worried about school report

[diamond457]

Dd is six and in primary 1
Just got her first school report and the levels are

• consistently performing above expected level
  1 performing at expected level
  2 sometimes performing at expected level
  3 not yet performing at expected level.
  
  Dd scored 2 for everything apart from writing and numerecy which she scored 3.
  Parents eve have all been really positive, nothing about needing extra help in any subject.
  
  Homework, behaviour and attitude all excellent according to the report but I honestly thought she was performing at expected levels. She has recently been counting to 100 and doing ten times table and very basic sums.
  
  Her writing has came on loads and she spells out words on her own and leaves me notes around the house usually funny ones. I can read her writing. It's on the large side and she sometimes gets her b's and d's mixed up when spelling but I can't really say there's a big problem.
  
  Am I over reacting? I feel really gutted especially as she tries so hard with everything she does.

[TeenAndTween]

I would be tempted to ask

• under the old levels would she have been at expected
• what proportion of the class are at expected or above
• what is it she's not doing that needs to be done for expected

[Mishaps]

The levels have been changed - they are meaningless. She is clearly doing fine. When they move the goalposts everything goes haywire.

Is she happy? Does she enjoy school? In the end that is all that matters - I speak as one who had a child who was unhappy throughout her whole school life.

Don't feel gutted - it is not appropriate. If that filters through to her she will stop trying and will not be happy. It is very important to be sure that you do not allow the levels nonsense to spoil her education and childhood. Good schools do not let these imposed bits of nonsense impinge on the happiness of their school.

[Sukistjames]

I'm a year one teacher and think the new expectations are ridiculous! Compared to the old curriculum children now need to do so much more to reach age related expectations. I wouldn't worry.

[diamond457]

She adores school she tries so hard and wants to please her teachers, always puts in maximum effort and she misses school on holidays.

I haven't told her about the report other than all the positives and told her she's a star.

I don't have any clue what the old levels were like to be honest but she did say something about a test she had to do a few weeks ago which I thought wasn't quite right for a primary 1 child.

Numerecy included counting money etc which I thought was perhaps a bit excessive for a primary 1 child to know other than recognising the coins and knowing their value.

Religious studies and p.e. also at a 2. I mean what six year old is at expected level in religious studies unless the family is very religious. She does gymnastics and swimming and can catch a ball so I am not sure what a child has to do to be at expected level of p.e. I find it a bit silly. Also a 2 for music....is that not a bit ridiculous?

[ChablisTyrant]

I would consider trying to get an independent assessment of where she is it. It costs money but the doodlemaths app is great for practising maths and gives you their maths age as well as a really good sense of what she understands.

For reading, how far is she through reading schemes at school?

[hazeyjane]

Religious studies isn't just bible knowledge....dd2 always does really well and we are atheists'!!

[diamond457]

Thanks for the advice. I will get the maths app!
Reading wise she is on pink c. I have actually noticed a huge difference I .Her reading and she's reading biff chip and kipper level three at home. She understands sounds such as ch, sh, ee, oo and ou. She has moved up a reading level and recognises all her sight sounds such as they, where etc.
She really struggled with blending when she first started School so I am so proud how far she has came.

I will make extra effort at home now with the writing and numeracy but not sure what else I can do with everything else. I will take the advice on here and not read too much into it.
I was just worried that she was struggling and falling behind which no one wants for their child.

[LongChalk]

I'm assuming the op is in Scotland and primary 1 is the first year of school, equivalent to Reception although the children are often 6mths older than many English children are when they start school. Op's DD is obviously one of the older ones who would have turned 6 since March.

[JasperDamerel]

Oh, do they have Reception now in NI? I thought it was the same as when I was little with P1-P7 in primary school. I've been reading all the NI education posts in primary education wrong!

[diamond457]

I like the idea about the diary. She can't stand me having my own notepaad as she always wants to write and draw in it so she would be chuffed with her own proper notepad that isn't colouring books or drawing paper. I always find the word bum or pump in my notepads 😂

[SisterViktorine]

My DS is 5 (6 in Aug), in Y1 in England, and can do quite a bit more than this. He can read chapter books like The Secret Seven and has words like 'flight' 'stream' and 'jockey' for spellings.

He is still considered to be behind and it has got as far as assessing him for SpLD.

The expectations on little children have become insane.

[Mishaps]

"I would consider trying to get an independent assessment of where she is" - oh no - just don't do it!! She is a child - let her have her childhood - for goodness sake don't keep assessing and testing her - she will get quite enough of that crap at school. She is not an object to be tested and assessed - she is a small human being.

[hazeyjane]

Your ds sounds far from 'behind' SisterViktorine! He sounds like he is doing really well.

[SisterViktorine]

I know. I'm being slightly disingenuous as he is in a Prep which, whilst non-selective, attracts a very well educated London 'expatriate' parents and he is the only summer born in his class. He is behind most of his classmates because he won't can't write a 3 page story.

When did we start thinking that was the norm for 5yos though??

[hazeyjane]

Believe me it isn't the norm in either of the (outstanding) state schools my dc go to!

[bojorojo]

SpLD will be so the prep school can get him extra time in exams. He probably won't be SpLD from what you describe but he will get advantages if he gets diagnosed even if he is way above children in the state system. It is just a way of besting the exam system.

[user789653241]

If she likes do a bit of work over the summer, 5~10 minutes a day makes a lot of difference.
Diary is definitely Good. Get her nice diary. It did encourage my ds to write regularly. (A sentence and a picture is enough.)

Try these website if you like.

www.topmarks.co.uk/english-games/5-7-years/letters-and-sounds

ictgames.com/index.html

www.turtlediary.com/game/reading-comprehension-practice.html

www.khanacademy.org/math/k-8-grades/early-math

www.e-learningforkids.org/math/

[toomuchicecream]

If it makes you feel any better, I'm worried about the reports I have written - so much so that I considered posting about it on here. My year 1 class has lots of summer born boys who, unsurprisingly are still struggling to control a pencil enough to form letters clearly. A friend who is a consultant paediatrician says that when she gets letters from schools saying they are worried about a 5 year old boy who can't hold a pencil to write his name, she writes back and tells them to take the pencil out of his hand and send him back to the sandpit where he should be.

Yet I had to write a whole series of reports including the statement "he has not met the expected standard in writing for the end of year 1". However sensible you are as a parent, however strongly you know that it's fine for a 5 year old boy to not yet be writing a series of sentences with correct full stops and capital letters and correctly formed letters, it's still going to hurt to read that isn't it. :(

[diamond457]

Thank you for the reassurance everyone.
She has made a lot of progress which I think Is the main thing. she's reading a page of her bedtime story a night and apart from big words she's nailing it. Her drawings are fantastic and have really came on from when she started. She colours in neat and keeps in the lines.
I had no idea on p1 expectations these days! When I was a kid it was all about playing in the sand pit and sitting listening to stories and writing letters again and again. All changed now.
The teacher hasn't flagged up any concerns and the written part of the report was excellent. Confident and good at talking to an audience and has enthusiasm for every subject. So I suppose I can't complain too much.

I bought her a diary and she wrote in it last night about what she did at school and drew a picture. Her writing is huge. Need to work on making it a bit smaller and neater. I think she gets impatient and just wants to rush through it so she can do her drawings.

[user789653241]

If she rushes through writing to get to drawing, maybe let her draw picture first, then get on to writing part?
That's what my ds used to do. Spend lots of time drawing, then write the explanation of what's happening in the picture.