Do secondary school teachers know about individual children's learning problems?

[NaughtyNigel]

DD1 is rather dyslexic. not dyslexic enough to be classed as special educational needs though.
yet again she has come home with a note in her planner from her languages teacher (the 5th time tis year) telling her off for not being able to spell properly in german or french.
DD can't spell in english - let alone a language she has been learning for 6 months.
I brought this up with her form mentor at parents evening but it has made no difference.
she just gets hasstled for 'not using extra techniques to improve her spelling'.
She has a book to write down misspelled words and a pocket spell checker but as she points out by the time she's looked up a word she isn't sure of the class has moved on and she then gets told off for not keeping up.
Do teachers who only have a class for a couple of hours a week know much about them? considering that this is a class of 30 ish and there ar 9 other classes in her year group.
would it be unreasonable of me to write to the individual teacher? (DD does not want me to do this).
What do you think?

Interesting thread . ds isn't classically dyslexic ie can read fluently and write but struggles with a lot of things listed by pixiepip such as processing , handwriting, rote learning, tables, spelling etc and has been receiving OT for motor related issues.

Is it possible to get a screening done without a full EP assessment ? He attends a private school and falls down the gap of LEA/ NHS funded resources so we'd probably have to fund it. Is there a basic in-school screening pack to use as a starting point ?

before you all think i'm an utterly neurotic old bag today i originally asked this question back in April. I don't moan about everything at her school honest. (see other current thread re DD and PE)

actually i wrote a pointed note in her planner which seems to have done the trick. she has shown it to a few teachers. I am waiting for a date to see the SENCO though.

LIZS - the school would probably have a link to an educational psychologist type bod who could assess your DS - although beig private you'd have to pay for it. or go threough the british dyslexia association. they'd have some links i'm sure

LIZS- it sounds as if your child is more dyspraxic than dyslexic- but there is a 30% overlap. Good/adequate reading is not necessarily proof of not being dyslexic- spelling uses a different part of the brain to reading, so many dyslexics can read quite well. it's their overall performance/profile that matters.

Some schools use a screening program for phonological awareness etc but it would be unlikely that it would show up mild dyslexia. You could take your child to a specialist tutor who assesses, rather than an ed psych, but unfortunately, most assessment and provision has to be done outside of school, unless you child is at a school with an SpLD qualified teacher there either as SENCO or special needs teacher.

I assess children privately and also advise parents on the best way forward. If I suspect a "grey area" I always suggest an fulled psych's assessment. Dyspraxia is assessed by a paediatrician, not an ed psych. BTW.

That makes sense , we've pretty much determined it is dyspraxia via paed/ot's and that is what is being focussed on , however the earlier comment about the gap between understanding and written work and our fear about his potential being underestimated struck a chord. Sounds like we'd need a full Ed Psych assessment to clarify but at least we know. Sorry for hijack.