SEN Targets at school

[vasillisa]

DS is way behind on reading age and often has spiky assessments - can fluctuate good/bad days with reading and writing.

He had been making slow progress over the last 12 months but recent reading assessment he came out as being exactly where he was Sept 2017 (5 years)

SEN target now says for him to progress past this by Oct 2019.

It feels like we are setting targets'from the past'. I feel like they should be more ambitious - i.e target to get to his previous ''good'' scores (6 years something). Also to be more specific such as 'DS to know x y z phonic digraphs by Oct 19' I have mentioned this to his teacher via school message book but no response (I know they are busy).

Should I keep pushing? He's having an EHCP assessment so don't know how that will feed into shorter term goals. We only have 3 SEN meetings a year now so I feel like there is a lot at stake as he keeps on losing ground.

Yes, the targets should definitely be 'SMART', and describe what you will be able to see the child do, when they are reviewed.
Not sure if the need to be 'more ambitious' if he is struggling to show progress though ?

Maybe that's a bonus really - it proves he is really struggling. Worrying that he only has 2 years left before moving to secondary and is still scoring so low. I don't think he can access curriculum with such low reading age though school beg to differ.

Targets should be specific as you are saying.
And if they are not representing his ability then they are not suitable for the child.

We are going through this exact thing, with DS reading green and orange band books at home but school setting a target of completing red band by the end of Y4 (he's at the end of Y2).

We tend to feel that it is something ELSE that needs to be adjusted - the reason why he isn't showing his actual ability at school - rather than the material that's being taught.

We are about to go to tribunal for this exact reason (the original EHCP said he will read "books" with appropriate intonation by the end of KS2 i.e. 4 years ahead).

And yes, keep pushing, ask to meet with the SENCO - don't see why you should only have meeting when they say?

How old is your DS?

Looking at Oxf Reading Tree bands I would think DS a yellow and he is now 9.5 y

Being a massive book lover myself it makes me quite sad to see his struggles with language. Still awaiting to hear from ed psych about whether they think it could be dyslexia.

Anything you've done that has helped at home/school drspouse?

We have been vvvv strict about only doing phonics and covered the same grapheme-phoneme correspondence for weeks on end (in books and if we are doing a game etc.). Bored him rigid but he's doing OK at home now (he's 7).
School had been sending home ridiculous books with "triceratops" and "science" and "adventure" when he couldn't read "out" or "side" or put them together (now, however, he can read both plus "outside").

If he is THAT slow I would say dyslexia is worth looking at. Can you go private?

Ed pysch coming back to school. Our LA are one of those whose official line is they 'don't diagnose dyslexia...'

psych*

Awaiting results from recent EP visit, and got reading targets sorted.

More forms now...I am ready for my holiday in a few weeks....

Its a terrible system that children have to “prove to fail”
LA’s very rarely allow the word “dyslexia” to be used in an EHCP or assess specifically for it. I asked and was told that if they did assess for it specifically just about everyone would be on the spectrum somewhere! It’s such a wide spectrum from struggling a bit to basically being totally illiterate. But.... they will assess and fund support for the components of dyslexia if enough of the areas are seen to be severe enough such as working memory, processing, phonological awareness etc - an educational psychologist can assess this and sadly to get that is a miracle even with severe needs so private if it can be afforded is worth it (even then there can a a three-six month wait!) there has to be a great area of need in enough areas to secure an EHCP, which is hard at the best of times. Apparently the normal literacy/numeracy expectation of an “average” nine year old is what is deemed “functional”. Most children with an EHCP specifically for their literacy are working toward functionality as an outcome.