Help!! How do you get additional support at school?

[geek]

Hi. My DS has subtle but significant learning disabilities due to his hydrocephalus (and/or neonatal meningitis). He has just started in reception at primary school and is REALLY struggling. He needs one-to-one help to maintain his focus and basically keep him in line. His teacher said there's no way he'll get a statement. She has asked for him to be observed by the special needs teacher but apparently they just give strategies to help him - he needs more than this, and even if he gets allocated help by the school it will be from the TA who is already in the class so that the other children will get less support (its a class of 30).

How do you get a few hours additional support at school without a statement???

Please help, I desperately need to understand how the system works and what I need to do to before he gets totally left behind.

Well my son has just been disagnosed as dyspraxic (year 1). He gets 1 hour a week from the SENCO in a small group and 2 hours support from a TA.

First I'd meet with the SENCO and ask what your county policy is. Each school gets a budget to support additional needs children and each school deals with it differently. However, there are broad guidelines and county directives. So look on your local county council website where they describe their policy.

In our county there are two levels of SENCO help (outside a statement). Severe (i.e. get quite a bit of help) and Less Severe (i.e. just a bit like my son) - note these are my words as can't remember exact terminology.

The terms are School Action - which means that the school is putting in additional support/action.
School Action Plus - which is the same, but the school is also seeking help from additional outside people ie. SALT, OT etc.
The level of support that you get will depend on the school, but the school should have a meeting with you and give you an IEP (individual education plan) which lists what they are intending to do.
Many primary school have intervention schemes, where they take children out in small groups to help them catch up if they are slipping behind, these children are not always put on school action and the intervention may only happen for a few terms.
Hope this helps.

Thank you so much for this. As a result, I have now found lots of really useful info on the internet, and feel much happier that I know what is available for my DS...now I just have to try and get it...!

Just keep pushing for the help as teachers often say they are not that bad. Two reasons, firstly they may not be that bad then but if left without help school will become very confusing and difficult. Secondly they have to put a lot of work into getting a statement and prove that they have put all the intervention in place first. I started pushing in nursery finally got a statement in year 2 with a few hours and then finally got a full statement in year 4. So six years in total battling. Start now.