Nursery's report on dd doesn't reflect the child we know.

[Lovelydiscusfish]

I know it's unimportant in the grand scheme of things, but was confused by the written report we received on dd from nursery today. She is 26 months old, and we are confident that her speech and language is fairly advanced for her age - she has a wide vocabulary, uses sentences including (at times) compound or complex ones, asks questions etc. At her 2 year check the HV said her speech was what one would expect of a 3 to 4 year old, and while I thought that was pushing it, I stand by the fact that she is advancing well in this aspect.
However, the report said she was at a developmental level of a 16-26 month old, that she is starting to put words together, and that their target for her is to start to ask simple questions, which they will start to work on in a few weeks. All of this would be fine and no cause for worry if accurate, but it isn't!
I am very aware that children can present differently in different contexts. However, only last week the nursery owner told dh that dd is very advanced in her speech, to the extent that she is planning to move her up to the pre-school 4 months early.
I am aware that I risk sounding like a twat here. I honestly don't care if she's advanced or not, but I do care that they've written a report which does not reflect my child, or indeed what they themselves have recently said about her. I phoned to discuss it and was told to wait till parent's evening next week

[Lovelydiscusfish]

Sorry, posted too soon. Was going to say I don't really want to wait as I feel that, if she is presenting so differently in their context, I wonder why - is she unhappy? Also I am confused by the contradictions.
Would like to add that they have always been fantastic as a nursery, and she has always seemed so happy there!
If anyone has had similar experiences or has any thoughts, I'd be really grateful.

[AnythingNotEverything]

Could you have got someone else's report?

[Smartiepants79]

Well if you already have a meeting planned then I can't see any point in attempting to see anyone before then.
Who has it been written by? Her key worker?
It sounds like its been written by someone who doesn't know her very well.
Or it could be a copy and paste error?
See what they say next week.

[VivaLeBeaver]

I wonder if they've copied and pasted the wrong bit of someone else's report.

[Smartiepants79]

Parents evening is only next week?! That's not really 'waiting'...

[Pompatrol]

I also think this sounds like a mistake when typing up the report. This seems more likely than her being quiet there (as the staff commented on her language).
Hope you feel better about it after parents' evening.

[Lovelydiscusfish]

Thanks for quick replies!
Not copy and pasted as hand written and includes her name.
Yes, should probably wait for parents evening. It is partly me being impatient and a bit cross, and partly fact that the way they do parents evening is a bit public, so not ideal if I'm in a way (I guess I will be) questioning what they are saying. The key worker, who wrote it and who I will be seeing, is lovely, but a bit nervous and not all that experienced, so I don't really want to put her on the spot, especially with other parents around.

[threepiecesuite]

Have they just highlighted the wrong statement section of the EYFS? Or the highlighted bit is a few months out of date?

[Lovelydiscusfish]

Thanks again for more replies! And will hold up my hands to being an impatient idiot - obviously I should just be able to wait to discuss this next week, but for some reason it is really playing on my mind.
Also wanted to add I don't mean I'll be nasty to key worker at the evening or anything, of course. She is a kind woman, and dd says how much she likes her.
Not highlighted wrongly btw, as filled in by hand. Perplexing.

[ElephantsNeverForgive]

I wouldn't worry, DD2 got 'going to school reports' from the private nursery she did one whole day at and from the preschool where she did the other mornings.

Private nursery put consistantly for almost everything, pre school teacher was stupidly conservative.

No idea why, except DD prefered the private nurseries fun young staff, so perhaps she was more outgoing there.

Likewise your DD probably talks more at home and uses clever words because she has your undevided attention.

[PookBob]

I had this issue with my sons nursery. When he was 3 they rated him as achieving much lower age targets. They stated he knew no numbers, was unable to hold a pencil, unable to toilet himself etc etc etc.

This was all complete unfounded rubbish. He could write his name using proper tripod grip, count to ten and back confidently and recognise written numbers to 10, and had not had an accident the entire time he had been there (2 terms).

The only explanation I could come up with for this is that the nursery was assessed on how much progress each child made through the EYFS targets. The nursery would look so much more successful if each child was rated as being below their expected level on entry to the nursery, and the nursery could then pull them up to their expected level before starting school.

I took my son out of that nursery and moved him to a nursery that was able to accurately assess his abilities.

And I don't mean that I believe my son is a genius, he's just a normal boy, but he was certainly on track for his age.

[Lovelydiscusfish]

That is interesting PookBob - I had no idea that happened. Would like to think it is not the case here, but food for thought!

[Goldmandra]

It is common practice for schools to under/over assess children's skills to increase the value added in a particular key stage so it could well be happening here.

FWIW I wouldn't be waiting until parents' evening. This is a specific query about something that really bothers you. I would make an appointment to see the manager.

[Lovelydiscusfish]

Thanks Goldmandra - I think that is the conclusion we have come to - dh does drop-off today so will ask to either speak to the manager then or get an appointment later today (they are quiet on Fridays, so this may be possible).

[grandmainmypocket]

Though it's hand written they may have a manuscript they copy. So they may have gone into auto pilot and written the same for your daughter as for the others.

[Lovelydiscusfish]

Apparently when the key worker gave it to dh, she told him she had spent a long time on it! I think I am hoping it's some kind of clerical error - I realise these can happen. Otherwise we're left wondering why she is so different with them, and also why among themselves they have such different views of her! The thing about manipulating the judgements to show progress later is also starting to sound ominously likely, though!
Hopefully we may know more later. Thanks all for taking the time to respond. I will update, in case it helps anyone else with a similar quandary.

[pinkerson]

Whatever the issue , you shouldn't have to wait a week to discuss it. I'd just grab the key worker at pick-up and ask.

[Mumof3xox]

The nursery can only write about what they see, often children behave differently at home and at nursery

[Iggly]

Honestly - it doesn't matter. I wish nurseries wouldn't assess children against the EY curriculum (I know they have to) as it creates angst. And target driven parenting.

Your child is fine, you know she's fine. This will not be on her CV.

Have a quick chat with the key worker at drop off if you must.

[DeWee]

The thing is they can only write what they see. If she's relatively quiet at nursery, she may not have hit the needed targets to achieve the higher level, even if they know that she's capable.

I remember laughing at dd1's first preschool "report".
"She can count and recognise the numbers to 5"-she could count beyond one hundred and do simple sums.
"She can recognise most of the letters of the alphabet"-she'd been able to regognise all for over 18 months, and was reading fluently, and had recently won a story competition.
It also said she was left handed, which she most definitely isn't now.

The thing was, in her little group they only did counting to 5, and they were doing some letter recognition. They knew she was confident in what they had done, but they hadn't tested beyond. Which was absolutely fine as she went to preschool to socialise and play, not particularly do "work". And she used both hands about equally, but they'd noted down that she might be left handed, so they could support that if necessary.

At 13yo, I can assure you, that report has not held her back at all. Looking back, it's rather sweet.

Dd2 we (jokingly) asked if they'd given us the wrong report as it said she was "quiet". That word has not appeared on any report since.

[ElephantsNeverForgive]

[Grin] DD2's reception and Y1 reports said she was quiet.

It didn't last!

[mandbaby]

I believe that both my son's (4.8 and 3) have always been marked at their current age for speech and other development areas despite me thinking they're way beyond that. DS2's speech is amazing but he's never marked above his current age bracket by nursery. I imagine the nurseries do this with most children.

[Misspilly88]

I'm thinking what's happened is that they're writing it based on what evidence they have. Often key workers know that the children are way ahead of where they grade them within the eyfs,but can't 'tick it off'till they have reasonable evidence (eg. Observing the behaviour 3 times). So if she's been told to write the report along those lines, then this could explain it.

[Titsakimbo]

The banding of ages in assessment over-lap. A child has to meet every one of the statements in one band before they can be deemed as achieving the next one. I wouldn't worry about it but chat to your key worker.

IMO it's ridiculous to label and band children who all develop at differ rates and I am an early years teacher. Don't stress.

[Lovelydiscusfish]

Thanks so much for even more replies. Dh spoke to someone there this morning and later received a call from the manager (who I spoke to on the phone yesterday) apologising, saying yes dd's speech is very advanced, and that the key worker who filled in the form must have been "confused by the different bands."
So there you go, these things happen. I do feel that, while it was certainly not her fault, that it might be good if the nursery helped her fill in the forms until she becomes more confident with them, and maybe introduces some sort of moderation process.