Reception aged child and first Ed Psych visit - behaviour issues

[FishfingerSandwiches4Tea]

Would appreciate any words of wisdom. So so worried about 4yo ds. Referral was made by preschool in Feb and he is being seen this week. No one has said if/when they will speak to us. Teacher today asked if I could come in for a meeting instead of having to stay back at every pick up to discuss behaviour. He is age related for everything except social/behaviour/emotional. I'm so worried that at the meeting they will say they don't want him in school

Hi,

This sounds very stressful for you! An Ed Psych’s job is usually to help the school support the child. They will usually recommend things the school can be doing. A change of school is only usually considered if they try lots of things (over several terms) and they don’t work. Even then as a parent you can say you want him to stay at that school. I think the only way they can go against your wishes is to exclude him and it’s very unusual for schools to exclude reception aged children. If he needs help with his social/ emotional skills, school should provide this. The Ed Psych might also be able to advise if there is anything you can do at home to help.

Hope this helps a little!

Thank you so much for your reply. I am very much looking forward to hearing what the Ed Psych recommends but also very apprehensive about them basically saying we've parented him all wrong

No problem! It should not be about blaming, but focus on what you and the school can all do now to help. Parents generally do the best they can in the situation they find themselves in and EPs usually know that. It may be that there is something they ask you to do differently, but this isn’t necessarily because you’ve done something wrong, it might just been because your ds needs something slightly different. Hope things improve for your ds soon.

They are not allowed to exclude him from school. They need to put appropriate support in place.