SENCO

[Mrhappy07]

Hi
Just wondering if anyone has had experience of dealing with a very negative SENCO in primary school. My daughter had real difficulties in reception, with anxiety which led to challenging behaviour at times. She is now five and has made great progress in year 1 and all the staff I have met throughout the year have commented on her amazing behaviour and how she has settled so well in year 1. as they all thought it would be a nightmare. Throughout this year their has been no behaviour issues other than she can ask too many questions at carpet time.
The SENCO is saying small steps have been made and there is along way to go. I just find it really strange when there has been such significant improvement.

well somewhere along the line communication seems to have gone wrong. Either between you and the teacher or you and the senco or the senco and the teacher.

Yes, i should add my daughter receives 10 hours of support a week which was allocated a year ago based on the difficulties in reception. It seems to be the SENCO's main concern that the support continues, even though the behaviour has changed.

Which actually may be entirely the right thing to do or the wrong thing to do.
It might be that the TA support is that vital prop that just means that daughter does not exhibit the challenging behaviour. On the other hand if the TA is velcroed to your daughter and your daughter has made that transition to being a good pupil that this may actually hold her learning back.
Think you need to have a conversation with the class teacher and the SENCO to get one story. With ten hours of support, the cost of that will be falling mainly on the school, so in many ways one might expect the SENCO to be looking to remove the support rather than continue it.

Thanks for reply. Yes it can be a good thing if the support is still required and it is LEA funded at the moment. It.s just that I feel the positives improvements should be acknowledged and an accurate picture painted, as it feels that in an attempt to keep support the SENCO is playing down the progress just as we are due to have a review. I have raised this point in a recent meeting with CT and SENCO and they just looked blankly at me.

Perhaps they don't want to lose the funding for the extra support just yet. Perhaps your dd's success is linked to the support and they don't want to rush into removing it.

TBH I would also be wary of being too positive in case her TA was taken away. (I speak as a mother of a child with similar 1:1 support for challenging behaviour).

It seems the support is really helping your daughter and perhaps that the support is leading to the better behaviour.

My son has improved in all aspects due to having 1 2 1 supportive. Without it he would struggle again, maybe it's the same for your daughter.

Does your daughter have problems with learning? Behaviour is no longer classes as a special need.

Her teacher says she is very bright, ahead in maths but finding writing tricky which is where the support is helping. I know it sounds like I don't want the support to continue, it's not that. I know the TA really helps with her writing and she is really improving. I realise as well that the support may well be contributing to the behaviour improving. However I know that she has really matured since reception and now enjoys school, whilst last year she really disliked school. I just worry that it won' t matter how much she improves the school will judge her on how she was in reception. I also don't want her to become dependent on the TA as when funding does stop, she may find things really difficult.

I had not heard that behaviour is not classed as a SEN; behavioural difficulties are often a symptoms of a SEN be it SpLD, anxiety, undiagnosed ASD, SPD, APD etc. The cause may not be identified for some time but still exists.

OP do you think your dd 1-2-1 is instrumental in helping her behaviour? If you feel the extra support she receives is helpful then you really need to play the game of stating the worst in everything. That is what the SENCO is probably doing. It is depressing but is what gets and keeps support. She needs to balance two conflicting messages; she is doing well (the support is working) but she has a long way to go (she still needs the support).

What Bilberry says. It is a game and you need to downplay her success or you might lose the funding...

Behaviour is now not classes as a SEN. However, in my son's case for instance when he has a 'melt down' then he disrupts the whole class. That's the learning of 30 pupils. He does however have a diagnosis from a consultant to explain his poor behaviour. The school had to fund a 1:1 it was a health and safety issue. My SENCO is applying for an ECHP for him soon though as even with a fantastic TA he has his 'moments'.

Your right it's a game. I have gone along with it up until now, as you know the support can help. I just feel that sometimes it would be to good to be completely honest rather than this paint the blackest picture. I will probably just have to continue playing the game as if they still feel support is needed and it's taken away, that will then be my fault.

Behaviour is no longer classes as a special need.

I don't think that can be 100% right, surely certain behaviours can prevent effective learning?

In EHCP's 'behaviour' is still discussed.

I would keep quiet and let the SENCO do her job of keeping the funding for another year so your DD can benefit from it for the move to year 2. You know your DD has made good progress and her teacher does to and that's what matters most.

It would be lovely if schools got extra funding for children by saying how well they are doing but they don't unfortuantly. To keep the funding for another year, the school needs to make a case for how small steps have been made but could easily lost if the one to one support doesn't continue.

I agree with you Mrhappy an accurate picture is needed of your DD's needs for her to progress. Not to give this is distorting a child's needs which can inhibit progress, if achievements are never formally acknowledged. Because the teaching will not necessarily move on. It is dishonest and at worst fraudulent. One question is, are you absolutely sure she receives all of the support claimed? Is it genuine 1 to 1? Not small group work?

I have experienced this. I was careful to always document any progress carefully, myself, on all paperwork. My DC had a Statement detailing severe needs but has progressed to not needing a Statement or the individually funded 1 to 1.

The school were not always as keen to acknowledge progress, though. They used the 1 to 1 to work in small groups with other children. These other children were often those with needs that conflicted with my DC's.

After the Statement and 'support' ceased my DC has made huge progress. Academic achievement has a last been acknowledged, instead of being played down, and attainment is above what would be expected for the agegroup (instead of being concerningly below.)

^a child who has secured individual SEN funding should not be treated as a 'cash cow' by their school IMHO.

Schools have been known to do this, for those who say they don't. See this thread:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/primary/1862438-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

Schools have to do costed provision maps, since the funding reform, in order to claim high level funding (over £6k) I would ask to see it MrHappy, if your daughter has needs classed as 'high level' needs.

Thanks for comments. I think I will probably see how year 2 goes and then if the progress continues then I will have to ensure that the progress is recorded clearly. I get the feeling the TA works with other children other than my daughter. It just feels that they are waiting for her to return to how it was in reception. I appreciate they have to be cautious but she has done brilliantly from sept, so if this continues, school will have to start giving her some credit.

In the meantime I would urge you continue to positively encourage your daughter, MrHappy and record all her positive achievements in all the documentation you have opportunity to complete. I hope you are adding your own views regarding her progress, as you see it, for the Annual Review too and that your comments are submitted to the LA. And make sure you are there in the AR meeting - you can have a representative there from Parent Partnership or anyone else you wish to have there, to support you too.

And ask the questions, such as what size groups your DD works in? Is the TA able to support other children in the group or does your DD require all her undivided attention? How often and for how long does she require 1 to 1 over the day / week? How has she progressed in this, over the year? Make it clear that you see the tailing off of support as a positive thing, if she is able still to progress and cope.

Basically they need to quantify support so you can monitor progression.

^ as well as qualify, that is.

I know that the support is only for a couple of hours in the morning. The TA is mainly used for the written focus task, and the CT has told me that there are no problems in the afternoon when her TA goes home.

Well, in terms of funding, genuine costs more than small group work. So for these funds to be justified is dependent to some extent on group size.

If your Dd can share the TA's attention in a small group it shows more progress than if she continually required the TA's undivided attention, in order to complete the task. From 1 to 1, to small groups, to larger groups, to working without support in a class - shows required resource reduction.

^ genuine 1 to 1. Typo.

It is very usual for schools to use a TA for more children than the child who has the allocated time, especially with behaviour issues which are not apparent all the time. Of course the school does not want to lose 10 hours of funded TA time!!! What school would? As this used to be my budget when I was working, I would be sending out an experienced SEN teacher to assess progress and future needs and at the very least getting regular reports from the school. We changed TA time allowed very regularly because children do improve or indeed need more support. What is the point of continual intervention if the success, or otherwise, of the intervention is not assessed? OP- The school should also be very clear with you about what your Dd has achieved (both with her behaviour and academically) and what their plan is for her in the future regarding support in the classroom. They should not be giving you mixed messages because they want to hang on to 10 hours of TA time.