How common is it for children to repeat reception?

[givemedirections]

As it says on the title really. Child in question has severe autism and apparently they can’t meet his needs in Year 1 - but he can’t stay in reception forever? So what eventually happens?

You are imagining ‘Year 1’ as nothing but the physical classroom, whereas they and the LA who know the system recognise that while he is technically on roll in year one and will be assessed as a year 1, his needs can only be met by the school in the reception class.

This really isn’t a lie, it is your misunderstanding. It won’t do the child any favours for you to oppose the school by insisting they are lying when they are just following the procedure.

And that’s a lie, isn’t it? It’s keeping him on roll for a class he isn’t in.

It's not a lie though. If he can't access the classroom environment in year 1 then him going into reception is in his best interests. He is still a member of the year 1 class but he is accessing his learning in another classroom. What do his parents think the alternative should be?

If the annual review of the EHCP has been held recently, by all means request an early review, but DN’s parents can pursue a specialist placement following the recent review. They will have or will shortly have the right of appeal so they can appeal if the LA don't make the amendments required.

If DN’s parents or whoever is caring for DN want support to improve the EHCP &/or pursue specialist provision, you could suggest they start a thread on the SEN or SN boards on here.

Is the sensory table detailed, specified and quantified in F? Does it make it clear it needs to be in the classroom DN is in?

Having a child in Y1 but educated alongside reception isn’t necessarily a lie. To give an example to demonstrate this, fast forward a couple of years to Y2 in an infant school. A child could still be in Y2 and leaving that year to move to a junior school but be educated alongside the early years foundation stage.

The children I know who have repeated reception, it's been the right choice but the school clearly need to think in a more long term way and ensure correct procedures are followed.

Does your DS have 1:1 support? Is he the only child in the school with similar needs?

For the children in my school who have needs it seems that are similar to your ds they access the classroom but also have regular time in a breakout room where there are sensory tables, nurture activities and toys as well as time in the woodland and outside.

We’re going round in circles @Procrastinates . If it was in his best interests then they’d have no problems in explaining that to the LEA. No one minds him repeating a year of reception but we do mind smoke and mirrors.

@BrumToTheRescue - I have suggested she starts a thread here but to be totally honest she didn’t want to although was happy for me to do so.

Ds stayed a extra year in nursery has the school said he wouldn't cope in reception.
During that year we fought for a place in special needs school.
Now ds attends a special needs school where his needs can be meet.
Ds started reception a year later than he should have.

No one minds him repeating a year of reception but we do mind smoke and mirrors.

He's not repeating the year though from what you've said and that's why you need all the facts. What's happening is he is using the reception classroom to access the curriculum that is suitable for his needs. He's still in year 1 just not in the year 1 classroom. He's not part of the reception class it's just that room is better suited to his learning.

He does have 1:1 support. His needs are pretty significant and so I don’t necessarily disagree that an extra year in reception might be beneficial but I do think if this is the case this needs to be upfront with everybody. I’m afraid I don’t agree at all with this idea that he’s on the roll for Y1 but is actually in reception is open and honest; it’s the opposite.

He’s repeating a year of reception @Procrastinates . I really feel like you’re trying to be provocative here tbh. He isn’t doing y1 work but in a reception classroom - he’s literally doing the whole year of reception again.

To reiterate, I think it's time to start pushing for specialist provision.

My older one really would have benefited. We suggested to the school he repeat reception then year 1 then year 4 and year 6. Each time they said he was borderline but generally coping. He has autism and learning issues and global development delay and and IQ of under 80 and was born just before the cut off for an entry into the following year and I do wish we had been more resolute about it. He is about to enter Year 10 and frankly would have been alot better if he ahd been held back early. He's in mainstream right now at an excellent school with great SEN provision but I think we have just kicked the big issues into the long grass by not being more insistent.

It is impossible for anyone to give proper advice on a situation where you don’t have all the information and that you do have is not first hand.

If it was in his best interests then they’d have no problems in explaining that to the LEA. No one minds him repeating a year of reception but we do mind smoke and mirrors.

This is too simplistic. But if DN’s parents want the LA to know they could have informed them themselves.

I'm really not being prococactive but there's only so many ways of saying the same thing. He's obviously not doing year 1 work because he can't access that work. What he's doing is work suited to his needs in a reception classroom because that environment suits his needs and has the resources he will use. He will presumably also do work with his 1:1 when the reception class are doing their learning.

Would you prefer the alternative being for his provision being in a room away from both the reception and year 1 class with just his 1:1 by himself? He's using the reception classroom space, he's not part of their class it's really no more complex than that??

Has he met the early learning goals for the end of reception? If he hasn’t, then he needs to repeat the learning that happens there.

At this point, the LA only wants to know whether or not the school can ‘meet need’. If they can meet the child’s needs, in any of their classrooms, then that’s what they have to tell the LA.

@BrumToTheRescue its not a case of ‘wanting’ a special school it’s getting into a special school as so many have been closed there are limited places and it takes a long time to get accepted into one even with ‘severe’ needs

My friends daughter repeated reception but she was on the waiting list for a special school (which thankfully has just come through). Y1 for her would have been stressful for all involved so it was the best strategy and the school were able to accommodate.

Well - we don’t agree then do we @Procrastinates and endlessly saying this isn’t helpful. You feel it isn’t a lie - I don’t see how it’s anything but: regardless we aren’t going to see eye to eye so that’s fine. Let’s draw a line there, especially since the last line of your post is breathtakingly ignorant and highly offensive.

@Cocothecoconut - this is the problem I think a special school would be best, but it’s just waiting for that place. In the meantime I’m sympathetic to the fact accommodating needs must be so hard but it being hard isn’t a reason not to do it.

It is a matter of wanting a special school in the sense not all parents want their DC to attend a special school so not all want to pursue a specialist placement. Which is the context I mentioned want in. Some want them to remain in mainstream and there is a legal right to a mainstream education unless a mainstream place is incompatible with the efficient education of others* *and no reasonable steps could be taken by the LA to avoid that. This is a high bar.

DN’s parents will have or shortly have the right of appeal following the AR, they can pursue a specialist placement if that is what they want then. LAs and some schools will tell parents they have to sit on waiting lists for years on end. This isn’t true and parents should appeal. Being full is not on its own a lawful reason to refuse to name a non-wholly independent school. The LA has to prove the school is so full placing DC there is incompatible. Obviously there is a point LAs prove thar, but it is a higher bar than LAs and some school admit which is why so many appeals are successful. Appeals are taking a long time, around a year, but not the years on end many LAs would have you believe.

So, he hasn't met the ELGs and therefore needs to access the provision that would enable him to do so, presumably he needs a sensory area, a water area, a gross motor skills area, outdoor provision area, fine motor skills area, access to self chosen resources, and all the resources that support his progress. These aren't available in the year 1 classroom, there simply isn't room ( again, whether ideally there should be is a different argument,) but are available in the room next door. Surely it meets his needs to have these to hand. We have an EYFs Forest School provision for our Reception children. Some children in Year 1 continue to access this provision because they benefit from it, we don't have a separate Year 1 Forest school area, they use the EYFS provision. They are still in Year 1 though!
If parents are concerned, inform the LA that the school are using EYFS provision for him, even though he is in Year 1. I don't think they would consider this an issue!

@givemedirections if DN’s parents want to pursue a SS, do they have the right of appeal now? If not, when was the AR?

especially since the last line of your post is breathtakingly ignorant and highly offensive.

What on earth is offensive and ignorant about what I wrote?

He's using the reception classroom space, he's not part of their class it's really no more complex than that??

That's exactly what is happening. He will still be part of the year 1 class but they don't have suitable provision for him in there so he's using the reception classroom space to aid his learning as it's more suitable for his needs. Why is that offensive it is factual.

Look I appreciate it's obviously an emotive topic for you but sometimes it helps to be factual about what is happening. They are not doing it for an easier life for themselves, they are prioritising the best way to help your nephew learn.

I really do not wish to continue this conversation with you @Procrastinates . Thank you.

Ok - you're not following what others are saying. I wonder if this helps...

If they formally change his year group to reception, then he has to stay with that year group. Formally changing a year group is generally useful if a child has missed a significant portion of the year -for example, due to illness. It gives them a realistic chance to catch up.
If he has profound needs, this is not going to solve the problem. He will still need eyfs provision at the end of next year. The LA will not agree to a second deferral.

But instead, he's formally staying in year 1, but they are meeting his needs by educating him for some or all of the day in an eyfs environment. There are lots of sensory needs that are easier to manage in this environment than in a year 1 classroom. He will be able to access a wider range of resources that support early learning. They could do this for a term or for the whole year, or for the next 5 years, if it's supportive. The school can choose to organize it's classes any way it likes, so long as his EHCP is being fulfilled.

The LA will be informed at his annual review, as part of be process is to describe provision that he is receiving.

It is not very common for a child to repeat a year in mainstream schools.
Eventually, if the school can’t meet his needs then a placement at a special school would need to be found.

You're probably not going go listen to this anymore than you have anyone else, but I'll try 🤷‍♀️ Telling the LA that he's formally moving up to Year 1 isn't a lie.

When I taught Year 4, I had children who were accessing work at a year 1 level. They were still enrolled with Year 4 because on a social and emotional level they were equal to their peers and needed that more than academics. But they weren't accessing Year 4 academically at all.

The difference is that when we do that for children like your DN, they have to physically go in the lower classroom because they need the social/emotional side and the academics. And academically, what Reception provides can't be taught in a Year 1 classroom (both in learning style and actual curriculum).

By keeping him registered with Year 1, it means that if he does "catch up" on a social/emotional level later he can stay with children of the appropriate age. He can catch up on the academics later (or "just" work at a lower level like many other children") but go back to children his own age. If he's officially moved to Reception, they can't move him back in future and that could cause problems.