Do reception age children get put into ability groups?

[CrapBag]

Just wondering. I saw a thing on the board in the classroom recently about assessment of a couple of things like numbers and literacy etc and now the children are in groups.

Do they get put in groups based on ability at this stage?

[ninah]

Depends on the school, I've seen ability groups in nursery at some schools. Some don't do it in EYFS at all. Sounds like your school does

[ReallyTired]

Development varies vastly in reception. There will be almost 12 months between the oldest and youngest child in reception. Children will be grouped by attainment rather than ablity for literacy and numeracy and mixed ablity for other subjects. Some children will be able to write sentences where as other children will have no pen control whatsoever. Infact most of reception is learning through play and children do not sit at tables like the rest of primary school.

In a good primary school there is a lot of fluidity between groups. There is often a lot of movement in the early years. Ds was on table 4 out of 5 in year 1, but he was on the top table by the end of year 2. At the start of year 1 he had very poor pen control and struggled with written work. Once his physical development had matured and he stopped having glue ear he made rapid progress.

[AChickenCalledKorma]

Ours do. But very gently and with a lot of opportunity to move up, down, round and round or sideways, depending how things are going. There is a massive spread of ability among the 4yos at our school and I can only see it as a good thing.

[Itsjustafleshwound]

Our EYFS does it - we are reassured that they aren't, but it pretty obvious.

[Teamthrills]

Yes, children are likely to be grouped depending on ability. Activities will be differentiated accordingly. The groups won't be set in stone and movement between groups will be likely.

[LynetteScavo]

DD's class was grouped for fine motor skills, so one very academic child was in the middle group.

DS1 and 2 weren't really grouped at until Y1.

I know of one school which groups by general ability...which means a child who can read really well but can't hold a pencil will be in the middle ability group, and a child who can draw well, and can articulate well will be in the "top" ability group even though they may not be what some might call "academic". Usually these children are the older ones.

[LeeCoakley]

Ours are grouped for literacy, maths, phonics and guided reading. But, as posters have said, lots of movement.

[radicalsubstitution]

Same as Lynette.

DS was on stage 5 reading books by the end of reception, but was in the middle group because writing was, to him, about as pleasant as being poked in the eye with a red hot needle.

Not a great system for DS, and one that completely failed to recognise and nurture his love of numbers and aptitude for the subject.

Far too much bloody free play.

Hated reception with a passion.

[CrapBag]

We have our first parents evening in a couple of weeks so I will be interested to hear from the teacher. DS always says he can't remember what he has done yet I always here him doing his letters and he 'writes' in midair when we practise them. He always knows them when he brings the sheets home to practise so I know he is learning. Just be nice to hear from him what he is actually doing!

[CremeEggThief]

Sometimes. When I taught Reception, I used ability groups for Phonics and Maths.

[simpson]

Yes DD is in reception and is in ability groups for numeracy, phonics and writing...

These a the ones I know about (there may be more).

[Itsjustafleshwound]

I doubt if you will be told by the teacher what they do or where they are wrt the rest of the class

[wigglywoowoo]

The teacher may surprise you as I was told which group my DD was in, at our last parent's evening and I wasn't even asking!

The school has groups from nursery apparently but DD only joined in reception and they definitely had them then.

[simpson]

DD's teacher also told me what group DD is in for everything (I had to pop into the class to get her "special milk" (she is lacto intolerant) and the teacher told me unprompted how she was doing etc.

Our school also had them in groups from nursery and some of them were doing jolly phonics (reception level) since the Easter term.....

But the parents were not really aware of it at the time apart from the odd bit of homework etc...

[ninah]

I teach reception and I don't group them

[Quadrangle]

What is the difference between attainment and ability?

[steppemum]

Ours are in groups. I am not sure if the purple group is one ability or mixed ability. They use them partly for oganisation - purple group's turn to go and get their lunch box and line up etc.

But they definitely do work according to ability, so whether she calls 4 kids together for an activity, or whether that is done one on one (like hearing them read) I am not sure

[GW297]

Likely to be grouped by ability for phonics, literacy and numeracy by Oct half term but groups should be fluid with children moving up or down throughout the year.

[CaseyShraeger]

DD's school put them in groups for Maths and English halfway through next term, I think. But they are pretty flexible and children move back and forth all the time.

[ravenAK]

Attainment = stage they have reached. Ability = how good they inherently are at whatever it is.

So you might have two children who have both attained the same level in numeracy, say. But one has attained it via (for example) doing an hour's sums practice with dad every evening, whereas his classmate is just naturally able to grasp stuff in class.

[noramum]

DD was in ability group for reading. The teacher read once a week and they read a book which neither is too much or too little for them. This is an approach I like as it means no child ins bored or feels overwhelmed.

Otherwise no, only since she is in Year one.

[HalfSpamHalfBrisket]

No groups at all in my reception class. When I plan an adult-led activity, I'll differentiate it for different abilities but the children don't get called over as an ability group, I just tailor the activity to the particular child(ren) who I'm working with at that moment.

[GoldenPeppermintCreams]

My son's reception class is grouped for Maths and Phonics. There might be more that I don't know about.

[RiversideMum]

I teach reception and work the same as HalfSpam.

[lljkk]

A leetle bit I've noticed, particularly for writing.