IEP, please enlighten me, I don't have a clue

[TinySocks]

DS is due to start school is september (not sure if I should be feel excited or terrified!).
It is a mainstream school, DS is going to have a 1-to-1 assistant and we don't live in the UK. I want to have a meeting with the school but I have no idea how things are supposed to work.

Could someone please enlighten me?

Who defines the IEP? How often is it reviewed and what does it contain (no clue how it looks like, what sections it should have)?
Should an educational psychologist be involved with the school periodically to review ds's progress?
What is the best way to have a good two way communication between us and school? (is it the passport that has been mentioned here a few times, or frequent meetings?

So sorry for my ignorance! I have no idea.

Ooooh i'd like to know the answer to this too!

from what i can gather my ds has IEP individual education plan set up by his specialist pre school teacher SALT and staff at pre school this is reviewed by all on the team every few months to make sure his hitting targets and changing them as and when needed

we had no ed psych involved with this just the senco and area senco

say for my ds who has problems with communication and social skills it will have things such as
bubblaboy to be in small group activity to help with social interaction staff to help him communicate with other children by using there names and getting bubblaboy to use there names

bubblaboy to be helped in requesting with a member of staff teaching him how to do it appropriately

to assist bubblaboy in becoming more independent by 1-1 to help him to learn routine etc

all above are eg i can think of it will be along there areas of needing help and how staff can help promote and assist them

The IEP at my DS's mainstream school (he is ASD) was set in a meeting half way thru first term with teacher, 1-to-1, SENCO and me. It is basically just a few objectives - like in our case "learn to play one game, with prompting, with another child" or "learn to follow 2 instructions from teacher, eg stand up, put coat on peg". Then you review it at the parent's meeting each term (like a "normal" mum), and at the annual review where sometimes the EP comes, but more usually the SALT is the LEA's rep. Other attendees are teacher, 1-to-1 and SENCO. I would not expect too much more from the EP, as I haven't seen mine since the statement got done. My main way of communicating is getting to know the 1-to-1 very well, and also the reading diary, where I sometimes write messages about stuff other than reading. IMHO you shouldn't seek too many extra meetings with the teacher, unless there is a real issue, but you should become big buddies with the LSA. That way, you are getting day-to-day feedback on what DS is doing.Other tip - make the IEP really achievable so you (and DS) aren't working towards too hard targets too early on. Hope that helps?

Oh thank you bubblagirl and sickofsocalledexperts, that has really helped.
I thought the IEP was much more detailed, more or less like listing areas of the curriculum that need to be tailored to him, and how to tailor them.
DS has language delay but also fine motor skill issues, so he will struggle for example with drawing, holding a pen properly. Are these sort of things also included?

THANK YOU!!!

The IEP varies from school to school. The SEN code of practice says they should be reviewed twice a year minimum but some schools review termly or even half termly.

My daughter's is broken down into headings and under SALT it just says 'contact with the SALT and following the programme set out'. Other headings for number work, reading, writing etc.

Thank you vjg.

There will probably also be a target in the IEP to help with fine motor skills. Ds1 has had lots of these over the years as he was unable to hold a pencil properly until late Reception/early Yr1.

The methods will probably be things like rolling playdough, games with threading objects, trying different pencil grips and pencil shapes.

There will probably also be a target related to language skills, depending on his particular needs.

At our school the children usually work on no more than three targets at a time so the SENCO and teacher will probably pick out which areas are the most important to start with.

Our IEPs are reviewed each term. Sometimes a target will be carried over into a second term if it hasn't quite been achieved but is going well.

We don't have any Ed Psych involvement. The people involved are usually the SENCO, the teacher, and the parents.

The layout is fairly simple and straightforward. The first column states what the target is. The second column says how this is to be achieved and who by. The third column gives the criteria for success. So an example might be:

1. Ds to write his numbers the right way round.

2. Ds to work with Mrs Y using a variety of materials such as sand, flour and paint and forming the numbers with his fingertips. (5mins each day)

3. Ds to form his numbers correctly in his written work 75% of the time.

oh wonderful, thank you coppertop! I was really hoping for examples (but too shy to ask), so thank you for those.