School not allowing scribe to student who is entitled?

[CanvasAwning]

I believe that if a student is entitled to a scribe then school are legally bound to offer one. I am thinking that they could use "normal way of working" as a reason for refusal. But if they haven't offered a scribe then how could it be normal way of working and if student has only just qualified for a scribe then it couldn't be normal way of working either.

What can be done if the school is refusing to offer a scribe to student who is entitled to one? Year 11.

Not a meeting as such but phone conversations and emails.

'The main question is "Am I entitled to demand a scribe?"

The answer is no. The final decision rests with school.

I'd be more worried about his not being able to read the spell check accurately than a scribe at this stage.

I think it's not that he can't read the spell checker. It's that his spelling is so bad that the spell checker can't guess what he intended to write.

Actually you don't have to be that bad at spelling for a spell checker to not work.

The answer is no. The final decision rests with school.

Thank you, this is what I need to know..... although other posters have said "yes".

I'd be more worried about his not being able to read the spell check accurately than a scribe at this stage.

.... he has dyslexia.

Yes I suspected that he probably had SPLD. My thoughts were that if he isn't able to read the spell check then I would be trying to access a reader/ computer reader.

But the tone of your last post has got under my skin. I'm off the thread.

Apologies for tone - I wrongly thought that you were being facetious with your comment about being more concerned about not being able to read the spellchecker. His reading is way too good to be anywhere close to qualifying for a reader. Thanks for trying to help and apologies for misunderstanding.

The form 8, which is what the school HAS to complete and be available for inspection has a section . This has to be completed by the specialist assessor who has to have done all the tests themselves. You cannot use the tests done by someone else. This has to be signed by the assessor. So if the previous SENCO tested him but didn't complete the section C there is nothing the school can do except retest him using whoever is now qualified to test for access arrangements.

You have a valid point about when the need becomes apparent but as a SENCO I just wouldn't touch this so close to GCSEs and with the mocks finished, etc. An on line application now will undoubtably trigger a full inspection. If the inspectors come and they find a hint of malpractice or question then they can pull every pupils access arrangements. In the worst case scenRio, they can close the exam centre (although I doubt they'd do this). To be honest, this late in the day, you should have been kicking off in September or October. Also, although I appreciate it's really hard for your son, he needs to develop strategies for checking his wp so he clears up some of the errors.

For A level, and I have a pupil in this situation for whom i will not be able to provide a scribe when she goes into year 12, voice operated software will be the way forward.

Thank you. He has been school assessed and has qualified for a spellcheck which is the same accommodation as for using a scribe so I presume they must therefore have already filled in the correct forms.

I am also aware of another student at another local school being given a scribe at this late stage in the day.

Also, although I appreciate it's really hard for your son, he needs to develop strategies for checking his wp so he clears up some of the errors.

I totally agree and live in hope of this happening. He says he cannot see the mistakes.

Perhaps that is something to work on then.

What's happening in another school is totally irrelevant to your child's situation as these decisions are up to each individual school following standard guidelines.

When he wps, may I suggest he makes the font size bigger (14 or 16) and change the background page colour to either pale yellow, green or blue. If he uses 1.5 inch spacing, then that will help. He can highlight and change it all back just before printing. That way he will spot errors. Also a sans serif font. There is something called dyslexifont.

If he is allowed a spell check then the computer will show errors. He has 25 % extra to proof read. If his spelling is phonetically readable then I think you will have to stick with what you are given. If his spelling is utterly random - even on pc, ie, with odd letters (usually t for some reason) in lots of words then frankly the school should have done something before this time and you are right to kick up. However, given the background info, I assume the former.

child in another school may have medical reasons. So much easier to get help for that.

Good advice from flapping there about how to wordprocess and space work. Dyslexics that I teach find Comic Sans easier to spot mistakes in, because of the way the letters are spaced.

As a GCSE English examiner, I often find wordprocessed scripts very difficult to mark because the font is too small and the lines single spaced. If it's a challenge for me to read, then it must be even more so for a dyslexic candidate.

Thank you for your suggestions - they are really good.

The student in the other school doesn't have medical issues - they were just very late getting picked up and have only recently had accommodations put in place - so there is still a chance even at this late stage.

Spellings are bad but many are due to carelessness as well as the dyslexia. I would say the dyslexia is moderate rather than severe.

All I can do now is argue the case.