Hmmmm dyslexia and sats and depressing teachers meeting

[happychappy]

Long story short, this is my sons third school but the best so far. He is now 10 and oding his sats. He had an amazing teacher last year who got the best out of him and didn't put up with any of his nonsence. However this year his new teacher is far more wishy washy and he knows it. This is all resolveable but what isnt is her lack of know of dyslexia. She's made him sit the initial sat with no support and is now telling me he is so intelligent that coped amazingly with this. He got 3 something in english and 5 in maths but you see where he lost concentration and misread things. I am a bit pissed he didn't get any support, he didn't extra reading time and for the maths noone to read the q. He is very competitive and will compare his results with his friends which is unfair because he is at a disadvantage. But the point that concerned me most was when I asked about can he have a break, do it away from the others to help with distractions and possibly on the computer because he still has trouble writing (fine motor skills not great) she didn't know. She seems clueless on a lot of things. She showed me an example test and I had trouble reading it.

I feel like a really pushy mum particuarly when she told me not to worry too much about him and school because he's very bright, great at maths and speaks italian so business is where he will succeed. He's 10.

Can you talk to the Senco?

Hi, there was a thread a while ago on here about how loads of dyslexic kids had really taken off at secondary school. On the whole, secondary school seems to far more dyslexia aware and there are loads more subjects for our kids to be good at like DT, drama, art, science, history etc. My DS's junior school had no idea and I totally gave up in the end! The Year 6 teacher told me that his reading was too good for him to have dyslexia. He was Level 5 Reading but Level 3 Writing. Could your son try coloured overlays or tinted glasses and sit at the front. You could also suggest that they print the tests in a larger font. My DS's Science and Maths teacher at secondary school do this for him and he uses a computer for long writing assignments. Hang on in there... secondary school is just around the corner and hopefully they will be a bit more with the plot!

I spoke to the senco on Friday and have an appointment to speak to her on Thursday, which is good. Surprised I wasn't offered one earlier. Also at toddlers I was talking to a friend of mine (she's a dyslexia tutor) and she's getting me some overlays to try.

Progress. I hope

Don't put up with any rubbish. If you know he is dyslexic, then be assertive, firm and go for it.

We didn't know and were told Ds was stupid or idle.

Overlays and tinted glasses have made a difference, so has using a lap top.and extra time.

To get extra time DS will need to qualify - the DoE produce a document on getting extra support in KS2 sats but I don't know the link - ellenjaneisstillnotmyname might be able to help. Heads/senco's have to apply and there is a deadline.

DS is entitled to a reader in the maths b paper at the head's discretion (ie no application/deadline) - usually schools want to do this for their own good (if the child is borderline 3/4) so they might argue that he does not need it. But if standarised reading age is around 9 and/or if he regularly has assistance with reading in the classroom he is entitled to a reader. You can also request a scribe where there is a problem with writing. Readers/scribes are supposed to be in a separate room with DS to the rest of the cohort but lack of space can make this difficult - last year there were 5 readers in the hall for a cohort of 16 in total at my DS's school.