Moderate dyslexia- support from primary school?

[Frbct]

Hi, my daughter has been screened as having moderate dyslexia. She is Y5. She's on waiting list for a full assessment. The school don't give much support. She doesn't have an ILP as they seem to not do them for children with moderate dyslexia. She is not on their SEN register. She is struggling to keep up. Is it typical not to provide ILPs for children with moderate dyslexia. Thanks

There are aspects of this that will depend on the specific area the school is in. For example, in my local authority, it has changed in the last couple of years and, now, a child can only be added to the SEN register for something learning-based if they are also significantly behind in their learning (as in years). If she's not on the register, it's unlikely she would have a "My Support Plan".

However, register or not, that doesn't mean learning shouldn't be supported. I'd ask the school what is in place in order to help her. However, focus it on how they are ensuring she makes progress rather than on keeping-pace with her peers.

It may be that lots of what is being used to support your daughter comes under QFT (quality first teaching) as lots of what is good to support dyslexic learners, is good for all learners such as chunking information, check ins, repetition of instructions (a very small set of examples). In my school unless it was having a severe impact on her learning and progress, she would not be on the SEN register. Children can still receive intervention and additional support without being on the register (where I work). It would also depend on which areas her weakness is in. For example, if it is an issue with her memory skills, we MAY use something like Memory Magic - no need for an IDP or the sen register for that.

Thank you. She is behind but I don't know by how much and not sure if the school do. On spelling, she is years behind. And she can't do times tables. She is not meeting expected standards in English.
I've met with the SEN lead previously. She was warm and chatty. But it was more about telling me how to help her at home (eg using fridge magnets). There was no mention of quality first teaching. I did ask how they help her in the classroom, but I don't think any examples were given. I asked if she could sit on the front row. Which she then did for a while but has now been moved.
Thanks.

If you can afford it consider getting your DD a dyslexia specialist tutor to work with her on a regular basis.

My DS is dyslexic and we tried so many different interventions many of which were not particularly successful. He is now in a dyslexia specialist school and the teachers have helped DS make a huge amount of progress in a short amount of time.

Thanks! Sorry, I should've mentioned that we have a dyslexia tutor for her at home once a week - since September.
Before then we had a tutor once a week to help her but she wasn't a dyslexia specialist.
As you would imagine, it really affects my daughter's confidence. Last week she was saying she wants to go to a dyslexic school. But the options are v limited - it seems her dyslexia isn't severe enough for support but it also makes it impossible for her to keep up / achieve expected standards. It seems the gap with her peers is growing each year.
Thank you.

But I also note suggestion that it's better to focus on how the school can help her progress than trying to keep up with her classmates. Thanks, I will use that framing when speaking to the school.

Ask if your school is able to refer to your LAs specific learning difficulties service. If so the specialist teachers will advise the school on how to help your DD,, I found their support really
helpful.

From experience - you can sit around waiting for help from an underfunded and overcrowded system. (This help will be basically a short time per week, often in a group setting with children of differing needs).
Or, it being your own child, you can roll your sleeves up and do most of it yourself until she is old enough to take control.

The aim is to

1. improve her reading


2. stop her from falling behind in other subjects


3. improve her confidence and self esteem

Some tips:
Toe by Toe if she has fallen significantly behind in reading
Read to her and with her (paired reading) every day
Go through her history, geography, science etc homework with her, reading it with/to her so she doesn’t fall behind with those subjects
How is she at Maths? Use a visually based maths app that follows the school curriculum daily - we use ixl.com - so she can keep up (or even keep ahead!) at Maths.
Consider an online typing course so she can type essays and projects when she’s older. Some typing courses eg touch type and spell, claim to provide finger/muscle memory for spellings which may help - we haven’t used it yet but will consider.
Find something she’s good at - sport? art? music? people skills? cards? building things? DIY? Gardening? business skills? - and help her to excel in a related area so she has that to be proud of.

Thank you! Really appreciate all the ideas.

Hi OP - You need to find out what kind of dyslexia she has so you can provide the best help possible. Are you in any position to get an assessment done privately- as there seems to be a back log of assessments that need doing from when the schools were shut? I had to really push for my child to be assessed - turns out DS needs coloured overlays. I also had a visual assessment done via a specialist optician - DS now has coloured lenses in his glasses - they've made a huge difference with his English.

In addition, you mention she is struggling with times tables. Dyslexic children often struggle with tables as they are very “wordy”. Then, since tables are fundamental for progressing in Maths, the child is often falsely thought to be bad at Maths.

How to help?
Repetition, repetition, repetition.

And since dyslexic children are often quite fidgety and find it difficult to sit still and focus, they need to “learn differently”.
ie learn while in motion.

So get her to recite her tables while bouncing on a trampoline or throwing a ball or walking in circles around a tree or doing star jumps or skipping with a rope.
Or while walking to school with you.
Short bursts, every day, over and over.

Thanks! Yes,we're getting a private assessment but still a long wait - so not till next school year.
Challenge is that she now hates practising times tables and pretty much refuses. I've probably become too resigned to that and need to start doing more again!
Thank you.

Dyslexia is a tough one. We remortgaged and moved to send our child to a private school with a dyslexic unit. Best thing we ever did.
don’t put any blame on state schools, they are robbing Peter to pay Paul for staff and resources.

Yes the schools don't have enough money. @Seashor was that for primary, secondary or both.

1 in 5 children have dyslexia so a diagnosis in itself doesn’t mean extra support - all classrooms should be dyslexia friendly.
What gets you support is the areas your child is below age related expectations (ARE). Eg if she is below ARE in reading she should get extra input in reading. If she has delayed processing then she might get a task planner in lessons etc.