Headteacher nto supporting my request for assessment

[bigknickersbigknockers]

My DS2 was awarded EEYAP funding in May last year whilst still at nursery. There was a meeting to discuss DSs transition from nursery to school at which the headteacher of his school,teacher of his new class at school, nursery manager, keyworkers, SALT, Ed psych and myself were all present
At this meeting the ed psych advised me to have Ds re assessed around November once he had settled into school. I went to discuss this with headteacher yesterday and he fabbed me off with "there will be a review around september so that we can apply for funding to be put into place when it runs out at the end of autumn term. He also suggested that I was a worrier.
Why would he go against the advice given in front of him (though i really dont expect him to remember conversations from so long ago) What diference does it make to him?
The ed psych mentiond re assessing DS so that if he needed a statement it could be put in place and though I dont feel he does need a statement i would like a proffesional opinion on this matter then its not left too late. Advice please

is he still under 5? generally guidance suggests reviews should be six monthly at this point... you should also be aware that the therapists were probably talking about informal assessment rather than stat assessment - ie they would all visit school to make sure all parties were happy with progress etc. Have they all been into school to visit involved in target setting for his IEP? have you been invited in for two meetings to discuss IEP? (one for each term?)
HT is clearly talking about funding, whereas you are talking about how he has handled the transition and whether e verything is in place. is the HT the SENCo?
it's just communication, no need to worry - i would be more interested in waht his class teacher and the LSas were saying. How much 1-1 support is he given and is he meeting his IEP targets etc...

when i say not to worry lol, i mean, no need to panic - it's quite normal for their to be some initial queries from both sides (parents and teachers) whilst the relationship with the new setting takes place. take a deep breath and be obsequious and nice (and always preface your opinion with 'i'm just looking for your opinion on x or y, was a little worried about z, or could you explain to me q, as i don't really understand it.' when you have recognised their professional staus lol (offically ) you can start asking pickier questions. i'm assuming he's on SA+, btw.

Thanks madwoman, yes DS is on SA+. I havent had any meetings to discuss his IEP although i am assured DS is doing well. He has a support teacher there most of the time at a ratio of 2.0 (not sure what that means) he initially only had 10 hrs a week but then we applied for more funding as advised to do at the meeting I mentioned in my OP. The head teacher felt it would be better for DS to work with another child with EEYAP funding and for both children to get 20 hours together rather than 10 hours seperatly, which I agree is better for DS because he really doesnt like working 1 to 1. The head teacher was acting SENCO whilst the teacher who usually does it was on maternity leave but they are now jointly doing it I presume until she settles back in to work. I was very polite and didnt push the issue, just wondered why he wasnt supporting me.

has SLT been in to offer advice etc? Were there SLT targets on his IEP? (sorry, not sure what ds' issues are lol)

in terms of what difference it makes to the HT whether ds is re-assessed by ed psych, each school is generally only given a set amount of ed psych input/ assessment/ time/ money to cater for all the requirements that the school has, (for children not statemented) so it may be that the HT has children within the school that have not yet been assessed at all, whereas in ds' case he has been assessed and has the input and support he requires currently - ie there are higher priorities. i know that sounds really harsh, but unfortunately funding can have a huge effect without a statement in place. once the child gets past five they are only reassessed every 12 months even if a statement is in place lol.

if ds is doing well, then i would be inclined to accept the headteacher/ senco's professional judgement at this point, rather than assuming he doesn't want to use up ed psych hours lol. if you do have concerns then i would ask to meet up again and specifically ask to discuss how ds is doing with iep targets etc. if he is meeting them appropriately (and they are appropriate targets lol) then there probably isn't any need to get the ed psych in again at this point. usually the school will only suggest stat assessment if they unable to provide the level of support the child needs with the current funding, or if the child fails to achieve targets with the current level of support.
dd2 is in the same position btw - she started mainstream in sept, although we went through stat assessment for a statement to be issued for yr r (she has been on SA+ with funding since 2), so she has 15 hrs 1-1 alongside another child with the same provision. the school provide a full time LSA to cover both children. it seems to work quite well, as in your situation.
it is tough to know what to do for the best - hopefully the head was just trying to reassure you (in a clumsy way) that the input already being provided was more than adequate and that ds was achieving appropriately and further investigation at this point was unnecessary...
hopefully now the real senco is back you can ask her if you can be a bit more involved with target setting/ IEP etc, and can get a good relationship going that will last throughout primary. fingers crossed that the HT attitude was a blip. have you had a parent's evening yet? that should give you a good idea of how ds is managing?

Thankyou so much madwoman, you sound like you know what your talking about (which is more than I do) The HT suggested I make an appointment to see the SENCO after the half term holiday (so I am seeing her on 26th feb) DS also saw SALT last monday for an assessment and she said he had come on leaps and bounds though she did suspect that the language he is using is masking what he understands. (I agree with this)
Thanks to you when I do go to see the SENCO I will be able to ask more relevent questions. We have had a parents evening and DS teacher said he was doing so much better than what they expected him to do. What worries me is that he can just about write his name though he has a weak pencil grip and he can count and recognise numbers 1-10 can count 1-20 though he doesnt pronounce the words correctly.

that sounds really positive - hope your appointment with the senco goes well. if there are ongoing issues with pencil grip etc, you may want to ask for an occupational therapy assessment - there are lots of exercises that can help with fine motor, and if this is an area of concern there should be a fine motor target on his IEP too...
(you could google 'teodorescu write from the start' which might give you a few ideas in the interim ) do a quick google around for 'SMART IEP targets' too... that'll show the senco you are genuinely concerned about ds and intend to keep an eye on provision etc...
dd2 has ongoing issues with fine motor and may ultimately end up being a keyboard user (this has already been written into statement as a possibility lol ) but we are persevering until it becomes obvious - they are still quite little, and dd2 has surprised us a lot so far! (in a good way!)
good luck!

Yesterday I took DS to speech therapist for his assesment, she saw him 2 wks ago and started the assessment but felt it was better to do the assessment slowly because DS loses concentration and she wanted the results to be accurate. When we went yesterday she did more of the assessment and has booked us in to see her tomorrow (wed) on her admin day (other wise we wouldnt be able to see her untill the end of March)
She looked at the results and said although he is talking more his use of language is definatly masking how much he does/doesnt understand. i asked her if she felt it would be beneficial to get him re assessed and she said yes. She feels he needs more support in school, although he has his helper with him most of the time. I told her how it went with the head teacher and asked if her opinion would help in getting DS assessed and she said not really but to leave it with her. I am now even more concerned

Do you think that SALTs concerns that DS may need more help should be taken on board by HT?

Just a quick update... I went into school last Thursday and spoke to the SENCO who told me that the SALT had phoned her the day before to tell her that that DS problem was a cognitive problem and not a speech and language problem. The SENCO said she would arrange for the Ed Psych to visit school and assess DS and have a chat with me. DS will also need to be seen by paediatrician again and then we will need to decide where to go from here. His EEYAP funding runs out at the end of Autumn term. It will then be a choice of ESAP funding or STATEMENT. Once we apply for one of them we cannot swap over to the other so lots of thinking to be done. SENCO also said that statements are not easy to get and are not given without a medical diagnosis, hence the need for appointment with paed which I have chased up and arranged for 7th may. Is there anything else I need to know or should be aware of. It seems like a mine field of info.

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