really need advice about my dd in year 2 ....sorry its long

[tengreenbottles]

My DD is an august birthday child and so started school just as she turned four ,however she was really happy and settled well ,made friends etc. It transpires that during reception she had next to no formal teaching and was repeatedly told she wasn't ready and so spent the year colouring in . A new teacher started at the school who picked up on the fact that dd was well behind the others in her year group. She suggested testing my dd for special needs ,with the possibility that she may have some level of dyslexia. I agreed to this because if dd is dyslexic then the sooner its reccognised the better. What worries me is that she will have been tested at year 2 level when she has only really had one years education and so in my opinion should be tested at year one. The person who tested dd is supposed to be writing a report and will have a meeting with me to discuss the results ,although i have no idea when that would be . What i would really like is for dd to be held back a year so that she can catch up the missed year, its my opinion that the LEA have a duty of care to my daughter and that due to the previous teacher ,they haven't fulfilled this duty . I also want to refuse to allow dd to do the sats in may, as again she is at such a disadvantage having missed a year .What advice do any of you have ?

Let her do the SATs; they can be a good indicator of her strengths/weaknesses and of course they will understand if she has low marks due to difficulty. She is young for her year group too, so try not to worry too much.

I would not hold her back personally, but this will depend on you and the school. Imagine what her peers will think and she will lose friends that she has made. I know that children develop at different rates and at different times, so surely she could catch up and being in her own year group would pull her up and challenge her a bit.
Seems strange that nothing was said last year though. So, push for a meeting ASAP so that you can talk and hopefully find out hat to do. hope this has helped a bit?!

My advice would be start off from the perspective that you and the teachers and the school and the head and everybody are all on the same side. Don't make it into a battle, a confrontation: It really doesn't have to be. Everyone, I'm sure, wants the best for your little girl. They want her to make the best progress she can and to fulfil her potential.

It's great that they've initiated some dyslexia screening and are obviously well aware that she is under-performing.

When the results come back you will have an excellent opportunity to go in and talk to staff about what you all together can do to best meet the needs of your daughter.

Re-sitting a year is (IMO) unlikely to be the best solution. Most children at this age who have fallen behind a bit can be helped to catch up very effectively if given appropriate support.

You might get some answers on this thread
[http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/primary/610132-general-support-thread-in-relation-to-school-sta rting-age]
But generally I think it is quite hard to go "back" a year. However, if you put together a credible argument then who knows?

testing for special needs doesn't really have a 'year level'

it's likely to be an Educational Psychologist testing your daughter, and these are standard tests across all ages

Sats don't really mean much - only to the school and league tables - if you feel really strongly about them just keep her off on that day

Thanks for the comments , perhaps as her mother i am prone to be a bit emotional about it . However it just seems awfully unfair that she has basically lost a year of her education ,this might sound melodramatic but that is what has happened to her and she wont ever get that time back .I really hope she will catch up but given the current information regarding august babies and educational acheivement she is already at a disadvantage . As for the sats im still not convinced ,the teacher is aware of her strengths/weakness's ,thats why she is on the special needs register ,plus i believe the sats have nothing to do with education in its broadest sense. I know its sounds odd to say that she had no teaching for a year ,but by the time i had worked out what was happening ,the teacher was taking early retirement due to various reasons and i didnt want to add to her stress. So perhaps i should of worded my question ' my dd missed reception and is the youngest child in her year , do you think she will be fine'

The friend thing wouldnt be a problem as she is in a mixed year group class ,reception,year 1 and year 2 so she has friends across the years .

Having just been to my first Governors' curriculum sub committee meeting as a parent governor, I would say let her take her SATS. If she does OK then all well and good but if she doesn't the school will, if they are half decent, put a lot of effort into help her improve. Our school has been putting a concerted effort into specifically helping the children who did poorly in the SATS and they have had excellent results in doing so.

No the SATS don't have much to do with education but they do focus the school on what they need to do to get children to achieve better.

I wouldn't hold her back a year either as I would think it would adversely affect her confidence, more so than underachieving in her current year group. If her special needs have been identified then she will get help. I am no expert but I imagine how my DS1 would feel who also has some SN and struggles in some areas.

I know you're worried about your daughter, but I honestly wouldn't worry about her SATs. There really is nothing hanging on them - they are much much more significant for the school overall than they are for your daughter.

I would also think twice before thinking of holding her back a year - young children are very sensitive to this kind of thing, IME.

I know in Surrey it is very very very rare indeed for a child to be allowed to be taught out of their year group. The only person I know who was successful made it in 3rd appeal and the basis for the argument was the dc had missed the first 2 or 3 years of education as she was born abroad and had no education there. This child was at a MLD school and did benefit hugely from being allowed to repeat a year but like a say teh special needs were not taken into account only the fact that she had had NO eduaction at all until she came to England when she was 7.

Tengreenbottles -please dont get upset feeling that your dd has missed a year

With the right support she will easily catch up - for one thing she has a supportive mother!

Also here in wales they have just introduced "the foundation stage". I dont know much about it but it seems to be that for the whole of reception, year 1 and 2 - they learn through play - In a lot of primary schools (the best ones imo) reception year isnt about learning to read and write, its about playing and discovering, socialising etc

Honestly dont worry she will be fine

I personally think that reception year of enjoying school will have been far better for her than having tried & failed at trying to do the academic stuff. Really they are assessing her at a young age and will be able to help her.

The most important things is that she is happy.

Its easier said than done yurtgirl ,she really did miss out for the whole of reception,in fact the new teacher said she had never met a child who was so demotivated and in her words 'switched off to learning',which is what happens when for a whole year you are either ignored or told you are not ready to learn . Anything she did pick up was through osmosis !

They are not saying she has SN from an academic point of view , so if she had had the opportunity in reception there is no reason to suppose she would of tried and failed . Part of me thinks the teacher is trying to get her special needs status so they will get funded for extra help ,which on the plus side if used appropriately ,will certainly benefit my daughter. Would she get one on one support do you think if it is discovered she has mild dyslexia ?

I think you need to wait and see. I would go on the special needs board and ask about dyslexia, my understanding is that they teach them techniques so that they can learn. I know someone who has severe dyslexia and went to a specialist secondary school because of it and is now a barrister, so once diagnosed it isn't a barrier to academic achievement.

tengreenbottles:

I guess you can start telling your daughter "you're ready now" with a pleased look? To help with the motivation side? Make sure you put a positive spin on itto her whatever you do. Don't let her sense your disappointment with the school

I've heard a few stories of this happening to August children - reception passes with a false sense of security and then the problem is only really revealed in Year 1.

Hi tengreenbottles - my MIL was a reception teacher for years and she has had children coming in who could read and write and children who had never picked up a book. She has had children who were 'ready' and children who weren't. She reckons that they all catch up by about year 2.

My DS is now in Year 3 and is an August birthday too. In reception he was just not interested in the academic bit. That was fine with me. And the teacher. He got interested towards the end of the year and started bringing words home etc. There was a big gap between him and some of his classmates in Year 1. The gap reduced a bit in Year 2. Now in Year 3 there is still a gap but it is less. And I make sure that the teachers and I remember that he is almost a year younger than some of his classmates.

I have read on here somewhere that reception is designed to start off at 80% play and 20% work and gradually shift so that at the end of the year it is 20% play and 80% work.

You DD can catch up now. Both you and the school are now aware of the issues.

You say she is in a mixed class? I would assume that this would make it easier for her to catch up as they are covering both Yr 1 and Yr 2 stuff?

Hopefully the testing will show what areas need particular attention. And if it turns out that she is dyslexic then she will get the help and support that she needs.

thanks everyone for your time , i guess i need to wait and see what the results of the tests are and just keep going with the homework/reading .