Any quick advice?

[TheFowlAndThePussycat]

My DDs go to a small village school with mixed year group classes. One is 5.5yrs and the other 7yrs on Sat. They are currently in two different yr 1/yr2 mixed classes.

DD1 is probably not what you'd call G&T but after a year in a mixed yr1/yr2 class last year (when she was yr1) she had comfortably achieved level 2b across the board. Her then teacher jokingly said 'I don't know what they are going to do with her next year!'

Fast forward to this year and the answer seems to be 'the same again'! She is coming home with spellings & maths sheets that she can do standing on her head (more to the point - she has already done) and in fact the exact same sheets that her younger sister a summer born year one is bringing home.

I'm going to see her teacher this afternoon, I have no idea why I didn't think to post here before but does anyone have any advice for what I should ask? As I say, I don't think she is G&T but I don't want to see her coast for a year either.

Thanks.

[var123]

Praise the experience thus far. Ask what the target grades are for the end of this year.

Be prepared to be told that a period of rapid development is often followed by a period of consolidation. Or learning isn't a straight line (same thing). i.e. they will tell you to lower your expectations and assure you that your DD is being given appropriate material.

Then just say that your DD is not finding the current work challenging and what can be done about it? How can you help?

I often found it helpful to quote the child word for word. It seemed harder for the teacher to brush aside.

[TheFowlAndThePussycat]

Thanks, that's really helpful.

[LittleMissGreen]

(Ignoring that I think England are scrapping levels - I'm in Wales so not fully up to speed with England)
If your DD was a 2b at the end of year 1 she is on track to be a 3c-3b at the end of year 2. The school should be working towards that. Given that I think about 50% of children get a level 3 it really shouldn't be a problem for them to be producing work for her at the right level.
I would agree with Var's comments above.

[TheFowlAndThePussycat]

Thanks both. Well, when I got there the teacher had gone home poorly anyway so I didn't get to speak to her.

It's parents' evening next week so we will get to speak to her then, but they like us to bring the kids so it's not quite so easy as I don't want to be seen by DD1 as questioning her teacher.

The problem with DD1 is she likes to achieve so she is happy to get everything right with very little effort! It probably suits her fine to do everything all over again, but I don't want to let that happen.

I'd be grateful for any further advice if anyone has any!

[var123]

Next week...

Teacher: Thank you for coming Mrs Fowl and DD. Please take a seat. Now DD how are you enjoying Y1?

DD: Smiles. Then says something unenlightning.

Teacher: Good. And I see you've been makign friends with XX?

DD: Yes.

Teacher: I know you have been working very hard.

DD:

Teacher: I see you have our interim report. Is there anything that you'd like to discuss.

Mrs Fowl: I was wondering if we could talk about the work DD has been doing recently. She has been telling me that she is finding it quite easy.

Teacher: Well DD is one of our more able members of the class, and she is working well in the extension group.

Mrs Fowl: Yes, but the work she is doing was already covered last year.

Teacher: Well that's how it works. The children learn something and then they revisit it several times to make sure that they've really learned it. What do you think DD?

[AChickenCalledKorma]

Can you leave DD1 with someone? They may well like you to bring the children, but they can't very well make you go home and get her .

Then you can ask the questions you don't want to ask in front of her. If it was me, I'd go for something concrete like "Why is she doing spelling and maths sheets that she did last year?" Or - "It's a bit awkward that she's doing the same work as her younger sister. Is that really right?"

[TheFowlAndThePussycat]

Urgh var that is exactly what it will be like.

Last time I left her in after-school club chicken but that's not an option this time. I may well just make her sit outside to be honest.

I don't buy into the children attending parents evening thing at all. They've got them in school all day every day to discuss their learning - parents evening is for the parents to have an open discussion with teachers in my view.

[AChickenCalledKorma]

Totally agree with you. Last time I was asked to take my child in, her teacher then spent half of the allotted time on a rather stage-managed conversation, trying to get DD2 to tell me that she was very clever. I think she was trying to boost her self-esteem, but it was just embarrassing. And in reality, although I know DD2 is better than she thinks about a lot of things, what I really wanted to discuss is the fact that she's completely floundering with certain aspects of maths.

DD1 now at secondary, and taking her to parents evening makes total sense there. The whole thing is much more of a three-way discussion and she's old enough to hear some home truths.

[TheFowlAndThePussycat]

Yes, I can see it would make sense at secondary. - they are a bit more able to take balanced feedback. At this age DD1 just wants to hear positive stuff and is very sensitive to the slightest criticism, which is something I'm hoping she'll grow out of.

Also it is the classic 'don't argue in front of the kids' thing isn't it? I want to present a united front with the school as I am sure that is the best thing for DD, which means that I don't want to be seen to be questioning the teacher's authority (and get a visit from the head next PE - like var says )