Dyslexia in year 7 - what support canwe reasonably expect?

[BeanCounterBabe]

DD2 aged 11 just had private assessment for dyslexia due to years of concerns over SPAG and being behind in reading. Complient hard working child now in top sets at average state comp due to sheer hard work. Very overlooked by teachers as she is well behaved (unlike ASD DD1 who is a human land mine).

Just shared report with school and so far no shits given by year head and SENCO. School has really good reputation for SEN and pastoral care so I'm disappointed. DD2 has been flagged as self harming (scratching large patches of skin off her hands) and having anxiety plus some complicated grief from a series of family bereavements. I would have thought it would be in the schools interests to acknowledge her dyslexia in order to reduce her anxiety. The school is up and coming and desperate for students who can get some good grades and I was assured kids like my DD with work ethic and potential would be supported.

I am expecting too much? What can I actually reasonably request in terms of support? We will now have to wait 9 months for full private assessment but surely the school can start putting things in place now? At least acknowledge her challenges and put some measures in place like where she sits, how work is communicated, help her with copying off the board which she struggles with.

After so many years of fighting for DD1 looks like I am going to have to fight again for DD2.

I don't really feel qualified to answer as DD2, 17, has only recently got her own dyslexia diagnosis. But in the absence of anyone else....

What does the report actually recommend?

If there is anything 'easy' like be placed in the front row then that should be a no-brainer for them to provide. Things like copying from the board I suspect they will only start to do if she is clearly slower than the others. Eventually in school my DD did get some things provided on a worksheet for her to add to, but it is all extra work for the teacher.

You may be better off dealing with this with individual teachers next academic year as things arise. So e.g. if in history they have to copy loads from the board, then ask that teacher for a print out. If in science she can't get the technical words spelled correctly, ask for a 'spelling sheet'? get your DD to keep talking to you about what aspects are harder.

Have you considered whether using a laptop would help?

Thanks for replying. No report yet as this was a screening assessment for dyslexia risk. Now on waiting list for full assessment. It flagged slow reading speed, slow writing speed, poor spelling, poor fine motor skills amongst other things. At parents evening she had great feedback particularly in English and humanities. She wants to do better though. At this point some acknowledgment and reassurance this information will be shared with teachers for a start. We can raise at parents evening but only get 6 minutes per teacher.

To be honest if this isn't the full assessment yet I'd be surprised if they proactively did anything.
I would definitely get your DD or you to raise it if it causes issues in individual subjects. It is much easier for a teacher to act on 'Mary needs extra time or handouts when note taking in class' than 'Mary has failed the dyslexia screening'.

I'd wait for the full assessment as the screeners are pretty rubbish. When the screener was done (if it's the computerised one) there are usually a few recommendations on it.

What would you like the school to do? What would your dc find helpful? I think going to the school with specific ideas - like laptop, less copying from the board, more time to process instructions, access to learning support if feeling anxious etc etc would be better as it doesn't seem like they have concerns about her learning.

I’ve just received a letter from school saying my daughter , also year 7 is showing a high probability on the screening test. I’m not sure how reliable these are but they’ve not recommended going straight for the full assessment but they’re going to monitor her, work with the English dept ( I’m going to raise concern re maths as well ) and provide a sen Ta for spelling help. They’re going to assess if she can be tested for extra time in exams and opportunity to use CPEN
just to give you an idea of what can be offered, they have also offered a face to face with me and the head of sendco