Hi, although my son has only been at school, in the reception class for one week its already very obvious that he is going to need much more 1 to 1 help.
He is on early years action plus but has only been given 5 hours support per week! which according to the head as its only a small class (10kids) the 5 hours is 'coming out' of the teaching assistants time, although obviously split into small 'blocks' like maybe 5 mins to change him etc which at the time seemed fair enough i was happy as long as they WERE changing him (they didnt the first day)
hes started to kick off when i try to leave him in the morning now hes found his feet so to speak, on tues the teaching assistant 'conned' me into staying as she knew full well they were having p.e first thing so obviously i stayed to change him which she saw was a huge struggle (eventually got him changed in the playhouse area as for some reason he wanted to be 'private' although never been bothered before,shares a bath with his 6yr old sister etc with no problems) she suggested that 'mummy can stay for a while if you like' but then bang as soon as he was changed it was 'oh you can go now if you like'! i thought yeh i bet i bloody can now....yesterday unfortnately i had to basically drop him and run in order to get my 10yr old to the doctors. then today he was really on form so i ended up staying until 9.40, now don't get me wrong i really don't MIND staying and helping them with him not at all as at the end of the day he is still my baby! but its clear that he needs more support/supervision, for the whole of carpet time the t.a was writing notes and obviously the teacher was doing her thing, now at playgroup one of the staff would of taken him off me and restrained him until i'd left
(the crying/screaming did used to break my heart and many a time ive sobbed the entire walk home, but i knew that after 10 mins he would be fine) they just don't seem to do this at school and i can't see that they have the resources to give him the extra 1to1 without getting someone else in which leads, finally to my actual question!(sorry i am such a waffler, its kinda like verbal diarrhoea but typed lol) I am going to request a statutory assessment for a statement, would it be best to do this on my own (the head would, i think, support this) or should i and CAN i ask for an I.E.P review first even though his last one was only mid may?
I'm going to ask the head to get the ed psych back out to observe him (he had been getting better at playgroup and she saw him on a good day last time, hence the measley 5 hrs, i feel he didn't get better, rather conformed?, which i feel won't happen at school because he has one teacher on mon tues weds and another on Thursday/fri i think this was what partly caused his distress this morning he really doesn't cope with change) plus the Thursday/fri teacher doesn't seem at all clued up, which i find odd,although maybe thats cos if i was a teacher with only 10 children in my care and one had a condition i would find time to research it!,after carpet time she even suggested he was like that because 'maybe hes coming down with something' to which i replied errrr no this is how he is...(she'd heard me say my 10yr old was ill) and decided to fit her 'theory' to that!, we think 10 year old probably has coeliacs which i think i'm right in saying defo isn't contagious' then she said 'oh, well he was ok last week' hmmm that would of been the 2 (4 hr) first days then would it, when everything is new and certainly before he found his feet!
luckily the mon/tue/weds teacher is lovely and taught my eldest adhd/aspergers son so she knows more coping methods i guess.
if i can ask for an i.e.p review i plan to speak to the head at 3pm so if anyone knows if this is allowed i would be very grateful for your replies!
thank you for your time, x

Hi Talia, An IEP review is called by the school once per term. I personally think if your child needs more help that it would pay to get the statementing application started as soon as possible, assuming there is sufficient evidence to back up your case and that the school are broadly speaking supportive. I would make an appointment to see the Head teacher in the first instance to discuss your concerns and take it from there. You are perfectly entitled to start the process off yourself but it is probably wise to seek the advice of your Head teacher and to make sure your application has the best chance of success there needs to be ample evidence. The council will send their Ed Psych to do an assessment of your child as part of the process and also contact all the other professionals (health or otherwise) that may be involved to ask for a report. It will help if your child has had any recent assessments as these can then be fed into the process. Just gather as much evidence as you can yourself as well. Keep a diary - if you aren't already - documenting all the times you are asked to help change your child and documenting the effect school is having on him. Photocopy and submit this when you submit your report. I hope this is helpful. Please feel free to message me privately if you need any more help.
Debbie :-)

Hi,
How did the meeting with the head teacher go?
If statementing is something you feel will benefit you son and it does sound like it would i can send you a template which you can send to the local authority which would start the application for a statement so that the wheels would be in motion and the process started.
Its actually very easy to get the request in,its complicated once they accept the application but by this time all the proffesionals would be involved helping

It does sound like extra help is needed as personally the school should have no need whatsoever for you to stay and help them do there job.

Do you want me to send over the request form and im more than happy to help you with all of this stage if needs be

Hi Daniel, yes please a template would be a big help, sometimes its just so hard to put into words.
I'm almost certain the head will support my request with a letter of her own, unfortnately i didnt get to speak to her this afternoon as she was due in a meeting but i will make sure i see her tomorrow, she was clearly VERY interested in the prospect of extra funding at the last I.E.P meeting i just wondered if we needed the ed psych before sending the request as she was the person who decided that we wouldnt go for an assessment 'just yet' as he 'had improved' - apparently!, this was when the head actually looked like she'd been slapped (and i'm sure the eysenit 'gasped' lol) and said 'but we could try for the FUNDING! in the future?' so i think she was expecting the process to start then.......i *think* the 5 hours comes out of the schools budget? so this maybe the reason why and perhaps they were planning to do what they did with my elder son, he had 25 hrs, which was briefly put up to 30 to cover lunchtimes - not for long tho so dunno if they could of got away with claiming 30 but only supply 25hrs? but with the lunchtimes taken care of by the dinner ladies, hence saving 'their' 5 hours? clearly i'm just speculating but you never know (and this is the head that got rid of school dinners due to the cost to the school.....)
we went through the statement process around 9 ish years ago and it was so much more straight forward than it is now!, i do really need the ed psych to see him how he is now though as at the last meeting she didnt think he was 'as bad' as my elder son was!, which is utter rubbish to us he is MUCH more hard work and obv with more complex needs, this is why i'm still not sure what hes actually got i'm sure there is defo adhd but i dont think its aspergers like my eldest as his language has always been very advanced, hes a wizz with computers and bloody brilliant at art so classic high functioning, with dylan the only thing i'm totally sure of are the autistic traits.
I think you have hit the nail on the head with me staying there as it is basically doing their job for them, as i said i honestly dont mind but what if i had to get to work every day, i'd end up being sacked!
when i picked dylan up today the t.a gave me his sweatshirt and said its a bit wet he does like water! i was like oh yes....but thinking errr hello flooded bathroom,anything he can get his hands on tipped away,getting him out of the kitchen sink and drying his hands 20 times a day honestly its like theres a magnetic force!oh and not to mention the garden hose and mud...
the teacher also said that he had 'been all over the place today' i said that was because he didnt like changes in routine and she said this was very clear all through the day, he reacted badly when they went to the hall for p.e, and again when they went for lunch and at various other points, I will stress to her tomorrow that they will need to prepare him for changes, tell him at different points like in 10 mins we will....and then in 5 mins etc unfortunately at that point in the convo i had to run after dylan who had legged it..... sorry for wafflng again and thank you for your help! x

also a thank you to Debbie, a diary is a brilliant idea and i will start that tonight detailing tues/Thursday mornings and then see what tomorrow and next week brings! x