Would u be happy with this?

[Blossomhill]

As you all know I have been having a few problems with dd over the past week or so.
Had a meeting tonight and have to say I am not very happy. Dd has been saying for the past week or so that she sits in a desk on her own.
The school she goes to has a unit attached to a ms school. They have different groups for different things. So literacy is ability based and year 1/2's are mixed. Dd is in the highest group as she is very good at literacy. Well anyway I had the meeting and they showed me dd's desk for literacy. It is at the front of the class against a wall. I have to say the teacher has tried her best, decorated it with dd's name and stickers. When I asked why this was happening she said it was mainly for writing as dd becomes extremely distracted and her work has really gone down hill. She also finds it hard working in pairs. However I don't like seeing my dd segregated in this way. I also feel the school should be dealing with the problems dd has interacting rather than taking her away from the other children. Dd is saying she has to sit on the table because she is "naughty "
I asked where the LSA was and apparently dd is not supported at all in literacy which is 7.5 hours a week. I actually felt really sorry for the teacher as she admitted that she felt dd needed support and was trying her best but with 25 other children to work with it was hard.
I am so angry with the unit as the other 8 from the unit are being supported and yet again dd's brightness is being used as an excuse to fob her off. I think it is so unfair as dd still has significant needs with her communication. She is also the youngest in her year and the unit.
I am just so upset and don't know what to do for the best really. Would appreciate any advice.

Also wanted to add I said to the teacher that the main reason I took dd out of her brother's school was to avoid this kind of situation.

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RnB - The thing is nothing is specified in hours and dd's statement is from when she was at ds's school so is very out of date!

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I wouldn't necessarily worry about the desk business (TEACHH bays after all cut out distraction). Ds1's school uses moveable screens to create distraction free areas in the classroom for times when children need that concentration.

It does sound as if the statement needs revising- what happened to the annual review. Sounds like LSA's hours need to be sepcified.

Sounds horribly famialiar in some ways.

My ds does some mainstreaming for numeracy and literacy, all according to review fully supported. However, the unit can not release a member of staff all the time so some of his numeracy is unsupported.

My ds is always sat next to the same lovely child and they provide a good role model for him.

I would say that she isn't really being included in the class if she is sitting on her own and that doesn't really help her social skills.

Having said that, we have also come up against "Lessons are not for social interaction" and I imagine that your dd like my ds is beyond the level of many of the children in her unit(our unit is SLD) and my ds does not have sld. So I feel like we have little choice.

I haven't said anything useful but i really understand how you feel

I think you are right Rnb. Tbh I just feel so let down as it was such a huge step putting dd into the unit and now I think they are doing the same as the old school

Our statement just says X unit for child with learning difficulties?

Is yours similar BH?

We have been told we have no chance of add on hours on our statement. The LEA generously provided 1hr a week per unit child mainstream support but even that is not in statement.

Baka - I guess it's because she is the only child sitting on her own that makes it feel so bad. The thing is she is beginning to know she is different and I just think she sees this as some kind of punishment.
Maddiemo - I just think that even if she had an lsa sitting with her to help keep her on track, interact etc for half of the time it would make a huge difference.
I am also going through the trauma of ds (7) being bullied so not a good week this week

Maddiemo - yes ours is the same.

oooooh is this in mainstream? Well yes, pretty pointless (ds1 had a desk against the wall in ms- right next to the classroom door which he spent half the time runing out of).

Is there any point in mstreaming her if she's not learning the social skills- can the unit not provide her with a high enough level of literacy. Wouldn't it make more sense to use the ms envionment as a chance to teach social skills and to concentrate on academic stuf in an environment she can cope with?

Think your best bet it to tackle the statement and in doing so try and sort out this sort of stuff.

Thanks Baka. I guess they will say that the social skills session deals with that side and they have to deal on the academic side in these kind of lessons. The thing is the social skills are practised with other children from the base who all have social skill problems. I think dd will get her best practise in ms. She has come on a lot and does interact with her table. I guess again it is down to "resources".
They won't know what's hit them on Monday believe me.