Dyslexic daughters school report - how can they say she's not behind?!

[Curlewwoohoo]

My daughter has just finished yr4 today. She's dyslexic, not severely, but it does impact things. Her school report is grand, it puts her at the expected level for reading, writing and maths. But, I know from the AR reading tests that she's at least a year behind on her reading. I've also had her school books home today and her spelling is bad, to the point it makes it hard to interpret her fabulous written work. She got 15 / 25 in the times tables tests. I don't really understand how school are telling me she's at the expected level! Anyone got any insight? School don't currently give her any additional support.

Agree and they will also be given more time for the assessments.

Sometimes my DD completes her assessments orally and sometimes she uses a Chromebook for some of the written work.

The problem is school funding, they can't afford enough adults to carry out the necessary interventions.
At my school, we have 2 adults (HLTAs) to cover the whole of KS2, and a large chunk of their time is covering class teachers' PPA. The rest of their time is reviewed carefully each year : it could include taking out smaller groups ( 4-6 children, depending) or it could be taking a third of the year group for maths, so that there is an element of setting. But there is a limit to how much they can do in the available time. The school is expected to pay for the first £6k of additional help ( from a budget that doesn't have spare £6ks ) for each child, so that means they can't afford to buy in extra help for children whose difficulties are not severe enough to warrant a 1:1.
We try to squeeze in extra spelling sessions, we do whole class spelling sessions using a variety of strategies, we send extra exercises home, we have additional sessions during assembly, but the reality is that the children who get the extra help at home are going to improve faster.
The school can arrange for extra time in SATs and other tests for dyslexic children, so a diagnosis does help for that , and also with the children's self esteem. Dyslexia can include a need for more processing time, whether that is in spelling, or working out what is meant by a particular question.
Toe-by-Toe does work if it is done consistently - I would aim for 5 minutes, most days. It is not exciting, some children don't much like it, but sessions can be kept really short and it still works. There is also a times tables version that works on the same principles.
In an ideal world, the school would be providing all the help that you have described, and at a minimum there should be regular whole class spelling sessions . They should be signed up to something like Times Table Rock Stars ( very popular with pupils) which is an online competitive game) that the children can log on to at school or at home.

They could plan for dyslexic children in excellent first wave teaching and be a dyslexia-friendly school. It is possible!

I’d use Apples and Pears rather than Toe by Toe - same job but much less dry.

It sounds like the school are doing what they can with the resources available - extra spelling and hand writing practice. We were in a similar situation a few years ago. We benefitted from the fact that there were 2 other children in our son's class with EHCP so he sat at the same table and the TA helped all of them in English.

We bought Nessy for him to do at home and workbooks for English and spelling. He's just finished SATs and, to my amazement, achieved the expected level in SPAG. He got 3/20 in the spelling test but made up the marks in the Grammar part. He was above expected in reading. He listens to a lot of audio books and podcasts as reading long books is tiring for him.

Plan for over the summer holiday is reading, keep doing the Y6 English workbooks with him and teach him to touch type.

We met with the SENCO once or twice a year in order to keep communication open and were realistic in what we expected them to do then supplemented at home. I'm concerned about what will happen now he is moving to a massive high school but just need to see what happens.

How do you do that in a primary where TAs have been cut to the bare bone, and only work with children with funding through an EHCP in KS2? We also do QFT.
Lots of SEN children without additional support but lots of needs.

First bit - easy. I haven’t had a TA for two years. Dyslexia friendly teaching for everyone benefits dyslexic children and harms no one.

Second bit, admittedly, is too hard - best to try to persuade parents to do at home.

Her school reports show she is average, which given she has dyslexia is a big achievement, why are you so quick to dismiss your daughter’s achievements?

This is a resurrected thread dating back to 2024.