School transition meeting-help needed too prepare

[mishymashy]

Hi all

I came on here quite a while ago asking for help with DS and took onboard all the advice and we have seen some fantastic progress having moved him to a different nursery and taken on a private Salt having been so let down by NHS provision.

Fast forward to now and we are preparing for his school transition meeting next month. He starts Sept 2012.

We know that he will receive funding for highest level personal care but only awarded low level funding for language.

What questions should i be asking in the meeting?

DS is now talking but he is still unable to have a conversation so i'm not sure how they will expect him to follow instruction group settings or listen to learn anything.

How do they monitor progress because i'm a bit worried that the expectations for DS seem incredibly low already.

There was talk of doing baseline assessments but that seems to have been dropped now. Would you expect them to be done so they have something to compare his progress to and to be able to identify if he is acheiving his full potential with the level of support offered?

Am i expecting too much?

I do get a bit fed up of being told that DS is by no means the worst case within his group as though i should be grateful for what is on offer. Am i being over sensitive?

I get the sense that maybe he needs to fail before they really support him academically because i keep being told not to worry about reception year and a yearly review will take place.

Sorry the post is a jumble but so many thoughts and concerns i'm afraid!

Thanks in advance.

I suppose it's often the case that Reception year can be a bit of a suck it and see year, but my personal opinion is that a year is a 1/4 to 1/5 of their life so far and it's too valuable a time to waste. If you already know there are issues perhaps you should get the ball rolling and apply for statutory assessment. It takes at least 6 months which would be almost in time for the start of reception. I expect everyone professional will try to put you off using arguments like, 'let's give Reception a chance, we will have more data, he's still very young, etc.' The thing is that the earlier interventions are started the better.

Other children and their needs are not your concern, you are the only person/people who has your DS's best interests at heart. Everyone else has budgets and other priorities to juggle.

He shouldn't have to fail to get the right support. Unfortunately, parents who shout the loudest usually get the most, unfair but that's how it is.

We were going through this very same process this time last year with ds2 - I started the statementing process just before the transitition meeting which tbh was about as much use as a chocolate teapot mainly down to a completely inept early years inclusion officer who tried to claim that ds had never had any intervention at pre-school or any extra funding. I showed her copies of all the communication we had with her dept - at which point she walked out of the meeting

Anyway fast forward to now and we haven't got a statement but the school have been absolutely fantastic with him - he has an ABA trained TA with him 5 mornings a week who implements a program designed by his SALT and they do daily sessions. Ds has gone from having about 10 clear words last summer to now being able to put 12 words into a sentence with the correct linking words and all in the right order! His behaviour has also improved and in the words of his HT "he is flying!"

As regards questions for the meeting I would be wanting to know

1. How do they plan to meet his needs in the classroom situation?
2. What support will they offer on a daily basis?
3. Will they support and implement any SALT recommendations?
4. How do they plan to integrate your Ds with the rest of his peers?
5. What experience or qualifications will the person assigned to help him have?
6. How will they monitor his progress?

I also agree with EllenJane that you should at least start the statementing process and be prepared not to take no for an answer. Good luck

Thankyou for the responses. We have already been told his needs are nowhere near enough to warrant a statement as he is above the 2nd percentile (9th and 11th).

I am preparing for a bit of a battle but i really dont want him to fail first before we get anywhere.

Great questions, i will write them down now

I dont think this is going to be an easy journey which is quite scary and i already know we are in a crap provision area.

Thanks again

Ha, my DS2 has 20 hours on his statement and his lowest centile on EP tests was about 13th, his highest 99th when he was 5! Just because only 2% of DC have statements doesn't mean that it's only the bottom 2% cognitively. That's often a 'mistake' quoted by LAs and schools. My DS has an ASD DX and needs a statement because his needs are 'complex' (horrid word.) He's in a MS secondary now. Good luck with your meeting, don't let them mislead you. Read up the SEN code of practice (still current, despite new green paper by this government)

mishymashy,

re your comment:-
"Thankyou for the responses. We have already been told his needs are nowhere near enough to warrant a statement as he is above the 2nd percentile (9th and 11th)".

Please do not be put off from applying. What you have been told is unlawful in case law (blanket policies are not allowed).

If I had £1 for everytime I had read similar to what you have been told (erroneously as it turns out) I would be quite wealthy by now.

School transition meeting may not be of much use in the long term as they promise much but deliver far less.

Certainly read the SENCOP.

Apply for the statement yourself and use IPSEA's website www.ipsea.org.uk for their model letters. Ignore such naysayers because you are your child's best and only advocate.

We had a report through today from the inclusion officer who had been into school to assess DS last month in preperation for the transition meeting and things dont look good.

It states...

'Little Mish' has made very good progress in all areas of his learning. A recent speech and language therapy assessment placed him on the 9th and 11th centiles, indicating that he now has only a very mild delay of several months in his language development.

It then goes onto say that he was heard saying 'ere it is', 'I going here', and 'this my pear' over the next hour of assessment.

'He spoke to another child during assesment but could not be fully understood by myself'.

I can only guess by this report that they are still only aiming for DS to reach the 16th centile before signing him off any support.

If it was only one of his team that were determined to get him off the books at the 16th i would feel far more confident questioning the decision but it really does seem to be the only goal from all of them.

I might be being over sensitive to the report but all of the latest ones we have received seem to gloss over how far behind his peers he is and basing everything on national stats of what is considered completely normal range. The 16th being within normal.

I will read the SENCOP but i think we are in for a huge fight for any support.

thanks again