Additional support in high school

[Rosebud2005]

How do you obtain an assessment for additional support in high school?

If you are concerned that your DC has some form additional support need then I would start with the pupil support teacher. If you suspect dyslexia, dyscalculia or something else they will liaise with Support for Learning team and subject teachers. For example, I am an English teacher so often asked for my views on writing, reading or comprehension skills whether I think there's a discrepancy between verbal and written answers etc. My maths colleagues would comment on numeracy .
The relevant screening can then take place and then, if required, support put in place.

So it’s dependent on each subject then? His best subject has always been English but lately he has even taken a dip in that. He doesn’t feel his prelim went well but we’ll wait and see. I told him he might have done better than he thinks. It was the same for the rest though. For a long time now he has had terrible anxiety in life and we had his primary teacher on board to give him help where needed but I wasn’t sure how easy that would be at high school. They don’t even have support teachers any more

What type of help do you think he needs? Friend's son underperformed in exams as he got himself into a bit of a state in the exam hall. This gave him issues with his stomach and triggered toilet urgency. They got a GP letter and he supplied this to the school who arranged for him to do his exams with other pupils that were in a separate room using computers etc. That seemed to be enough for him.

Definitely first port of call would be pupil support but the above might be an alternative if you struggle with that.

I’m not sure yet. He has anxiety and does have poor concentration and ability to focus or organise. Work in class is good according to the teachers but then come test times he’s not great

Have you looked into dyspraxia? diagnosis is via GP.

You might not need a diagnosis of anything. DS has been allowed to do all his exams on computer rather than sitting in the hall writing by hand because his handwriting is SO bad. This was all arranged through learning support at school. There is a strong possibility he may be on the autistic spectrum, or dyspraxic, or both, but has never been formally diagnosed.

First port of call is to identify the support for learning lead, or his Guidance teacher.

He does have very poor handwriting in my opinion. I’ve no idea how teachers read it. I haven’t considered something like dyspraxia. Although I have a neice with it too

Mine were both allowed to use ICT for exams due to handwriting without any diagnosis but I think you need to identify why he isn't doing so well in exams as compared to class work as that doesn't sound just like handwriting if it's prelims. One of mine was once told by a teacher that she couldn't even work out which way up the paper was supposed to be.

I think schools do have a degree of discretion for simple adjustments such as location/use of ICT, extra time, I have no idea what evidence they need but for each but I think an internal assessment is enough for ICT due to handwriting.

A dyspaxia (or whatever they call it now) diagnosis was extremely beneficial from a self confidence and anxiety perspective for my DS, he definitely had a shift in his mental health and anxiety when he understood that being confused and not planning etc were things that he struggled with for a reason and then learned better how to cope.

I've just had a message from him proud as punch that he will get an A for his subjects at Uni this term. This was a boy who didn't want to go, didn't feel he was good enough etc. He had a pretty poor Nat 5 year, a better S5 and a better S6.

He might need a prompter if concentration is an issue. A gentle reminder of timing and encouragement to start/continue getting answers down can make a big difference.

Each subject will be different and each subject will need to provide evidence of the difference that the varying support makes.

Increasing amounts, and this thread demonstrates nicely, of young people opt to word process in exams without having an additional support need.

Wax that's amazing.

That’s really interesting, thank you. Reading this has made me more determined to get him support as I do feel there aspects you mentioned that match him. We’ve always known he struggles with anxiety as it goes back a long time and events have brought about some things for him. He did actually do ok at primary but I think it’s harder to tell then and it’s not until they’re at high school it starts to show more. His writing at primary was lovely until he actually started using joined up handwriting and when he hit high school it became shocking to read. No teacher has ever mentioned it though. Not even his English teacher

He's a wee (big) star Lidl. He did really well last year juggling a large timetable and had some particularly good results but had chosen some economics courses to try which he passed well but brought his overall rate down to around a Merit compared to his politics/history/English courses. He's settled down with his girlfriend and has less subjects this year and has, un-chased by me, finished and submitted all his assignments on time and at high quality. He's guesstimated one of his History ones based on what he got for the last one so could be pulled down a little if he's overestimated but that's just 20% so wont really effect anything too much. DS1 still working at his normal 90-95% average. Another one with poor handwriting.

DS2s teachers always mentioned his handwriting. Not until latter half of High School that he got support with it. I suspected some dyspraxic issues but was told that since he played guitar he definitely didn't have it. The consultants ranked him about 5% in terms of his fine motor skills and the fact that he could play the guitar was a measure of his determination and practise. He has very little muscle memory, virtually can't hop or walk a straight line or catch a ball. They suspect it was caused by a post streptococcal infection at age 7 rather than something that he was born with. He could ride a bike at age 2 with no stabilisers and had previously been quite skilled with a rugby ball.

Hi is auntie got him guitars and tried to teach him but he didn’t have the patience then he’s been in all sorts of clubs, got bored with them and then wanted piano lessons and was there a year. Taekwondo too but he gave up the lot and won’t get interested in anything. I don’t know how else to encourage it.

He may have inattentive ADHD - all his symptoms fit this. My son has this and was prescribed methylphenidate which has restored his ability to concentrate and focus.

So you think so? We adopted him when he was younger and were always told don’t go looking for problems, don’t go looking for things that might not be there... I’m positive there’s just something somewhere. I was hoping there would be a way around using meds. A couple of kids in my family have adhd. Not all blood related. I don’t know if that can be a factor or not

I mean I know all too well of the effects of labelling, I was born physically disabled and fought against it all my life, but I think you definitely know when somethings not quite as it should be

ADHD shouldn't be seen as a label - it's a medical diagnosis. It should mean he isn't labelled as difficult or badly behaved and should be a flag you can wave to obtain appropriate support

Yeah I know