Education psychology referel

[PRas]

Hi
We had been referred to SEN suppor when our child joined reception in September 2019. School said he does not sit well and does not play with friends we thought as a child this was normal and we kept saying we dont need any extra help in school, but school kept on insisting us to sign the sen referel form, kept on saying they need funding we signed it and said we do not find any problems with our child , after few months during January they referred our child to see a paediatrician, paediatrician did not see anything unusual and report was normal, school was surprised by this , we were not happy by their reaction , school were expecting paediatrician to find some problem
Now they have asked to sign a education psychology referel form do I need to sign it ? We kept insisting we do.not see any problem, please advise, we feel they are using our child for funding purpose

Thanks

You only have to read the threads on these boards to know that many parents have to fight for what their children need, and struggle to get schools to listen to their concerns.

Schools do not normally ask the EP to come in unless they have very real concerns. Your son's school are obviously very on the ball here. I would go along with them, as if there is a problem, far better to identify it and get support now rather than later. Early intervention is crucial.

Children sometimes behave differently at school from the way they behave at home, and it may be they are seeing things in school that you are not seeing at home. For example, if a child has sensory issues, these could be triggered by a noisy, busy classroom and crowds of children in the playground, but wouldn't necessarily manifest themselves at home, where it is much calmer and quieter.

Have you asked what other concerns they have, apart from not sitting still and not playing with other children?

Did your son go to nursery prior to going to school, and if so, did they raise any concerns at all?

Thanks Ellie for your reply
School basically said he doesn't sit well / concentrate well while sitting with other children lacks social and friendship skills.

In nursery we recieved complaints like snatching and crying which we thought it was normal at that time.

We don't know any friends or family whose child are in sen support ,
We as a parents are worried if our child is put into support does he miss the actual education like other children? sorry for very daft question

After your update I can see why they have called the EP in, although many schools would not have done so this at this stage.

We as a parents are worried if our child is put into support does he miss the actual education like other children? No, quite the opposite. He is being given support to help him access the education.

The fact that your child struggles to sit still and concentrate means he is already missing the learning and not accessing the education in the same way as the other children, as he will not be listening and taking everything in as they will be doing.

It is likely your child is already being given support, but it is not working or school staff feel it is not enough, which is why they have called the EP in for further advice. You should get a chance to speak to the EP as well.

This might help:
Scroll down to "I have been told that my child may have special educational needs, what does this mean?"

It also explains the role of the EP.

Sorry missed off the link. I do wish MN would provide an edit button.

www.familylives.org.uk/advice/your-family/special-educational-needs/special-educational-needs/

I agree, I would bite their hands of for a EP assessment. Many parents have to fight for one.

For the school to raise the issues, they are more than just typical child behaviour.

School won't be making a profit from providing DS support. It is often quite the opposite, LA funding does not cover everything the school pay for.

School said he does not sit well and does not play with friends we thought as a child this was normal

In nursery we recieved complaints like snatching and crying which we thought it was normal at that time.

If you think about it, the school staff, and the Nursery staff all deal with a whole class ful of children every year, and therefore have a LOT of experience of children of your son's age. If your son's behaviour were within the bounds of "normal for his age", then they wouldn't be coming to tell you that they are concerned about it. The fact that the people with experience of hundreds of 4 year olds are telling you there is some cause for concern, has to be a reason to listen.

As pp have said, it can take months or years to get a referral to get help from an EP. If you are being offered that opportunity, then take it. If your son is struggling with learning at school and struggling with friendships and social situations, then the early he can get support, the better for him.

Hi All
Thanks for the advice, we are going ahead with school recommendations.
School said he will be on SEN for category Social communication.
This a new thing for us, we are from India, my hubby still doesn't feel good about DS being on SEN register because DS not diagnosed with any medical condition, hubby feels school taking all guess work.

It can take YEARS to get a medical diagnosis - even if family and school are all on board and believe the same thing. If you were to wait until he has a diagnosis, he may well have missed 2 or 3 years of support he could be getting NOW.
If he doesn't have a condition that results in a diagnosis, he still will have benefited from additional support now.

Your husband saying it is all "guess work" is really quite insulting about the professionals who are using their knowledge, skills and experience to try to get your son the help he needs.

Your husband is being a bit of a twat. "Guess work"? There is no guess work involved. The staff are just using their professional judgement, after years of training and experience of young children.

From what you say your son is showing that he has a number of needs that require support to be put in place. He cannot sit still, he cannot concentrate, he has no social skills and cannot play with other children.

This is not how most children of his age behave. If it were, reception classes across the country would be a riot and nobody would be learning anything.

What would your DH prefer? The school to ignore your son's difficulties and just let things get worse and worse? Children who don't have their needs met very often end up being disruptive which often results in exclusion, or they become very unhappy and hate going to school.

It truly is a good thing that your son is getting the support he needs so early. All too often, as these boards testify, parents have to fight for it.

Thank you BackForGood