DS going into Y4 and is over 2 years behind

[KisstheTeapot14]

This year he has 'dropped' another 6 months, so now working at Y1 level but will be in Y4 in Sept.

Reading, writing and maths all lagging...

Just don't know what to do. School seem a bit too relaxed about the situation whereas I feel somewhat panicky about how we are ever going to catch up (I mean to a year/6 months behind, am not expecting a miracle but I do want action and progress to occur)

He does 25 mins a day phonic/reading small group and they are applying for SSSEN for 1 hour and half a week on top of this.

What would your expectations of school be right now?

Tempted to home school/flexi at another school as I just don't think they are on board with how urgent it is.

He has dyspraxia - maybe dyslexia, they are holding back assessment for now.

I would expect the school SENCo to be involved.
I'd expect for him to have been having termly plans (may still be called IEPs - Individual Education Plans - or might have a different name, but school need to be setting targets, noting what they are doing to help him meet those targets, and then reviewing).

I would expect you to be involved in, or, at very least, reported back to about those meetings.
This would then have produced the evidence that, despite the additional support from within the school, he wasn't catching up, and indeed the gap between him and his peers is getting wider, so they then need to put additional support in through involving outside agencies and / or applying for an ECHP.
If this hasn't been happening, then you need a meeting with the SENCo to ask why not.

Yes, most of those are in place - we have termly meeting, IEP, but goals are woolly so its like we never reach them. I don't think he would get an ECHP in a million years - his needs would not merit it under the current system. Council even refused top up money after 6000 spent at school, refused SSSEN though school are pushing back on this one.

Have school got an educational psychologist involved? They could assess his abilities and so better establish why his learning is behind. They could then work with teachers and yourself to develop specific strategies for helping him.

Thanks Oscar - I asked that very question in autumn term last year. He had one 2 years ago but I said it would be useful to have one now. The SENCO said they would telephone the ed psych if they were concerned. I also asked again after they mentioned a nurture group. Again rebuffed. Ed psychs cost the school and there are a lot of funnies with money (I feel) - another saga but won't go into that.

I contacted the school again a few weeks ago with 3 things we wanted to see in Y4 next year. One was ed psych.

Apparently 'DS is on the radar' but they have not confirmed that ed psych will materialise. This is how I go on with school and it drives me mad.

I think I will email again - 'just to clarify when'.

The amount of time I spend chasing things, I could have home educated him by now!

Sounds very frustrating. That is good he’s on the Ed Psych radar, but like you say would be best to get a date in writing.

I’m sure you’ve already already thought of this, but thought it would be worth mentioning, I think often the most important thing you can do is to encourage enjoyment of reading and writing. Even if your son gets all the help possible, he might still need a lot of dermination to improve his skills. If you can do things like reading things he’s interested in together, getting him involved in other things he is good at, and avoiding putting too much pressure on, that can help maintain confidence avoid behaviour problems. School can also help in a similar way. I’d also expect school to be reducing the amount he needs to write and finding other ways for him to record his ideas- eg. voice recognition (most schools have tablet computers which have this inbuilt), or having someone scribe for him. Hope that helps a little!

A proper assessment would not only identify why your son has difficulties but also identify his areas of strength that could be used to help him learn more effectively.

If you can afford it I would have it done privately. Schools just won't/can't spend the money at the moment. It is immensely frustrating.

Thanks Oscar and Humphrey,

Yes, we have lots of books just for fun - either I read them (magic faraway tree is a hit currently) or he sits and looks (lego/comic books). I have been a lifelong avid reader, and am a library worker, and so have a very active interest in keeping this alive for him x

Who would you pay for an assessment? There's so many things to potentially spend on, its trying to think what is most urgent. Thinking of speech therapy too as his language can be unclear.

Thing is op, sometimes the child will not catch up. Its just the way it is. My yr 6 is working at yr 1 level and is ehcp'd, has loads of help. Its just how he is. Some kids thrive with lots of input and for others it makes no difference. But of course you want to try the ed psych and different services to see what effect they have

Personally I wokld apply for an EHCP myself in those circumstances. If nothing else the process may help identify what help is needed.

Yes you can do it yourself

Was told at infant school by very experienced SENCO I really trust, that his chances of getting EHCP are very remote. She pretty much said don't waste your time - his dyspraxia is moderate and the goal posts are set extremely high these days of council fund cuts. Even children with severe and multiple diagnoses are getting knocked back.

What happens if he doesn't catch up (I can see even with good help he may only progress to Y2 level by Y5)? SATS? Secondary school?

Just wondering what to prepare myself and him for. I'm honestly not bothered about levels and so on - attainment scores - but I do want him to have qualifications at some point and functional skills in maths and English.

If he is working as far behind his peers as you are led to believe then I would imagine it is worth trying to apply as it is obvious that the support the school is providing at the moment isn’t helping him to access the curriculum fully

I’d wouldn’t have thought it would be possible to judge whether he’d get an EHCP at the age he is now, when he was in infant school. Children have to be far behind in their learning (at least 3 years, often 4) to get an EHCP. Because of a child’s age in infant school, unless they have very severe learning difficulties it’s unlikely they’ll be that far behind. As he gets older and if the gap continues to widen, he’ll be more likely to get an EHCP.

If he’s still very far behind by year 6, they may disapply him so he doesn’t need to sit SATs. At secondary school he might have an EHCP which either provides support in class and hopefully small group or 1:1 interventions in literacy, or he might get a place in a school for children with moderate learning difficulties (if there’s one nearby and he qualifies).

Ah, he's 2.5 years behind in literacy and just under 2 in maths. SSSEN has been applied for by school but they got knocked back as he's not far enough behind - has to be 2 years plus in all areas apparently. Since he scored well on a maths test on the day they collected data he is just under that time frame.

Also the LA have questioned school's assessments of reading as they 'are not standardised' (how are they not?)

Thanks Oscar - I will bear that in mind if the gap continues to widen (and I am pretty sure it will).

I can't see that he is going to magically catch up (despite current head's optimism) so it's useful to know that he may not have to do SATS and that an EHCP might be a route for the future.

He does get support at school - around 10 hours in various forms but I am always having to be vigilant that it doesn't get whittled down surreptitiously. Even now am questioning a time/funds discrepancy.

Also they don't give me clear details - like exactly how much progress he has made. Just 'he has made good progress'. Yet again I will be emailing for answers.

Two rays of sunshine are:

1. his teacher for next year seems very good and I will hopefully be able to build a good working relationship there.

1. We have a friend who teaches kids with SEN and she is going to come and visit at home and see where DS is at.

The “needs to be x years behind” simply isn’t true. It’s not as ‘simple’ as that.

Ds has had an EHCP since he was at the end of year 1, at that point he was less than 12 months “behind”. He is at the end of year 3 now and we are just securing extra funding as he is now slightly further behind and just meeting year 2 expected levels

Thanks Sirzy, not sure how I dispute that with the teachers - are there clear rules posted somewhere (LA webpage?) which I could present to school?

DS is likewise at end of Y3 and I would say he is working to emerging Y1 levels. It is alarming - though I know the govt have ramped up expected levels of knowledge for all school years (I think its a lot even for an 'average' child with no SEN)

What level of support does your DS get with an EHCP? Is there an advantage to pushing for one between now and end of primary?

Thanks - its all a jungle to me!

The missing link though is why he's behind.
This is what assessments by EP / SLT can identify.
Without knowing that I'm not sure how the school can be sure any intervention would actually make a difference to your DS.

So then you have a few options:

Pay for private reports and then based on their reports decide whether school can implement the recommendations themselves,

Apply for an EHCP with the reports supporting your application

Or

Apply for an EHCP because if assessment is agreed the LA will then commission their own EP to assess (their reports are never as thorough as private though and are often biased towards what they know the LA can afford).

Yes your initial application will probably be turned down - they nearly always are even for the most complex children - but something like 85% of no decisions are overturned at appeal.

Alternatively you could keep asking the school to get the EP involved - the fact they need to fund this shouldn't be your concern.

Teachers, even SENCOs, take LA policy for EHCP at face value. This however is not the law. Read up on Ipsea's / SOSSEN's websites what the actual legal threshold is for an EHCP assessment.
Don't use LA policies - they are notorious for not following the law in order to protect their budgets!

Thank You Marshmallow.

I will chase school again about finding out why he is getting left behind, and about EP assessment.

It is a complex picture, but not helped any by school dragging heels over EP.

SENCO said to me last autumn - 'Oh, we don't need to get them to come in, we can ring EP for a chat if we have any concerns'.

Hmmmm.

Make sure you put your request in writing and make it clear you are asking for an EP observation, not just a school phone consult (school aren't experts - the EP needs to see your DS's work).
However, my experience of school requested EP reports and EP reports commissioned by the LA are they are never massively in-depth. But it's a starting point.

You do really need to push push for support - don't assume the school will just do what really is best for him - he leaves them in 2 years, so you are the only one with his long term needs in mind.

Thanks - yes this is in my mind - I know I have to push x

If I didn't think school were being honest with costs and time, how would I blow the whistle on that? Has anyone ever done that?

I would really like someone independent to check out the paper trail - it seems wildly inconsistent to me.

God almighty, I mean that would just finish the teetering relationship with school off. Not sure I am ready for all out war but I do get very cross if I think porky pies are being told.

You can make a freedom of information request to that school to see all paperwork / correspondence regarding your DS.

I've never had to go down that road so can't really advise more than that.

However I expect it will put you at loggerheads with the school.

You will find it takes a lot of time and energy to try and get the right support in place (most of us on these boards have been there!). My advice (fwiw) would be to focus your energy on doing that rather than 'exposing' the school - you only have finite energy and you want to point it where it's going to help your DS the most.

Make a phone appointment with Ipsea or SOSSEN and find out what you should legally be expecting the school to do. Find out the right keywords you should be saying to promote action from them.
Read up on the law regarding EHCPs.
Find out about your local PCF (parent career forum) and see if they have an advice centre you can drop in on.
Knowledge is power, as the saying goes.

Rather than focus on what's happened to date (because nothing will change that now), I would instead focus on what you can get to happen going forward to help your DS.

I suppose the other thing to add is - is he happy at school? Does he have friends, enjoy extra curricular activities?

These are just as important (in my mind) as academic progress.

If his struggles academically are reflected in other areas of school for him then definitely you would expect the school to be doing more to support him.

If he's happy at school then I suppose you need to weigh up that vs going to war with them (so to speak!).

When you say your son has "dropped" another 6 months do you mean he is getting further behind his peers? Who told you this?