Any point in talking to SENCO for a year 6?

[lisson]

DS's teacher has been pointing out some problems DS is having with the speed of his work. So, on Saturday I took him to a tutor to help with his handwriting only to be told that he probably has dysgraphia and auditory processing disorder.
I need to pay for assessments to determine exactly what's going on.
Is there any point in trying to navigate the bureaucracy surrounding this at primary school, or should I just bypass the primary school and speak to the secondary school about what sort of evidence they will need me to supply?
(The primary school is a feeder to the secondary).

(The tutor advised trying to get DS extra time for the SATS but its too late for this - I checked).

[yoyo123]

I would talk to the Primary Senco. When you say you have to pay for assessments , would this be to the tutor by any chance??

[lisson]

yes, either the tutor or a educational psychologist... but I get your meaning and it has occurred to me too.

[Startail]

Every point in talking to senior school Senco. Ours goes round primary schools talking to parents of new intake.

DD1 is dyslexic and the high school SENCO was far more clued up than the primary.

They really did ensure DD1 had a comfortable transmission into Y7. A bit of academic help, and someone to explain to the teachers she wasn't being 'lazy' when her HW looked nothing like you'd expect from talking to her.
(They keep sort of at a glance pen portraits of SEN pupils that give class teachers a very good idea what a child's needs are.)

More importantly, they were someone to talk to. Maybe because of her dyslexia, maybe because that's how she is, DD1 tended to get left out on a good day and bullied on a bad one.

Now, at 15 they get her extra time in Exams and that's about it, but I'm certain if anyone did return to their bad habits they would help.

[ArbitraryUsername]

Don't pay for assessments; have the school/LEA do it (by speaking to the SENCO). It doesn't matter about the SATs; they're for the school's benefit, not your DD's.

[Hassled]

I would get the ball rolling by making an appointment with the Primary Senco - there's still a good few months left, and anything they can put in place now will only help. They may have some useful recources. Plus, the Primary Sencos talk to the Secondary Sencos - the more points of contact/communication between the two schools, the better.

[lisson]

The thing is that the primary SENCO is also the year 6 class teacher and she's the person who implied that it was laziness on Ds's part. Even she said that its weird that he doesn't do better at this when he does so well in all other aspects of his work. But she was really getting at him about it - little notes when she marked his work that said "you MUST try harder".

The primary is a feeder school to the secondary and when I spoke to the secondary SENCO she sorted of hinted a "oh, her" when I mentioned the primary SENCO by name.

I wrote to her as the class teacher to let her know what is going on but she hasn't replied yet. (I doubt she will).