About 3 months ago my DD's Year 1 teacher broached the subject of special needs. I'm meeting the school SENCO tomorrow and wondering what to expect.
It's still a bit of a surprise, really. The school recently had a bad Ofsted and started to introduce new targets for the kids, which is good, but the pressure change is astonishing and DD is suddenly being assessed as very poor at reading, writing, and virtually no progress in maths since reception. Parents evenings have always told me that she's fine, not the quickest in class but no concerns either and things will click into place soon - but at the last one 2 months ago, we were introduced to a scoring system which shows that she has fallen way behind. I was stunned.
I decided to start helping out at the school one morning a week (not at all convenient for the family but I felt it to be important) and I always come away frustrated because I can't figure out what's going on in class (and I am a very smart cookie ). Teacher gives me 10 kids and says "Can you do literacy with them please?" and that's all the instruction I get for the next hour - if I ask for more guidance I get answers like "Do some reading. Do some writing." I have to ask the kids where books & pencils are kept. Everyone seems to fly by the seat of their pants.
I see DD just sitting on the edge of the carpet completely tuned out and I can't say I blame her. Her usual table comprises 2 non-English speakers, and a boy who will not sit down at all without a tantrum. There was another girl on her table that DD got on well with, but her parents have removed her from the school (don't know them well enough to know why or where they've gone). DD's teacher has now gone on long term sick leave and there is a new supply teacher every couple of weeks. I do feel that the school has let her down and perhaps we have too.
I have noticed myself that DD has some problems with attention and is not the quickest reader, but I am not sure what a statement of SN could do to improve this. My husband has dyslexia that went undiagnosed until his 30s so I'm all for early attention to any special needs, but I'm not sure this really is.
Anyway, not really sure what I'm asking you all. What should I expect? Did special needs come as a complete surprise to others, too? Thanks.
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First meeting with SENCO tomorrow, any advice please?
13 replies
Gentle · 22/04/2009 19:39
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