Possible SEN discrimination after child moved down maths set at school

[Meforthree]

Does anyone have any experience with SEN needs discrimination? Our DC is in year 6 at a relatively selective school with documented slow processing and dyslexia but regularly scores 129ish in maths assessments.

He has now been moved out of the top maths set (the lower sets do less challenging work) after having a teacher who was very noticeably resistant to making SEN adjustments for him - and given those grades, (which put him in the 97th percentile nationally) the only thing I can think is they equate his slower pace with lower cognitive ability. Surely this is discrimination?

I wholly agree that there’s nothing wrong with being in Set 2 - if it’s the right set for you. And the problem here potentially is that it isn’t. It’s this that creates the issue with self-confidence - constantly being sent messages by figures in authority that your slowness is the sum of your intelligence. He’s totally aware that he can do the hard maths really and that his slowness is perceived as stupidity.

First of all , I would have a meeting /email asking why your son is being moved down. Make the school/teacher justify their position, rather than you arguing against it in the first place. Say that given his high scores and ability you don’t understand why this decision has been made. See if they put it down to “speed”, which you can then argue against.

Secondly, what is the set up of the lesson? An input where they learn the stuff for the day and then they just do questions that get more and more challenging? Or teach , do , teach something else, do and so on? In the first scenario, letting him work at his own pace , would absolutely be a reasonable adjustment that wouldn’t slow the class down either. If it’s the second, it can be a bit trickier , as working at his own pace means he might miss some learning, or everyone else has to wait for him. If that’s the case , set 2 would probably suit better, however he still needs to be appropriately challenged, so again I would put it back to the school as to how they plan to do this.

Thirdly, if at all possible, I would frankly look at moving schools, even more so if he’s supposed to stay after y6 too.

So when are you meeting with school to find out their reasons for moving your DS to set 2 @Meforthree?

Without that information this thread will keep going round in circles.

Who’s been telling him set 2 means he is stupid? If it is a selective school, set 2 still will be top quartile or decile.

I dropped sets in languages because I have a learning disability on spoken language - I think in symbols so I just don’t really understand why the same object needs different sounds (which made learning kanji/ Latin/ Greek easy, as it was just assigning a different written form to a symbol - in a rational world we would all read and write Chinese as it is a far better means of communication vs using alphabet based writing, same way that 3 means the same thing in all languages regardless of spoken pronunciation the symbol for tree means the same thing, regardless of how you pronounce it)

But I never was made to feel stupid for not being in top set for French, or not being allowed to take German or Spanish

Not an appropriate one.

I don’t think any of us are in a position to know that. Fair enough if you disagree setting is reasonable … but the OP doesn’t disagree woth setting, so long as the school sets according to her own views. And the tutor (classic).

I don't disagree with setting, I disagree with setting for processing speed if the child is keeping up with the work.

You seem really angry ! Your son may have to face many difficult situations both in education and in other areas of life . Are you sure it's not YOU that is making him feel like Set 2 is some kind of failure?

I am in Ireland but is your child only 10/11 ?? When I first read the thread I assumed he was at least 15/16 and moving towards important exams .
In primary there is surely little difference in how the sets move ? Over here we don't really have sets at all at that level. I teach the same age level .

Your child is obviously very academic and able and will do brilliantly . I think if I were you I would definitely ask the school what is going on . But maybe also try to calm down a little . Schools are busy places and we cannot possibly cater for every single element of every child's learning .

I’m going to come off this thread now because it’s just going round and round and I don’t really feel like the majority of people understand slow processing, or care to.

Just to clarify, before I go, that yes, I am indeed angry, and it’s right that I am, I think, because this is one of a number of things the school has done that suggest they would rather manage down a SEN need, as opposed to offering adjustments to stretch him to his potential. The teacher who likely fed most into the decision was extremely resistant to making these adjustments last year, despite the fact that they improved his scores instantly and didn’t affect anyone else. She wrote his report as if he didn’t have a SEN need, instead referring repeatedly to how he needed to improve his focus, which is a complete misrepresentation of his needs and profile.

His Ed Psych report very clearly warns against this exact issue with this learning profile (high iq, slow processing) and lists the risks of treating him like he has a lower cognitive ability than he does as frustration, lower self-esteem and of course, not being stretched appropriately/academically.

To the person above who snidely mentioned our tutor, I already stated clearly that we have her to help us come up with strategies to manage DC’s slow processing (not, as implied, to help accelerate DC into sets and schools that are beyond him). As I also mentioned on here before, the school has been very poor at providing these sorts of accommodations; they have made it clear to many SEN kids’ parents that SEN is a bit of a nuisance. Even the SENco doesn’t seem that fussed. DC’s learning profile was repeatedly sent back to us with the wrong diagnosis on it.

So, yes, I am indeed angry and worried, because I want what’s right for my child. Isn’t that we all want? I’m not hysterical, and in fact one of the reasons I wanted to come on here before our (already arranged) meeting with the teacher, is to gauge opinion as to what other people with SEN kids would expect. There’s such a lot of bad faith on here, suggesting I just want to hot house my kid, or march into school and boss them around or sue them, or put other more deserving set 1 kids at a disadvantage by making adjustments for my own. None of that could be further from the truth. Please, go educate yourselves about slow processing/SEN needs, and maybe consider having more faith in people and being a little kinder. Not all parents are monsters who can’t accept their kids for who they are, and not all schools are doing a good job at addressing mild but real and consequential needs.

Enormous thanks to those of you that understood all this and offered and advice already, thank you.

My nephew has sen issues too ——reflecting in below gaps :

Arithmetic: 29/35 = 82.9%

• Reasoning: 48/50 = 96%
• ISEB-style paper: 74%
• Overall maths: 82%

I don’t know what is this gap how to fill this gap .