Private OT report - do they carry any weight with the school?

[Frodolives]

Hi, DD is about to start YR7. She has SPD but has managed pretty well in primary school. She had an OT report done in nursery and we are getting one done in next few weeks for secondary. She is having major probs with a child who will be in her form class and I have asked OT to mention in the report that DD may need to be kept away from such intense situations as this one. Hopefully this will work as DD becoming extremely stressed about it. But i have heard that a private OT report may not be taken very seriously by school.

Any experiences to share?

I have had this experience with an independent educational psychologist report.

Dd3 also has SPD, the NHS OT's have the utmost respect for the Independent OT's but the indies have never written a report for school so I couldnt say.

My suspicious mind would tell me they may not!

Dd3 is also transferring to secondary so hopefully we may have a different experience there.

Good luck

in total honesty the only way to get a school to take it seriously would be for the report to form part of a statement. you can share the report with the school, maybe ask them to write an IEP to help the child in the areas they are struggling with but the report would hold no legal teeth so to speak so if the school refuse to take on the recommendatons, it can be hard as parent to enforce it on the school so you are at the mercy of the school. hopefully they will read the report, see its a reasonable adjustment to make and ensure they do it

yes IEPs are going but the expectation is that schools will still need to monitor how the children are doing so will need some form of monitoring so IEPs may stay in some schools but I guess technically from sept the schools don't have to do IEPs which is a real shame

My ds has SPD - dxed privately by a neurodevelopmental paed, then by NHS paed. We then had a full assessment done and sensory diet drawn up by a private OT. OT observed him at home and school, and drew up the diet for both home and school, and went in to school to explain it all to them. School have been completely supportive of the OT's recommendations (although how well diligently and consistently they actually implement them daily I don't know!). It helps, I think, that they could see what a huge difference it made to him straight away.

ime it depends on the school - DS2s school did not take seriously NHS OT and SALT reports or specialist teacher reports.

Thank you for your replies. It is not worth getting an NHS report as DD is so complex, not in the sense of severity of SPD, rather she is quirky. OT has seen her for 8 years and knows her inside out.

The issue with ex friend has been bubbling for months, but escalated so much in last week of term, dd was off with stress for 2 days. I have just told DD to stay away from her even if it means staying away from her other friends.

If need be, I will ask for DD to be separated from ex-friend. Not sure how teachers will take this and whether they will oblige. I know at secondary school, staff do not get involved in playground squabbles but this is so much more than a minor tiff