OBTAINING SCHOOL RECORDS

[hedders]

I was refused twice in primary school a yr ago when i wrote to them, i think it might of been because i didn't put some legal jargon about data protection act at top of letter which led my suspecisions to apply for Stat Assessment as i felt something was'nt right and they were holding back information

 

Anyway now she is in junior school i need again to get her attainment levels, progress evidence from recption yr - yr 3 as her currant attainemnt levels shows that she isn't progressing and regressing in areas which i'm finding inconsistant and can't really move forward with complaints unless i have the actual truth or facts. I can only reply on one previous report when in yr 2.

Again the school wont tell me her acutal attainment level for numeracy, reading, speaking and listening and just put -2c

 

 

So what is the correct format for a letter to the school?

 

2 weeks left till end of term, should i wait till September as i think i have to give 2 weeks notice.?

 

Or can i speak directly to the Educational Department ?? Do they have records sent to them?

 

 

Edited July 12, 2009 by hedders

[Sally44]

Hopefully one of the moderators will post about this because I don't know enough about it.

But the school should know what her attainment levels are as they should be assessing her. Even for children that are not sitting formal assessments or SATS the teacher/TA can use class based work to give a grade. For some children that are making very slow progress there are subsections within each increase of increment.

What would really help would be to know what your own child's cognitive ability is. Does your child struggle with most things, or is she really good at some things and very poor at others. Is she especially good at anything?

My son's former school thought it was 'typical' for a child with autism to not learn or regress. However my son was assessed for his cognitive ability. I had to go private for this because the educational psychologist would not do it. I think this was because if their assessments prove that your child is of at least typical cognitive ability, then they have to put in the hours and staff to make them achieve because they have the 'potential' to learn. If everyone is going along with the assumption that a child has a lower IQ or cognitive ability, then they may feel it is okay not to expect much. Do you understand what I am saying?

If I were you I would be starting to kick up a fuss about this. Either your child is capable and can remain mainstream and be taught and progress. If that is the case then where is the support in terms of hours and staffing provision. What is happening with a diagnosis? Have you spoken with the NAS about the diagnosis and the fact that you have no idea what her academic attainment levels are and that she appears to be regressing and not meeting targets. Have you spoken and then written to any of the professionals that have observed/assessed your daughter.

The Parent Partnership should also know about how the school assess a child.

I'm feeling very frustrated for you because I feel like you are going in circles and everyone is not responding to your questions so that you don't know what to do next.

I think a diagnosis might be quite crucial in all of this as well. So where are you in the process of getting a diagnosis?

[hedders]

We see the pead every 6 months they said in sept on next app they might film her playskills.

 

The diffculty is she was referred to them at 4yrs old got discharged at 5yrs old but i got another referral to a different one, for a long time the primary school led them to believe nothing was wrong, slt sided with school which was why everyone discharged her.

OT sided with me. it wasn't untill last yr when i found out her attainment level and comphersenion level was low that the pead team took notice and referred her back to SLT and told me it was too early to start throwing out labels. let the slt team do their assessments and then i actually got them to commit in writing all her difculties

specific learning diffculties

regulating/modulating sensory information

speech and language delay

possible social communication diffculties.

 

 

they wrote to school senco advising a referral to ed psy but we all recieved these ;Predicated levels which has shown not right so i wrote to pead with evidence last week

 

I have 3 files nearly 4 containing letters upon letters over the yrs to school and professionals diary events, etc... also letters i recieved from them

 

I wrote to pead 3yrs ago when dd was in yr 1 saying i felt school weren't meeting her needs and i felt she wasn't progressing, i learnt then not to be so straight forward i had a bad response from them and later found out they discharged my younger dd as i was just a parnoid woman looking for the worst in my children. Recieved a letter saying everyone was in a agreement that dd didn't need direct intervention and all children have strengths and weakness.

 

n=Now in regards to younger dd who is now 5 she is on SA+ Been under slt for 3yrs and ED psy monitors her IEPS

 

I have to move forward past is the past, but when a mistake happens i'm finding it takes a long time to correct itself to move forward.

Edited July 13, 2009 by hedders

[Sally44]

I also started raised concerns about my own son when he was 3. I was fobbed off by one of my GPs and by the Health Visitor. Six months after starting school they called me in and asked for my agreement to refer him to a SALT. He finally got a diagnosis at age 6.5 and got a statement in January of this year (he was 8 in Feb), so it does take a long time. I just feel your frustration. I'm glad you're keeping letters.

 

From your post are you saying you have two children showing difficulties which maybe down to an ASD?

 

I think you need to push for a diagnosis and keep pushing school about her not making progress.

 

You could speak with the NAS and/or IPSEA about asking the LEA to assess her for a Statement. Asking for an assessment will mean that the LEA will require up to date reports from everyone. Your reason for asking for an assessment would be that she is not making progress in school and is in the process of getting a diagnosis for an ASD. If your daughter has a speech difficulty, sensory issues and social communication difficulties then where is she not fitting the criteria for a diagnosis? Or are you in the process of getting one soon? You also have the paperwork that says she was having difficulties, then they discharged her, only to refer her again later on. So her difficulties are persistent and on-going.

 

I would also consider for the future looking in the the 'speech delay' aspect of what you have been told. This is my own view, but if a child has a diagnosis of an ASD that means they have speech/language/social communication and play difficulties and an ASD is for life, so those language related difficulties are for life. If your child is labelled with a 'speech delay', that means the SALT is saying there is every possibility that she will catch up with her peers and have no difficulties whatsoever further down the line. It also means that she can be discharged from SALT. If a child has a lifelong speech difficulty that is a 'disorder'. A disorder is for life. If your child is diagnosed with a speech disorder they cannot be discharged from SALT (well not within my LEA - but not sure if that applies throughout the UK). So it is worth considering. Also if she has speech difficulties and did not acquire speech to a typical level by the age of 3, then that should rule out Aspergers, meaning she is on the autistic spectrum. In my opinion that gives them even less room to manouvre and wriggle out of their responsibilities towards your child. If she has an ASD, they cannot say she has aspergers and therefore her speech was good/even advanced and therefore we did not pick up on her difficulties at an earlier age. If she has an ASD I would be complaining that she has these speech and language/social interaction difficulties which they have not recognised or met. They have wrongly discharged her (probably because the SALT did not have any training or experience in language difficulties associated with an ASD), only to be referred back again. The system is failing your daughter who is not having her needs recognised or met in school and therefore is not making progress.

You mention learning difficulties. Do you mean you have been told she has a lower cognitive level than her peers? Or do you mean she might have something like dyslexia as well? If you mean the former do you agree with that? Has an Ed Psych assessed her cognitive ability using non verbal assessments? My son gets a percentile of 93 on non verbal assessments ie. he performs better than 93 out of 100 children. With verbal assessments that plumets to a percentile of 2 ie. he does better than 2 children out of 100. That is why it is very important that they do a wide range of assessments including both verbal and non verbal ones. The difference is that if your child has around typical cogntive ability, even if that is only on non verbal assessments, that means that she should be making an average academic improvement over each year because they can present her work differently to help her learn.

I would recommend that you speak with the NAS educational helpline and IPSEA because you may already have enough written evidence to ask for an assessment towards a Statement. The only thing that might happen is that the LEA might refuse saying that the school can do more and needs to write SMART IEPs to record her progress. But that might kick them into some action. And you could appeal against any decision not to assess. If you are turned down I think you have to wait another 6 months (if you don't appeal) before you ask for a further assessment towards a Statement.

From her age, am I right in saying that she will be moving to junior level in September? Children are expected to be more independent at this age, and learning can be alot more self directed. It was in the summer term of year 2 that I applied for an assessment for the very same reasons, that I felt my son simply would not cope in his current school with the current level of input and experience that school had. We did have a diagnosis at this stage, which you don't yet. But I don't think you have to have a diagnosis to get a Statement.

I know it is not nice to be in a situation where you are writing letters, but try to keep it as informal and factual as possible. You have been proved to be right in that you believe there are persistant difficulties, and those involved have had to come to the same conclusion if they have again referred her to a SALT. Remember as well that the SALT is responsible for all social language and play skills. So make sure they know that you know that and are waiting for them to assess in this area as well. The school and LEA do have a duty and responsibilities which are fully explained in the Code of Practice. So they should be fulfilling those requirements. You are perfectly entitled as a parent to request an assessment towards a Statement, and that might be the way to go. Where are you in the diagnosis process?

Do you know what other schooling options your LEA has? Are you happy for her to remain where she is? Are there any mixed mainstream/SEN schools in your LEA? Have you visited any schools that have experience of teaching children with an ASD?

[nellie]

Hi Hedders,

 

 

I hope this link to a previous topic helps.

 

School records, How to get access to documents?

http://www.asd-forum.org.uk/forum/index.ph...mp;#entry246886

 

 

Nellie x