Still no support for dyslexic dd

[Sleeperandthespindle]

I've posted several times about this. DD (7 in y3) is dyslexic. Her spelling is not improving at all. The last piece of work I saw, a really long and good piece for her - 3 paragraphs - had every word (except for 'said', 'and', 'the' spelled wrong at least once.

I have been meeting teacher and SENCO half termly all year. Nothing they agree to or suggest is put in place and continued. They provide something for a week or two and then it stops.

Currently they have said they can give her a session with a TA twice a week. This has happened 5 times since the beginning of December. They can't tell me what she's been doing with the TA, or what is planned for them to do.

I am at the end of my tether with worry for her. To make it all worse, I am a teacher myself and know exactly what would help. I can also see that she is weaker in spelling than practically every other child I have taught (unless they have had SLD or ESL). None of my expertise is helping (and I do approach the school as a concerned parent, not as a know-it-all). Efforts at home are not working (other than reading) as she is not able after a long day to tolerate more work, and I am not prepared to push this if the same strategies are not followed in school.

What do I do now? Meetings are not helping!

I was told that by my son's educational psychologists for years as he struggled more and more with writing. I really wish I'd ignored their assurances and taken action sooner.

The difference is clear.
You doing it at home is you taking responsibility. You asking what school should do is pushing the responsibility onto someone else.
As you are a teacher, get yourself skilled in this area. Take responsibility and start sorting things out at home. Take the lead and then see if you can follow.

I'm dyslexic, my mother who isn't a teacher found out all resources available (late 70s) and home tutored for my dyslexia after school.
It's a part of me, I now have the skills to cope with it, I have a degree and I don't let it hold me back.
My mother did that for me, she gave me the skills. Schools didn't do anything because it wasn't recognised then.

I am still confused about the best action to take though. Other than lots of additional work after school, which is the last thing my worn out child wishes to do. We start a new school soon and I'd love to go in with some proper suggestions - should he be using ict to write, for example? I feel by the time I've learned enough to help him, the window of opportunity will be past!

Annette is surely is the school's responsibility though
I'm personally too busy all day out educating other people's children, and have a reluctant learner at home at the best of times.
Happy to work to support school based education, but not to replace it.

"I really asked for help with how to get what DD needed from school, not what I could do at home."

I am quite surprised that comment come from a teacher. If you are a teacher, you must know they don't always get what they need from school, even if they deserve it. That's why people are suggesting what parents can do. And you already said school hasn't been helping after several meetings.

Only way to get what she need from school is simple. Just keep going back and don't let them get away with it until you are satisfied.
If not, complain. Escalate the complain.
But some parents decide to do it themselves instead, knowing teacher/school's circumstances/opinions, and realising if this is a winning battle or not.

"I really asked for help with how to get what DD needed from school, not what I could do at home."

You claim to know exactly what she needs but you just won't do it because you expect a class teacher to do it. My school is making cuts left, right and centre-we may not have any class-based LSAs in September and there are two classes being taught full-time by LSAs instead of qualified teachers-things in my local schools are at breaking point.

If this was my child, I (as a parent, not just as a teacher) would be far more proactive.

Why should we set the expectation of what schools do so low? They are there to help all children reach their full potential, not just the ones that are easy to teach of who have parents that will help them achieve despite the school.

Expecting the school to support your child's needs isn't absolving your responsibility, it's asking the school to do their bloody job.

sorry, x-posts with you, letseat

I get that budgets were tight. It was Annette's assertion that expecting the school to support being pushing the responsibility onto someone else that I disagree with.

Rafa, I don't disagree that it is school's responsibility.
I am sure most teacher would do best they could if they have budget, time, resources, man power, etc. But it's not always the case with reality.

The school can do their part to educate but as a parent we have a responsibility to our children.
If we can't take responsibility for our children we can't expect school to fill that void.
The school should do all it can with it's limited time and resources as it cannot give every single child one on one education (however wonderful that would be in a perfect world).
Sorry just fed up of people passing the buck on things that they could and should do themselves.

This was only book based originally (therefore the only option was the cheap option).

www.pearsonschoolsandfecolleges.co.uk/Secondary/EnglishAndMedia/11-14/AlphaToOmega/AlphaToOmega.aspx

Right, that's my help to a parent and teacher, think you can get your big girl pants on and support your child.

Or you could lament that the school should do everything for you.

Your choice.

but I really asked for help with how to get what DD needed from school, not what I could do at home. I'm sure the difference is perfectly clear!

It is clear but I and many others here have battled with the schools and it hasn't resulted in additional help. I had teachers who desperately wanted additional support put in for my eldest - but the SENCO vetoed or there was nothing to offer - that at two different schools

That how we started with apple and pears a teacher saying she needed this but couldn't get her the support in school.

Things I had managed to get with last few teachers - marking all spelling mistakes - and helping her correct or getting her to look up and keeping a book of words - provided by us of words she was spelling wrong so we could work on them at home.

It massively sucks having to extra work at home - especially as I have more than one child to provide it for and they get so very tried from school. I can see from my own children earlier we've started with spelling support the fewer problems they have had - less practise spelling words incorrectly I guesses.

All I can suggest with the school is persistence and meeting with SENCO - though they can then IME start flip flopping about whether there is a problem or not - even when it's bloody obvious there is and they have already stated there was.

Other home things:
www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/
spelfabet though Austrailian prounciation
IXL English though for an older child

I had teachers who desperately wanted additional support put in for my eldest - but the SENCO vetoed

I doubt the senco vetoed it for no reason. It was probably a lack of budget and man power.

A Senco who vetoes support a child needs for lack of budget is acting unlawfully. If the support isn't available within the school's resources he/she should be applying for an EHC Plan.

And the school has to prove that they have spent £6000 to support the child from their notional budget before they can

I doubt the senco vetoed it for no reason. It was probably a lack of budget and man power.

Yes that what we were told - though no one has ever suggested that was unlawful to us before. I did feel at the time we had fought very hard for her - now I wonder if we let her down there as well .

It's a basic principle in SEN that the duty is needs-led, not resource-led - i.e. they have to meet needs, and can't refuse to do so because of lack of resources. If the school hasn't got adequate resources it's extremely strong evidence that an EHCP is needed.

If the school can't prove they have already spent £6000 ( more in some LAs) an EHCP won't be considered.

The £6000 thing doesn't actually accord with what the law says, though I know some LAs use that as a criterion. But if the LA won't consider it, the tribunal will.

Dd is the same as yours OP (same age, same year, same difficulties) she has always struggled and is now on an iep to help her with past and present tense but from what I can see there doesn't seem to be anything which is directly supporting her with the spelling issues other than her being on the lowest table for English with an easier spelling list oh and constantly writing out ddddddd. So we are working on it at home which Dd hates me for.

She has worked her arse off during the lessons and brought home some of her work, nearly every word is jumbled, so much so that she is unable to read it and has to ask me what it says .

When I last spoke to the SENCo Dd had just turned 7 and I was told that they could have someone come in but they will just simply say she's still young yet and things could change. She is now almost 8 and no changes but is due an iep review soon so I will be discussing again. I know of another 2 Dc who are the same age as my Ds(11) who never did very well at primary school and struggled a lot with their behavior. One of them is in yr 7 at High school and he has been assessed and is severely Dyslexic, he is now doing much better. The second was assessed in the last couple of months before the end of Y6, to "shut up" the mother (headteacher actually said this to the parent who is also dyslexic so she knew her Ds was struggling all along and kept going in), he was also dyslexic and is also doing much better at High School.

It makes me wonder if its just brushed under the table in most primary schools and depends very much on the CT's knowledge and how they support in class.

From IPSEA

Also from IPSEA

"The government has recommended that schools should use this notional SEN budget to pay for up to £6,000 worth of special educational provision to meet a child’s SEN. Most children with SEN need special educational provision that comes to less than £6,000."

"Currently, the government suggests that a school should use their notional SEN budget to fund up to £6,000 worth of special educational provision for a pupil with SEN. This is an average figure, as not all pupils with SEN require special educational provision beyond the amount of £6,000. It should heavily depend on the individual needs of each pupil with SEN. Additional support funding is used for pupils requiring special educational provision, including, for example, the commissioning of external experts such as therapists to attend a school and provide support."

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-needs-funding-arrangements-2016-to-2017/high-needs-funding-2016-to-2017

Hi, I'm so sorry you're struggling with this. The only help I can offer is a link to my blog on what I found has worked with my daughter.
loopygoosedarling.wordpress.com/2016/12/06/dyslexia-getting-the-life-you-want-and-not-the-life-you-get/

I know that notionally £6000 per year per child is available to support SEN, but it is incorrect to state that that is the yardstick for deciding whether to assess a child's needs or to issue an EHCP. The reason is partly that, self-evidently, until a child's needs are properly assessed no--one can say for certain whether £6000 a year is sufficient - it is not at all unknown for assessment to reveal that the child has, for instance, sensory problems that no-one has really paid attention to and which need a lot of occupational therapy input.

Also, there is quite a large body of case law to the effect that it is not good enough for an LA to say that a child's needs could be met within resources normally available (including the £6K) if in fact that support is not being given. Therefore an LA which operates a rigid policy that it will not assess or issue an EHCP unless the school demonstrates that it is already spending £6K a year is acting unlawfully.