does ds2 have an IEP or not? confused...

[XmasHogRoast]

I'm a bit confused about what ds2's current school are in fact providing for him.

He started reception this Sep, having previously been in the school nursery. He has epilepsy and the school were fairly supportive of that. But wasn't long before the reception teacher started mentioning behaviour problems and I started to dread picking him up as I would wonder what incident she would have to report this time. She also made comments like 'of course he got lots of help in nursery' with the implication being that he wouldn't have that help any more.

However, the class appears to have one extra TA (or possibly nursery nurse, it's not clear what their qualifications are if any) and one of these assistants seems to spend a lot of time with ds2. Eg she stays in with him some break times if he doesn't want to go out, and in recent assemblies was clearly on hand for him to sit on her lap or to direct him if he tried to wander off.

Following discussions with the class teacher and with me, the SENCO has also involved a psychologist who should eventually be coming up with strategies to deal with his behaviour. (I would say he shows clear AD/HD behaviour - whether this is intrinsic to him or down to the anti-epileptic drugs I'm not sure.)

If anyone from the school is a mumsnetter they will definitely recognise ds2 by now!

Anyway, the school (specifically the SENCO) are clearly reacting to the situation and trying to provide additional help. And I'm very glad of that but just a bit confused as to where we stand. If he has an IEP I've never seen it and certainly haven't ever been invited to review it. Would all this happen without an IEP? Does ds2 need an IEP? (and I suppose the next question is does he need statementing but I might leave that for a while!)

I think he may have what some Local Authorities call 'Medical Hours' funding, which is not related to an IEP, and not legally binding in the same way as a statement of Special Educational Needs would be.

I would ask the school directly if he has an IEP. If not, it would be reasonable enough for him to go onto School Action as a first step towards getting some kind of statement of Special Educational Needs, which will be worth its weight in gold in years to come. This is because his ADHD tendencies will be affecting his education already, I imagine. An IEP would mean everything is well documented, apart from anything else.

If the school have involved an ed psych then according to the sen code of practice he should have an IEP and be on school action plus. Your permission should have been asked before any ed psych visits to your child took place.

Thank you for both those answers. It was me who initially said we should ask for strategies to deal with his behaviour - it was clear to me that the class teacher wasn't managing the situation. Furthermore, I wanted to know that we were using the same techniques at school and at home. I talked to the SENCO, who didn't come up with much herself, but suggested we involve someone from an external 'service' - the psychologist. (I'm not sure that she is an ed psych. I seem to remember when she spoke to me first she said she was a clinical psychologist.)

I hope to speak to the SENCO again before the end of term, and will ask my above questions then.

And yes, the ADHD type of behaviour is definitely affecting his education. Just as one example, despite the teachers saying he is very bright and has learned his phonics very quickly, he hardly ever brings reading books home. I'm not going to push this as I find it a pain remembering to send them back on the right day, and I know we have plenty of books to read at home. But I also know the reading scheme goes through some pretty boring books befo,re it gets to the interesting stuff and most teachers aren't very happy about skipping books. So if he's missing out this term, he may still be on the boring books by the end of the school year, and it won't reflect his true ability and could have a knock-on effect later on (quite apart from turning him off reading at school).