primary school applications

[scarlala]

hi i've just been applying for primary schools. My son is incredibly behind on his speech (only has about ten words) i fear he is not going to be ready for school next year. Anyway i found a school with a language base would be perfect but i was told he would need an assessment to get in. I cant find anyway of getting an assessment done and i know the school doesnt handle assessments anyone know what i can do?

Do you have a diagnosis? Has your son seen a speech therapist? My son was assessed by his speech therapist and things went from there.

My ds is at a language base. In our area there are only a few places each year and it is difficult to get in. Ds was assessed by an educational psychologist and child development team. He had been under a speech and language therapist (salt) for years. Application and reports were submitted to a LA panel in February before school start from nursery/school, salt, ed psych and paediatrician. In our area speech and language have to be the primary issue so children need to be of normal or above IQ and if autistic this has to be a secondary concern (otherwise they should get support in a more general or ASD base).

The process may differ in your area but I think you should start by speaking to your SALT about it, ask your early years provider for a referral to educational psychology .

You should also post on the SN board as there is a lot of expertise there.

My child was referred for Speech Therapy through Health visitor. I understand that these days you can self refer but it could be that an appointment will come through faster if you are referred by HV or GP.
If you are concerned about other areas of your child's development the GP may be able to refer to a hospital clinic for a fuller assessment.
It can take a while for the first appointment to come through so if you're applying this January, the assessments may not be completed.
With my child though, great progress was made with the pre-school following SALT recommendations. Speech therapists can also visit mainstream schools to help support a child if needed so this school may not be the only option.