What support should school provide for a Year 2 child behind?

[Cakeandslippers]

My DS is in Y2 and, in his end of Y1 report, he was assessed at the lowest of the four levels, working towards the Y1 expected level, in reading, writing and maths. He was also working towards in some other subjects, but I’m less concerned about those.

Since the start of this school year, I’ve had no communication from school about how he’s doing or what support he might need. They’ve turned off messaging on the school app this year, and I’m not at pick-up because of work. The teachers aren’t at drop-off either, so I’ve actually never met his new teacher, who is an NQT and also new to the school.

I’m wondering what I should reasonably expect in terms of support in this situation. Would it be too much to expect some guidance from school about how we can help him catch up and improve? I’m particularly worried that he’ll just fall further behind.

He did have a support plan in Y1 and was getting some additional small-group support, but as far as I can tell that has now stopped. I don’t think he currently has a support plan, although I’m not actually sure whether he does or not.
I feel that he needs some additional support, but I’m not sure how this works in practice or at what point a child would normally get extra help. How far behind do they need to be before school would normally put additional support in place?

He has also been referred for an ASD assessment, so he is on the SENCO’s radar, although obviously that doesn’t necessarily address the immediate issue of him being behind academically.

I’m really just wondering what is normal in this situation. I hear a lot about teachers being overwhelmed and stressed, and I absolutely don’t want to be the parent who is constantly pushing for things unnecessarily. But equally, I feel like I do need to advocate for him, and that he does need some help.
My DD is completely different as she’s always been working at greater depth, so I honestly have no idea what is reasonable to expect when a child is struggling academically.

Any advice or experiences would be really appreciated. Thanks!

After your meeting, follow up with an email so you create a paper trail.

the children with 1.1 support specified in their EHCPs have had to give up a significant proportion of that support as it's required to manage the behaviour of children who don't have an EHCP but who need 1.1 to keep the other children safe

If those children have 1:1 detailed, specified and quantified in their EHCPs but it isn’t being provided, I hope their parents know they can enforce the provision. It isn’t optional. The LA is ultimately responsible for ensuring the provision is provided. This duty is absolute and non-delegable. It can be enforced via JR if necessary. The school is leaving themselves and the LA open to further action.

The local authority needs evidence that the school has tried this first before they will even consider them for an EHC (education & health care) plan

This might be what your LA would like the rules to be, but it isn’t true. The law does not require a school to have undertaken the APDR cycle first, certainly not 2+ like some LAs like to claim, before an EHCNA is agreed or before an LA agrees to issue an EHCP.

yes, I believe they are aware but I think they are all at the point where they are just pleased their children are getting something. I only know one of the parents well enough to discuss this though and they are not happy about the situation but equally have accepted it - it's a complicated situation which I won't go into here and which we all hope is being resolved, but of course we don't know. It's a small school and we are just grateful every class has managed to have a teacher this year (2 are NQT which is how they have managed it).

If the parents aren’t happy, they can enforce the provision detailed, specified and quantified in F. If you know them well enough, you might want to let them know they can go down the pre-action letter then JR route if necessary. They might already know, but everyone knows this.

If the provision isn’t detailed, specified and quantified enough to be enforceable, they can request an early review to look to improve the wording and appeal next time they have the right of appeal.

@Cakeandslippers This, to
me, sounds like a small school being overwhelmed by Sen pupils. I’ve seen this before and it ends up with no one being happy. The teachers find it a struggle and leave and dc cannot access what they need because funding does not cover it. The parents you talk about are being pragmatic but their dc are overwhelming resources. Small schools become havens for Sen dc (cuts little family friendly school) but it can be disastrous and standards for Sen provision are stretched to breaking. Is there another option for y3?