[senco-forum] KS2 to 3 transition (was Help for Y6 child working below L3)

Hello
  I'd like to try to make some general points about KS2 to 3 transition for pupils who are working at Level 2 and below, rather then comment on the case Anusia aised.  She did ask for 'no lectures' after all so she obviously knows that there are issues she is trying to address.
  Brendan said  'Everyone gets alarmed when SATs and secondary transiton approaches'.  I'd agree - this is a real concern for parents and for primary teachers for children with SEN.  But I don't think that this is because of what he calls 'fear of accountablity' every time.  It is often, in my experience, because my small rural primary feeder schools have a way of being very flexible about the way they educate pupils who are working at Level 2 and below in their school.  Pupils are happy there.  Parents know the routine and the staff so they are happy too.  Secondary schools are larger and further away.  Many parents of pupils with low ability have an unhappy experience of secondary school in the past so feel even more concerned.
  Example: I have a child whose reading and writing skills are at P7.  He spent his primary career learning to speak, having arrived with no expressive language at all at the age of 5. He was very happy at primary school and was managing really well.  But the school had to make sure that they did the SATs work in Year 6 so they had to find things for him to do all day every day for four weeks which bore no relation to what the rest of the class was doing.  This would be just about manageable if he had full time 1-1 TA support but he does not.  He is unable to do anything involving any kind of reading or writing without direct adult intervention.  
  Now - if anyone has any practical suggestions about how to enable a pupil with no literacy skills at all to learn without adult intervention and be self-managing for between 50 and 110 minutes at a time, I'll be happy to learn from them.  I'll pass on any advice to my colleagues and also use it in my English lesson.  Saying 'the LA must do X, Y and Z' is no use. Don't you think that we are arguing as hard as we can with the LA all the time?

  Amanda
  Secondary SENCO
  Cornwall

Amanda
Secondary SENCO
Cornwall