can anyone talk to me about tribunal and adequate progress?

[oramum]

I am appealing parts 2 and 3 of dds statement through sendist.
I have very strong indie reports stating that dd urgently needs direct salt and ot 1:1.
however the la are trying to argue that dd has made adequate progress and so does not need therapy intervention.
dd is in yr3 and all of her nc levels are significantly below her peers.

in maths she has progressed 2 sublevels from yr1 - yr2. again from yr2 - yr3 she has progressed 2 sublevels.

in writing she regressed one sub level from yr1-yr2. from yr2 - yr3 she has progressed 2 sublevels, but only 1 sublevel ahead of yr 1 due to the regression.

in reading she stayed the same from yr1-2 and from yr2-3 she has progressed one sublevel. so she has made one sublevel of progress in nearly 3 years.

can anyone tell me if this is adequate progress? I dont feel it is as dd has shown in maths she os capable of 2 sublevels progress per year.

I should also add that overall her maths level is 4 sublevels ahead of her reading level.

Be aware that her NC levels will not suddenly shoot up now you've lodged an appeal. My school tried to say my daughter had gone up by 6 points in 3 months! Are you getting an EP report?

thanks bjk. yes we are getting an EP report, although dd has not had any standardised assessment previously so we cannot determine progress as their is no original baseline to compare to. not sure of this is in our favour?
due to the above the LA are using NC levels to argue progress. ccan progress be used to dismiss need for therapies?

#there
bloody auto correct

i would argue that although she is making progress, she isn't reaching her full potential as she probably would if she had the intervention you are requesting.
i have just argued this with the LA and had an indie EP report to back me up.

from school/LA's point of view i don't think they have to make progress in every subject to be labelled as making 'adequate progress'.
ds has an 8 sub level gap between reading and writing. he hasn't made any progress in writing for 2 years but because he is making progress in other subjects they aren't concerned. he is currently 1-2 years behind his peers in most subjects and 3-4 years behind in writing.

we got an indie ep report for tribunal and he stated that ds has average to above average intelligence so shouldn't be behind at all and his current school also backed me up (because they want rid of him want the best for him). this report was a godsend and gave me great ammunition against LA.

did you win your tribunal?
we are still awaiting the EP report so will have to see what that brings.

we reached a compromise at mediation but its taken 6 months to get this far

i should add that there were other issues with the LA proposed placement and it wasn't just because of academic progress and levels but it was a factor.

every child has a right to reach their full potential and it shouldn't be about penny pinching imo.

My understanding is that children in the uk have the legal right to an 'adequate' education. They do not have the right to 'meet their potential' however much we would like them to. Unless I have it wrong. It sounds as though, on the face of it, the teaching is effective here, unless you feel schools are plucking NC levels out of the sky (which certainly happens). What are her levels and what are the current barriers to learning?

ok her current levels are:
maths: 2b
writing: 1b
reading: 1c
dd is 8 and in yr 3 at ms.
she has complex sen which include :
motor coordination disorder, dyspraxia, sensory processing issues, low muscle tone, expressive language impairment, severe visual perception difficulty, impaired working memory, visual tracking issues.
she currently recieves 21 hours of lsa support, although this is not on a 1:1 basis. she has been discharged from salt and ot.

her progress in reading and writing are slow and the gap looks set to widen with her peers, from what I can see here, given that the baseline levels are also fairly low. I think you are right to take this to tribunal. Hope your EP report is helpful. Go for it

she sounds very much like my daughter who also has a dx of dyslexia as well - my daughter is year 5 and is a 2b in maths and in other subjects as well. has your daughter been screened for dyslexia?

I also did charts which show showed an 'average' childs progress and then tracked my daughters - although it showed some progress it also clearly showed that the gap between her and her peers was growing wider as each term passed - I got a friend to help me to them as she had the right programme - think it was excel she used.

I'm in a similar position with DS, marking spot for now as I'm off out, but will be back later.

thanks handy. tbh im very dismissive of her current levels aswell, im sure the school have graded her with lsa support and input rather than what she can achieve independently.

for example in her recent salt assessment she was asked to write her alphabet. she does not know the alphabet amd it was also noted that she wasnt writing each individual letter correctly. she was also asked to write a short sentence independently. she wrote 'I lok on my trmply'. which she read as 'I like on my trampoline'. this does not reflect a level 1b in writing.

bjk we are awaiting the EP report she has had a full assessment for dyslexia so we are just awaiting the result.
although the LA EP has already told me that a dx of dyslexia will not change the provision she already has.

bjk where did you find the info for an average childs progress? that would be really helpful thanks

That's what I was going to ask too. My DS unfortunately didn't do very well in the indie EP standardised tests but after discussion we think that was because he didn't understand what he was supposed to be doing, rather than didn't know the answers, he needs someone to explain things as he goes along.

Still waiting the other indie reports though.

on one of my old posts on here someone put on the NC scales and it shows whereabouts they should be for their age - I think it states that an average child would make 2 - 3 points progress per year (think that's about one sublevelish)

if you google it you may find the chart

but as everyone on here said to be treat the NC levels with caution - they can be easily manipulated especially when a tribunal is pending - the best way is to do standardised tests and check progress that way. My daughters EP report in oct per her on 2nd centile for reading - 6 months later it was tested again by her specialist dyslexia teacher and she was still on the 2nd centile - also they also give the levels in reading ages ie years and months which is better. as I said earlier - in my hearing last week the teacher tried to argue she had made 6 points progress in a term! for the last year years she was lucky to make 2 points progress for a year! so be aware that there could be underhand tactics being used hence why the indie reports are your friend here

I think bjkummy is referring to this helpful chart:
secure.schoolpupiltrackeronline.co.uk/documents/ncp_chart2.pdf

mentioned in this post:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/special_needs/a1933724-how-much-progress-should-a-child-make-per-year-re-NC-levels

thanks chris and bjk. the chart is very helpful.
I really cannot see how the LA intend to argue good progress when with regards to reading she has only progressed one sublevel in three years, from a p8 - 1c.
I accept that this progress has been made since the statement intervention has begun (21 hrs lsa support) but again she has proved that she is capable of more, making two sublevels of progress with maths.
this progress also reflects dds need for salt as at the time progress was made she was recieving a 12 week block of therapy. she has since been discharged and so as her previous progress (none) has shown she wont make adequate progress without salt.