Dyslexic child SATS with reader/scribe. How to use it?

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My son is dyslexic. He's bright and did pretty well in his mock sats in January with no extra time or help getting 103 in both the reading and SPAG,and 109 in the Maths. We were very proud of him. He's been assessed for help in the real exams and has been awarded 25% extra time and a reader and prompt. I have no idea what using a reader and prompt involves for him and school haven't really told us. He has no idea how to make use of it and I don't think this is something he's ever practiced and he's a bit worried he'll find it distracting as he's never had anything like that before. Can anyone give me a guide as to how we make use of this and prepare him properly for the exams?

I know that SATS don't really matter, but I also think it'd be lovely if he did well for his own self esteem (especially as he has a rather bossy neurotypical older brother who has been very vocal about telling every that he got full marks in all the papers when he did the SATS - it'd be fab if he managed to match his brother as I know he often feels a bit second best!)

Thanks

They can read the questions for him. If he wants. And prompt him to stay focused and working to time. They don't scribe. Unless you have that too.

Except for the reading test they can read the questions for him which can save time and allows him to focus on the answer. Comes in pretty handy in lengthy/wordy questions in spag and maths reasoning papers. Particularly when they are worded awkwardly or they are slightly confusing or they have unnecessary information in .

Prompting is about keeping the child focused, moving on if they really don’t know a question/get upset by it rather than wasting time on it. He can always go back to it later .

Scribing is literally writing down whatever the child says the answer is. It is mostly used when their handwriting is ineligible so the computer wouldn’t be able to decipher it and children would lose marks , despite knowing the answer. Particularly in the spelling test.

What you can do, is to do some practice papers with him at home with you reading the questions. No inflections or intonation allowed for the SPAG paper , just a monotone , robotic voice as those can give out the answers. See how he finds it and how he gets on with it. Obviously no help with the questions or suggestions of what to try are allowed either. No reading allowed for the reading paper , but you can ask him to read out loud to you.

He may be in a different room, because someone reading could be distracting for other pupils. Depending on where the tests are taking place and space available.

It really is a help for some pupils, enabling them to focus on understanding and answering the question, rather than taking time to decode the text.

As @WhenYouSayNothingAtAll says, it can’t be used for the reading test, for obvious reasons.

Yes, I wrote scribe when I meant prompt in the title, apologies there. He's feeling a bit stressed about the idea of it, so I really hope school will practice with him!

School have to practise with him - they have to show that whatever is being used in the SATs is part of normal classroom practice. So they should do this before they sit the actual papers.

My worry is that we think he may also have auditory processing disorder (waiting for assessment) and whether it'll actually end up being a hinderance and not a help. He's not bad at exams - got through the 11+ without anything other than extra time on the exams so I think he could manage with just the extra time. I hope it doesn't prove to be detrimental.

Ideally this would have happened already for every practice tests he’s had so far. Leaving it for the actual test is not good practice or good for the child.

Nothing so far, he's no idea what it involves. They did the practice test in January, but he's only just been assessed for extra time etc.

If he’s willing to give it a go, have a few practice runs during the Easter break. In addition, send an email to the teacher CC’ing the SENCO in asking for him to do some past papers before the actual SATS in the same conditions as they would do in the test for him to experience it and they can also see how he actually does and manages it. For most children it is an active benefit, but like I said, they do all (half termly) practice runs in test conditions, preferably with the same adult they would have for the actual test so they know exactly what is happening, how, what is allowed to ask etc.

Particularly given he’s gone through the 11+ well, SATs are meaningless really. It does feel like this is really more your worry mum (which it would be mine!). I’d just take it as a practice - see how it works and how he finds it and change it if need be in secondary.
Putting pressure on SATs is mental, especially after 11+. And talking about how he’ll respond to questions being read etc is pressure, indirectly. I know you mean well! But just think about the perspective of SATs… and assessments generally. How about “your teachers have said it may be helpful to have a an and b, which is new. Let’s give it a go!”

He can ask the reader not to read the questions unless he points to them. The reader is most likely to be a staff member at his school so he will probably have some kind of working relationship with them anyways - they won't be offended and will just want to help him achieve his potential!

My DD had a reader but she ways had one in practice. They just read everything to her. (She has dyslexia and a slow processing speed).

Of you think a reader will be a hindrance just talk to the school beforehand. He doesn't have to have one.

Schools have to sign to say using access arrangements ( extra time, scribes, readers, prompts) are the students normal way of working so the school had better get a move on! If moderated, they will need evidence that this is normal practice, otherwise they will fall foul of maladministration! We assess our year 6s in September and, if they meet the criteria every formal practice test taken after that point has the necessary adjustments, as does as much classroom work as we can manage with the staffing restrictions we have!
That aside, if he finds a reader or scribe a distraction, he needs to say. He will still be able to have the 25% extra time, which might be better than a scribe or reader if he isn’t used to it!

Agree with all previous comments. If he’s getting those SS already, he’s capable of GDS in the actual SATs.

I'll be blunt, if your son is dyslexic and achieved 100+ in his Reading and SPaG then you can be enormously proud of him 👌.

As you'll no doubt know, dyslexia isn't just challenging for him, it can be genuinely upsetting and stressful. Frankly, I'd probably accept the time and tell the school he may not need a scribe/reader (they may well be relieved).