Greater depth last year... to working towards this year - SEN child

[ThisMustBeMyDream]

I have received my sons report this week. He is yr5. It has been a difficult year, and last September I applied for an EHCP fir him and it was granted. It came through in January. It does state he needs 1-2-1 and small group support. Initially he was given 1-2-1 for 1.5 hours a day, 3 times per week. He now has 2hrs 45 each day, but over lunch and in to the afternoon. The morning is when they do English and maths... which leads to my main question.
At the end of yr4 he was greater depth in maths. He has always been GD maths. It's his special skill really and was evident at just 2 years old. In his report this year he is now marked as working towards y5 standard.
I have asked his teacher who said they can't assess him properly as he has spent so much of the time out of class in meltdown, and won't accept when he gets anything wrong.
I am going to push for a full time 1-2-1. He has his ehcp review first week back in Septmeber and I've already written in it in in the section for me to write in.
But should I be doing anything else? My mum is apoplectic as a recently retired primary head, but I'm not sure she is being objective. I could do with some unbiased advice. My partner is also a primary teacher (not his dad) but only qualified a couple of years ago so has limited experience of this.

From the teachers point of view, she can only assess whatbshe sees. And she hasn't seen any evidence of greater depth.

you need to deal with the senco.

Just in case it is useful. I found this v interesting. More of a side point really and I'm not telling you to apply this approach, but it opened my mind learning about it https://www.fau.edu/education/centersandprograms/card/documents/errorlessteaching.pdf (I have 6yrs old ADHD/asd son)

Why aren't his 121 hours during core subject lessons?

Even if he needs 121 support during the lunch hour, that still leaves nearly 2h available.

Is his 121 expected to provide other lunchtime supervision, to effectively be one of the lunchtime supervisors?

If he needs 121 to cope with the playground, would a 20/20/20 split help to reduce that? 20 mins eating, 20 mins outdoors, 20 mins quiet indoor time, minimal interaction, reading/ipad/lego/whatever his thing is.

When Maths is a special skill one difficulty can be that the child knows the answer and has quickly calculated it in their head.
They can become frustrated when expected to follow a particular method or show working out ( obviously needed for marks in some assessments)

Another difficulty can be the language of mathematics especially understanding that there can be various names for one operation. Sometimes prompts on laminated sheets are required.

Had school been communicating about the meltdowns and time out of class?

Same with my kid, maths has been a strength since a toddler. The issue with that my child can't adapt to using the techniques the teacher wants or to show working out, everything is done mentally. That reduces the evidence for greater depth. I am concerned how his functioning is going to impact on his potential as he will need to try new concepts which he hates doing as he is very PDA and wants to do things his way, and especially during times of transition or if something is upsetting him.

Different teachers assess differently.

Last year's teacher may have seen his arithmetic skills and inferred from this that he was greater depth. It may have been a "best fit" based on a spiky SEN profile. Or perhaps he scored well on a particular test or series of tests.

This year's may be considering his likely Year 6 result. They may be looking more at reasoning and multi-step problems, which your son might struggle with (esp of any language needs). It may be a worst case based on a spiky SEN profile. Or perhaps he scored poorly on a particular test or series of tests.

No idea why anyone would be apoplectic. Curious is fine though - go and ask the teacher.

This does sound unusual in my opinion. If he has a natural ability in maths, then it would be unlikely he’s regressed that much. GD to WT in one year is quite extreme (unless previous teacher didn’t assess correctly?). Do you know if your school uses NFER tests? Whilst they only form part of a teacher’s assessment, they would give your child a standardised score which will indicate their ability at Year 5 standard. Method doesn’t matter in a test really - it’s just whether they can answer correctly.

if he genuinely has regressed this much, then you need to ask the school how his EHCP funding is being used to best support him. You haven’t said how many hours he’s entitled to but, if maths is a concern, he should have support with it. Focus on the targets in the EHCP, and how the funding is helping him to achieve them.

You could push for a 1:2:1, however I think it would be more beneficial to spend time thinking about the triggers for the extreme emotional reactions, how best to avoid them, or manage them when they do occur. Ultimately if your child is out of the lesson a proportion of the time then they will inevitably get behind, however gifted they are, as they will miss the topic content.
For example, is your child having an extreme emotional reaction to getting a maths question wrong due to the expectation/belief that it's their special talent?
Also, the developmental trajectory of a child is rarely linear, so if a young person presents ahead of the bell curve in a subject this does not mean it will always be the case, and does not mean there is something pathological occuring (such as regression) or poor teaching/insufficient support. They may just be plateauing in that particular area. Equally for anyone with a child who is behind, it does not mean they won't catch up and take over their previously more gifted peers! Brain development is very complex.
Has your child had an occupational therapy assessment as part of their review?

I don't find that very credible. Whilst there are some genuinely new concepts introduced each year, much of the progression is such that a child working at greater depth will barely need teaching the next level - it will just be an obvious extension of what they already know. So if the child has not got at least "expected", that suggests they have failed to teach them anything much at all, and they should have been dealing with this before now. Possibly the problem is mainly that he had a meltdown when they did end of year assessments and they rely mainly on those.

Could your mum or partner do their own assessment against the year 5 curriculum over the summer, so that you have a clearer picture of whether the failure is the assessment or the learning? It's important that the next teacher knows what level he is really working at. A lot of schools seem to start the year with number work, which I would guess is his biggest strength, and the last thing you want is for him to be bored into meltdowns because the teacher thinks he's lower ability. If there are some genuine gaps, then it's worth identifying them. The school should have been doing this, but if they've just failed to assess him, you might have to take matters into your own hands.

Different teachers assess differently.

No, they don’t- or they shouldn’t. They have to follow whole school policy and will be moderated and monitored in their judgements.

You need to see the SENCO.

I had similar in my class this year. Unfortunately I had to assess as working towards as the child had not been in the room to learn this year's curriculum. I did note on report that child is more than capable but has not received the teaching to meet the curriculum objectives due to behaviour/SEN needs.

Teen DD has ASD and academically gifted however, like most ASD children has a spiky profile and for her this means her Working Memory and Processing Speed is lower than her other skills.

At school this means that if she sits an assessment in a noisy environment (or she's stressed, under the weather etc etc) although she gets 9s (A++) normally she gets 5s (C). Although DD doesn't have meltdowns she does have shutdowns and her Primary mentioned on several occasions that they couldn't mark her on what I said her ability was as they could not see it to evidence it within the classroom environment and its the classroom environment she struggles with not the work.

Pushing for a 1:1 may be worth it but so is looking at other accomadations that can be made in the meantime and working on coping strategies in the Summer, especially with Secondary school around the corner where 1:1s are less likely (even with an Ehcp) as TAs are taken to cover lessons etc.

The whole school policy may not adequately cover children with extremely spiky profiles, because it isn't possible. How do you decide if the child who can complete all 4 operations mentally in seconds without error, but for whom worded problems are basically pot luck, has met the Year 4 expectations? Some schools test, but not all. And if his school is testing but the child is having regular meltdowns and maybe therefore missing the testing, then they would have to fall back on teacher assessment, which will assess what they have seen only.

Moderation doesn't catch every child in Year 4/5. It just doesn't.

My focus would be on why is he so distressed at school? Why does he experience frequent meltdowns?
And the amount of 121 support may not be solution. It sounds as if his needs in this learning environment are not being met. Could be sensory, could be social demands, could be teaching/learning approach,could be executive functioning / cognitive processing difficulties etc. Or more likely a combination of all and to varying degrees on different days.
How much masking is he having to do?
It's doesn't sound like a maths attainment issue per se to me.

Absolute nonsense🤦‍♀️ Assessment is a national, standardised procedure...not a 'personal made up criteria' that teachers pick depending on their personality and mood on the day!

OP, I'm a primary teacher of almost 30 years (and unlike the poster above, I don't make up assessments based upon my own personality, mood, day of the week or what the weather is doing on the day 🤷‍♀️)

I'd suggest you go in and speak to the SENDCo and class teacher. It sounds very much like they have not got the evidence to be able to assess your child against the standards this year, due to him not completing enough work at the expected level.

The school will still have a process to follow. I was referring to the suggestion different teachers using different processes, not different children.

What was he assessed at in his spring and autumn reports this year?

If a teacher doesn't have evidence of age related they won't give it.
I'd get gran or your partner to tutor him over the summer. It sounds like he'll catch up quite quickly.
Then next academic I'd talk to the teacher and senco about a better plan. No child should spend that much time in crisis. Be open to conversations about medication, reduced timetables and different settings because unfortunately mainstream schools don't have much capacity for SEN provision at the moment.

No it's not. There is nothing that clarifies whether a child must meet all criteria to meet age related for their year group. Assessment is nationalised and standardised only at key points.

I am a primary SENCO and every year we have teachers asking for support on assessing children with SEND, who are exceeding in some areas of a subject and below in other areas. It isn't easy. If you believe that your assessments for year 4&5 children are faultless, you're wrong.

I never said that I assess on whim or that any teacher does.

I hate people on this site sometimes and how they just come in for a fucking argument.

Perhaps I worded poorly. But my point is that a change in level for a child with complex needs does not necessarily indicated regression or stagnation.

Either way, OP - ask to meet with the SENCO. You should be due an annual review in September, but if you can get a meeting or phone call before the end of term, you could get things rolling. Things clearly aren't working if your child is having meltdowns and missing class, and you weren't aware.

I have worked with a number of neuro-diverse children for whom Maths was their special subject.

For many of them, what they liked about Maths was the clear sense of right / wrong answers and they were often very quick at number bonds and times tables. These children tended to perform very well in arithmetic if it was presented the way they were used to but unfamiliar question presentation and reasoning tests were harder.

Here are some of the areas I have seen become a barrier as children have moved into upper primary. Sometimes these have caused meltdowns as children have found being asked to answer them uncomfortable or distressing or annoying. I think for some children, some of these feel like the teachers are breaking the rules of what they think Maths should be.

Do any of these seem like they might fit your son?

A) As they move through KS2, more ambiguity is introduced which some children really do not like.

e.g. 2 x 3 < < 4 x 4 (there are several possible answers)

B) Questions also get longer, with more exchanging, and harder to do in one's head which can be hard for children who don't like to write down their working out.
e.g. 500 - 297.

C) Questions are presented in a way which fit the page rather than make it easy to solve. e.g. written as 243 x 5 but to solve it, it is better to rewrite it as
243
x 5
Some children are very reluctant to rewrite out the question to make it easier to solve.

D) Increasing levels of multi-step questions which need careful reading
e.g. 24 children get on a bus. 2/3 get off. How many children are left?

(many give answers which are 2/3 of 24 which is how many got off, rather than how many are left. Or can give the answer of 1/3 when it needed to be how many children which is 1/3 of 24)

E) Lots of explain why questions which need a mixture of calculations and writing
which can be confusing / confronting e.g. Edward has £20 and spent 1/4. Paul had £16 and spent 1/2. Edward says he spent more money than Paul. Why is he wrong?

F) Questions where operations and scales of measure need careful attention.
e.g. Tommy's bottle held 3 L of water. Sarah's held 2 L of water. Tommy drinks 600 ml. Sarah drinks 400 ml. How many litres are left between them?
(Need to recognise what to add / what to subtract, convert measures, answer in the correct measures)

H) Interpreting bar charts / rulers / thermometers with different keys. e.g. if a key on a pictogram is that each is worth 5, then recognising that ** is 15 and not 3.

I do think it is possible for a child with a maths learning profile which finds all the above difficult to go from GDS to WTS over their KS2 schooling. For it to happen in a year seems quick, and for you to be taken by surprise also does not seem right.

But I hope the above gives some insight in areas where Maths abilities can get challenged.

This NCETM web page has assessments for each Y5 objective which might help. https://www.ncetm.org.uk/classroom-resources/cp-year-5-curriculum-map/

Ha ha - fell foul of the asterix leading to bold...

H) Interpreting bar charts / rulers / thermometers with different keys. e.g. if a key on a pictogram is that each X is worth 5, then recognising that XXX is 15 and not 3.

What does it actually say in the EHCP about 1 to 1 support? Apologies if you already know all this but Section F is the part that’s legally enforceable. Any phrases such as ‘would benefit from’ or ‘access to’ are meaningless. All support needs to be quantified and specified.
1 to 1 support by itself though isn't always the answer. Did the EP report identify what his barriers to learning are? Sometimes it's small adjustments that make a big difference.

If you haven’t seen it, there’s some good info here:

www.ipsea.org.uk/what-an-ehc-plan-contains

If the support and recommendations ARE quantified and specified and the school isn’t providing it then you need to complain to the local authority (as they are ultimately responsible for the delivery of the EHCP - via the school). (I would speak to the school first though.)

If they aren't then you will need to go through all the reports that fed into your DS’s EHCP with a highlighter and pick out all their recommendations for support and compare it to what’s actually in the EHCP.

At the AR in September, you can actually use the fact that your DS has dropped attainment in Maths so dramatically as evidence that the EHCP isn’t working.

I would also really question why he’s spending so much time out of class having meltdowns.

Is the school not following the strategies/recommendations in the EHCP? Again, this is evidence that the EHCP isn’t working.

I would also speak to his class teacher again before the end of term and ask what is happening in class - what are the triggers to his meltdowns? Also speak to the person who has been providing the afternoon support. You will need to gather as much evidence as possible.

Just to warn you, you may have to appeal to get substantive changes implemented into his EHCP. Tribunal wait times are around a year so I would recommend thinking about this as soon as possible as he has secondary around the corner.

As others have said, support at secondary is very hard to come by and if there’s any vagueness in the EHCP, it’s not going to help.

My DS is at secondary and has an EHCP. He is achieving extremely well in some subjects because he has good support/strategies in place. Your DS needs and deserves likewise in order for him to achieve his potential.

OP sadly I have nothing helpful (other than to reiterate seeing the SENCO as your ds should not be in such distress they miss so much of their class that they can't be assessed, that sounds appalling and my heart goes out to your poor child!). My son is AuDHD and 7, maths is his thing too.

@AnotherThingToThinkAbout- Thank you so so much for this insightful response - I have learnt a lot from this. I think you hit the nail on the head with the "rigidity" of thought, it's like changing methods or multiple solutions shakes my son's sense of stability sometimes when the world is confusing enough for him already...

Did you not have any idea that this was coming? No progress meetings, previous reports, review of his targets , concerns raised etc?

Such a drop should never come as a surprise to the parents.