Support!!-Result

I spoke to the school LSA today as I was picking up Matthew from after school cricket. Matthew had been telling me he has been having her every day, I thought great they're fitting some extra work in while the other children are practising for the concert.
Found out that he had actually been accepted for 1:1 support for 5 x 1hrs session per week. Fanatastic this should really bring him on.
We can now fill our plugged bucket with taps full on.

Just to reiterate, we were awarded this at second attempt, and at the same time we wrote a letter which went into his LEA file, I think it was sent with the letter to the Ed Psych requesting him to come out and observe. Here it is:-

Description of Concern

Our greatest concern is the amount and quality of writing that Matthew produces in a language lesson. Matthew’s class teacher has tried different strategies over the past 18 months, but still spends a large amount of her time assisting Matthew in class, as even though his test results are favourable, he is unable to write more than a few sentences independently. His needs in literacy are not being met.

The class teacher and SENCO have observed and assessed his progress over the last 18 months and are in agreement that although he is provided with 2 x 30mins of Speech and Language tuition per week and a 1hr group Reading Support session, this is not progressing Matthew at the required rate. The Educational Psychologist has referred Matthew to the Child Development Centre for investigation of possible dyspraxia (fine-motor and organisational problems) and due to the fact that the waiting list is unacceptably long, he has also referred him to the Child and Family Centre at Brynffynon, Tonteg Hospital, for investigation of attention difficulties, hoping this list will be shorter.

Through the school system for carefully observing and assessing Matthew’s progress, they have provided information to you about the areas that Matthew has made little progress in since Sept. 2006. This area is clearly literacy, where Matthew is not able to organise his thoughts and produce consistent coherent work. Strategies have been reviewed over an 18-month period, but progress is extremely slow. His class teacher has clearly stated to us that on several occasions that she has observed that Matthew is not reaching his potential. She feels that 1:1 support in language lessons within the class environment would be the most beneficial help for his particular needs. We as parents agree that his class teacher is the foremost person to determine his present needs and the SENCO has assured us that this is the way forward.

Also included is his Speech and Language Therapy Report following a short 6-week course for word recall. This clearly indicates that they believe that his Language problems are not severe and are not the overriding problem. The class teacher and SENCO believe that his needs are more complex, in that he can’t organize and write his thoughts independently, but when helped on a 1:1 basis has the potential to produce work which is commensurate with his obvious abilities.

In summary, Matthew is unable to process what he has just been taught and cannot produce reasonable written output. This seems to be locked inside and can only be released by the teacher sitting with him and initiating the process. He is then able to produce some work. The class teacher has observed that Matthew is compliant, is keen to do work, and is eager to impress, but unfortunately has some sort of barrier which prevents him performing to his obvious abilities. This frustrates Matthew, the class teacher and us as parents. No one seems to have the specialisation or the time and resources to be able to deal with the complex nature of his needs.

We hope that after revisiting his case once again, you will be able to offer him the support that he so obviously needs in order for him to gain full access to the curriculum, meet his full potential, and achieve the targets set for him.