places. And she struggles to recall the words that she knows saying that she can't find them. So speaking in the class is daunting for her although she loves her school and runs to it very day. I mean very wrong grammar for her age. Visual info helps her a lot.

I have regular chats with speech therapist and she tells me what she does and gives exercises to do at home. She did assess her a year ago and recently as well and we agree with her conclusions so class teacher is working on those recommendation.

Twille, I don't think you understood me well. She does not stand a chance to get into a hot house so clearly we are not even going to try. What we would like to do is to get her into a not very competitive school where they will give her a well rounded education in small classes where she will get more attention.

There are no non-selective private schools in London, pressure on places is just too high and there is only so far we can move as we both need to get to work. Yes if we are in Surrey there are plenty of non selective schools but would be impossible to commute for us. I would happily keep her down a year if there would be such an option as she's a summer baby.

Who has assessed her? and what qualifications does the teacher have?

Lol at impossible to commute from Surrey... Did you tell the other thousands of people that sit on the trains to Waterloo every day?

Anyhoo - yes, you can request your preferred school with a statement, however, I don't think she would be eligible. (I speak as someone in state schools whose child was Statemented for s & l, although with other issues too. 15 hrs 1-1. There is no earthly way I could have afforded to pay for 15 hours a week 1-1 support. In fact, there were two kids with 1-1, so they shared ft support at 2-1 ratio. Effectively dd2 had her own ft tutor)

I'm slightly baffled why you are insisting on private, when there are no non-selectives, and generally speaking, support is better for additional needs in state. Hey ho.

Poor little mouse. She's 6 and in totally the wrong environment.

You don't need a statement to get appropriate support in a state school (there will be no statements in September) but you do need assessments carried out by relevently qualified agencies. So for speech and language, a speech and language therapist or pathologist

As a SENCO almost everything you've posted alarms me!

Are you sure about Surrey? I had both my DCs assessed at the ICAN Meath school - which was unbelievably awesome. Their fees, however, reflect this! But, bizarrely, I understand that S&L local provision is much better than elsewhere in the country. It seems to cluster in places.

What you are describing seems like specific language impairment and reading comprehension deficit. Oral language underpins comprehension so if one is wobbly, the other will be, too. There are lovely structured courses out there - ask you SALT to recommend one? The fact DD is decoding well, is a help but she isn't actually reading - reading is getting meaning from a text, which she isn't doing. But, being able to decode shows phonological awareness, essential for the decoding side and for spelling - so, that is good.

Have you asked the school - do they think your DD needs a special school to thrive. It sounds like you trust them enough to do this. Don't forget, DD has you both in her corner and SALT - she is one of the lucky ones.

lol at can't commute from Surrey - The London to Brighton line is fast and busy, into Victoria , London Bridge and Charing cross plus Thameslink. . I would however warn you that SCC are tighter than tight when it comes to paying for support especially for those in the independent system. Having said that as I mentioned earlier, SALT is an NHS provision so accessible to all , if with a waiting list , via GP/HV/Paed route.

When her comprehension is assessed is she reading books that match her chronological or her reading age?

What language does your DD speak at home? Does she have a nanny? And what language does the nanny speak?

I wouldn't dismiss bilingualism as a source of some of your DD's difficulties but you need to analyse her language environment very minutely IMO. If she has good decoding and word recognition skills at 6 that is an indicator that her speech and language problems may not be very serious.

I would disagree Bonsoir - lots of kids with speech/lang difficulties can decode quite well but with no understanding of meaning.

OP - have they diagnosed a specific speech and language impairment (SLI)? It does sound more complex than simply immaturity of language. Have they commented on how they think her bilingualism is or is not contributing?

I second the rec. for the ICAN Meath school by the way.

Bilingual DC may sometimes learn to decode very effectively but lack the oral/aural language skills (vocabulary and inferencing) that underpin comprehension. Hence my questions about the OP's DC's language environment.

Bilingual DC and monolingual DC need very different analysis in the early years in order to identify language performance issues and their solutions.

There are some non-selective private primaries in south London. But they start testing when the children are joining above reception, and I am not sure how inclusive all of them really are. Class sizes aren't particularly small either (although, I think, 20ish is typical).

5yo DS currently on school action plus and has 1:1 at the moment (not sustainable without a statement though). His issues are very different to your daughter's.

It does seem possible for parents to pay for additional people to go into state school to help their DCs - have you tried asking on the special needs board? This might be a way to help your funds stretch further.

I also support the idea of contacting the ICAN Meath school assessment centre in ottershaw. They will give you a very thorough report explaining what type of support would best meet the needs of your child. It is worth the money. I did it twice with DS.

In your place, before looking at private, I would look for a state school with a well run speech and language unit. You will find that if your child is the only one having the one to one, the speech therapy, etc, etc, their confidence is really dented. In a school with a language unit she will have peers having similar language barriers, learning together rather than individually is hugely important for children. Maybe your LEA can you give a list of schools. You will need a statement (or whatever replaces them in september).

Just to add: a speech and language unit is one where the children will physically go and get certain lessons with specialist teachers, they will also get individual SALT (depending on the statement). They will join their form class for all other subjects.

DS2 went to one and made loads of progress but provision here was primary only, stopping at 8. His group (15 kids) was more self-contained, only joining mainstream for certain subjects. I think units vary considerably, depending on where you live.

Right ho. First of all - is English her second language, or does she speak 2 at home? Does she speak any language with fluency? Having 2 languages is a massive benefit, but I have read that it is not uncommon for children to have a slightly slower start, even though they are likely to achieve better in the end. Has her speech been assessed in her "main" language?