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[ClaireG]

Adam has come home really upset. The headmaster, who was fantastic, left his school at Christmas and the deputy has stepped into the role until September. She seems to be a lot more focused on results etc. Anyway, since the start of term Adam has had more homework. One of the pieces of homework he has is spellings, he gets these on a Monday and has a test on Friday. He has a book which he has to write the words in, usually his TA writes the words again by the side but this hasn't happened for the past two weeks and it hasn't been checked that Adam has copied them from the board correctly. He finds copying from the board really hard because of his dyspraxia/dyslexia. He gets 10 words and i have to say some of them i think are really difficult, especially for someone who has his problems. For example this week his words included interesting and surprise.

 

Every Friday afternoon the children have what is called "Golden Time" where they are allowed to choose an activity they would like to do. As Adam only got 2/10 on his spellings this morning he was made to miss his golden time and had to write out each word he had spelt wrongly five times each. Am i right to think this is unfair especially given his problems? Would you complain to the school?

[Cooks]

I personally would go ballistic, but I hate things like this where they are not treated fairly. Although I can appreciate the need for him to practice the words again, it didn't have to be done like that.

Edited February 5, 2010 by Guest

[Looney]

Oh poor lad

 

I would speak to the school, not necessarily to complain, but certainly to find out why things have changed.

 

Good luck x

[PurpleTree]

I think that seems unfair, maybe just giving him the same words for a second week would've been more help, although do the whole class get the same list of words every week?

 

I think I would discuss it with his class teacher.

[Tutti Frutti]

Edited April 8, 2016 by Guest

[Valkyrie]

I would march in with guns blazing.

I am at heart a peaceful person, but when my children are not treated fairly raoowwwl!

[Cooks]

I would march in with guns blazing.

I am at heart a peaceful person, but when my children are not treated fairly raoowwwl!

same here

 

edited to add, although I am the first to admit they are little rats at times.... I just dont like unfairness.

[ClaireG]

 

You are quite right to be upset! I agree, ask the class teacher why things have changed and why he missed his golden time as a direct result of it - or if the teacher's not supportive, go to the Inclusion Manager/SENCO to ask for help (rather than complain - get the SENCO on your side!)? Does he have an IEP (Individual Education Plan - set out by the school rather than the LA)? If he does, ask for spellings to be included on it and then it will be raised at Parents' Evening/Annual Review time.

 

HTH.

 

Thats a whole other issue He hasn't had an IEP since he started there last May dispite us asking several times for one. He is also well over due an annual reviview of his statement.

[Cooks]

I think a meeting with the senco in in order.

[SarahJo]

This almost happened to my ES in yr5 - he escaped detention only because his spellings are usually almost all correct. This one week I "forgot" to do a practice spelling - usually over breakfast or on way to school in the car - all my fault then

 

If he had been given detention I would have gone in and spoken to the teacher - as clearly this was out of habit and should have raised other questions 1st, rather than a straight punishment of the child Having said that I had raised concerns over non-marking of homework by the teacher - so he was probably scared to go there with ES

 

Personally, I would go in and have a word - but be careful as this was set as homework they may infer that you had some responsibility in ensuring it was done. Don't shoot me for saying that - I don't agree, and have had to double check ES spellings myself due to bad copying. The TA or teacher should check this is done - BUT in alot of cases it does not necessarily happen. Be sympathetic to lack of time/staff issues - but also put your son's case forward as not to be punished so harshly - this could backfire and make him hate school altogether.

[ClaireG]

He has his own TA for 15 hrs a week and there are 3 other adults in his class at all times. I will be asking for a meeting with the SENCO to get this and the matter of him having no IEP and being seriously overdue a review sorted.

[Valkyrie]

Go get 'em Claire.

[Chucky Mama]

'fraid I would go in too. I thought that Golden Time was not cut according to academic acheivement rather behaviour etc. To cut it because of a poor result in a spelling test is demotivating and wrong especially when there was a reason for this.

[Space Chick]

Thats dreadful, they should be supporting him, not punishing him

 

You go get them Claire

[Patricia W]

Unanimous support for you from here. If he has a statement then he must - by law- have an annual review. Ask them why not. It's the LA's job to check it's happening so if you don't get anywhere, phone them up

 

Tricia

[BeckyBoo]

Our school has a similar thing with Golden Time as well, but our lot only lose it 5 minutes at a time and that's for bad behaviour. Failing spelling tests means you get the same spelling card the next week and the next, you might then get a different one to give you a break from them but you don't get "punished" for doing them wrong. Ours have the opportunity to do them for 10 minutes in lunchtimes too if they can't get the hang of them.

 

Maybe the new deputy is interested in results as she's after permanent promotion, but you can't change a childs school routine to suit yourself, it's not fair on them. I'm a bit of a fearsome protector if I think my children have been wronged too, I think you should say something, especially as spellings sound like they're going to be especially tricky for your boy.

 

good luck

 

BeckyBoo

[Tutti Frutti]

Edited April 8, 2016 by Guest

[ClaireG]

no IEP and being seriously overdue a review

 

That's REALLY REALLY poor! Def book an appt with the SENCO (in my experience, fantastic people who will empathise and understand and have the welfare of the child at heart at all times). If you go softly softly catchee monkey, you might be able to do some digging about the day to day lack of support and find out why he's not had a TA (maybe down to the teacher or you might find the teacher is unhappy with it as well). Change of staff? Sickness? Regardless of any of that, the LA funds SEN TAs so the school can't use lack of budget as an excuse (lack of staff is a tricky one though - they can't get anyone in willy nilly as they need to be CRB checked first) and your son should have a TA support for the full 15 hours a week (not necessarily by one specific person though). End of.

 

As for lack of review, that's really serious but I'd tackle the lack of TA/spellings issue/punishment by lack of golden time first (just the tip of the iceberg and actually a problem caused by the lack of IEP)... then demand the Review! Face to face with the SENCO/HEAD first but if no joy, put it in writing to the Head giving a reasonable deadline then go to the LA if they don't comply quickly.

 

(I used to be an SEN TA)

 

Sorry for confusion, he HAS got a TA for 15 hours a week. She gives support with class literacy and numeracy but not spellings for the test. We moved from Warwickshire to Northants last January which caused problems and Adam was out of school while they re wrote his statement, this is when he got the funded 15 hours. We then unfortunatly had to move again last May. He has had no IEP that we've seen since then and no annual statement review. If i get no joy i will try our local parent partnership.

[Tutti Frutti]

Edited April 8, 2016 by Guest

[Tutti Frutti]

Edited April 8, 2016 by Guest

[Yorkshire Pudding]

 

You are quite right to be upset! I agree, ask the class teacher why things have changed and why he missed his golden time as a direct result of it - or if the teacher's not supportive, go to the Inclusion Manager/SENCO to ask for help (rather than complain - get the SENCO on your side!)? Does he have an IEP (Individual Education Plan - set out by the school rather than the LA)? If he does, ask for spellings to be included on it and then it will be raised at Parents' Evening/Annual Review time.

 

HTH.

 

Thats a whole other issue He hasn't had an IEP since he started there last May dispite us asking several times for one. He is also well over due an annual reviview of his statement.

 

Hi Claire,

Sorry to hear you're having so much hassle.

 

I am very concerned to hear that your son has been penalised for his spellings score - he has disabilities that affect his ability to spell, and surely to penalise him for this is discriminatory. Ask to see the school Disability Equility Scheme. They have to have one and you are entitled to see it if you ask. They have to show that they take steps to treat people with disabilities fairly and this sounds most unfair to me.

 

You're right - the annual review is a legal requirement. If there hasn't been one and the report from the meeting hasn't been returned, the school are in breach of the code of practice. The SENCO will know this and it is usually top priority that statement reviews are held as without them there is the risk of a hefty fine. It is possible however that as he has moved, the statement has been transferred and the school are working with one year from that transfer (either correctly or mistakenly). I agree with Tutti frutti, he would have benefited from either a review or a transition meeting at the start. You can request an emergency review or an early review if you have concerns and if you do so the school cannot refuse, although they may ask to meet and discuss the reasons for the request.

 

Also the IEP - now that isn't a legal requirement - certainly at our secondary school we don't write them for all children on the SEN register - there are over 300 of them. However the teachers have to show through their planning how they provide teaching that is 'additional to and different from' his peers and your son's teacher must be able to show that through an IEP or otherwise. If you request to see it the school must oblige.

 

I would definitely ask for an early meeting with the SENCo and try to smooth things out.

 

BTW I am an assistant SENCO.

[Willow]

You definitely should go in I'm appalled they cut golden time for poor results in a spelling test for anyone let alone someone who is dyslexic

 

But I'd go in and focus more on the lack of support and the need to set appropriate work for someone who is dsylexic. 10 words a week sounds too many for someone who is dyslexic and I think they should be providing him with a sheet with the first word printed that he then copies rather than have to copy from the board

 

I find when I'm tired or under pressure the letters move and no matter how long I look at a word I can't sort them into the right order (or even tell they aren't in the right order) whereas other times there's no problem so he needs a good baseline (eg printed sheet) he can come back to and shouldn't be tested in a pressured evvironment and especially not feel he will be punished for mistakes

 

I struggle to understand the inflexibility of primary school & spelling. My sons have fortunately inherited my husbands perfect recall of spellings if they look at a new word a couple of times (if they are bored they catch me unawares and ask me how to spell something and it's only when I catch the smirks I realise they are making fun )

 

I didn't even realise my YS was getting spelling hw until at the end of the year the TA mentioned in passing at a social event he never did his spelling sheet hw and always lost a breaktime to write out the words the break time after he would get a perfect score in the test He was being regularly bullied so I did ask if it ever occurred to the school that may be why he didn't do the hw

[Yorkshire Pudding]

he HAS got a TA for 15 hours a week. She gives support with class literacy and numeracy but not spellings for the test.

 

Another thought - how long are literacy and numeracy lessons? Ours were both 1 hour a day... so I'd be asking what support he gets for the other hour a day?

 

 

This can be a tricky one though - our LA gives funding in terms of hours too. However the school is responsible for how that funding is delivered and it doesn't HAVE to be in TA hours - the funding could quite legitimately used to purchase resources or equipment that benefit that child. It is a confusing system.

 

As an example, a child with 15 hours funding at our school might have 12 supported lessons and one spent in 1-1 tuition with a specialist teacher. Teachers cost more than TAs, so the child would recieve the equivalent of 15 hours' worth of support and additional input, but not 15 actual hours.

[ClaireG]

Thanks so much everyone, you've been really helpful Don't get me wrong, i think his TA, the other two TAs' in his class and his class teacher are great and usually give him a lot of support and encouragement.

 

The more able get 20 spellings and Adam, another statemented child and two others on the SEN register have to do the first 10 on the list.

 

He does get 15 actual hours, his TA is with him from 9-12 every day. The extra hour a day is spent supporting his literacy and numeracy across other subjects.

 

I'm going to compose a letter over the weekend, which i will send to his teacher, the Head and the SENCO. I'm going to ask for either an IEP or a breakdown of how he is supported and ask if his spellings can be supported as part of his literacy. I will also ask that as we have been in the same LA for a year, all be it in two areas, if we can have a statement review now. I am concerned if it doesn't get soted now that itwon'tbe sorted before he goes to secondary school in September.

[TAJ]

My daughter is dyspraxic - at infants when they got spelling she likewise would get low scores, interestingly though if she spelled them out to you verbally or put them in the computer she would get 100% - proving it was a writing problem, not an understanding problem. This will be covered by the disabled discrimination act (DDA) - I would get in that school and get them to address it ASAP.

 

Tracy