Pre-school end of year report - mortified

[craxmum]

DD is 2.7 and I just received her end of year report today. She's been attending since September. It's a disaster.
She scores "emerging" for her age band or even in the age band below in pretty much all areas apart from "numbers", "shape, space and measure" and "technology" where she has scored "confident".

She also has the lowest possible score for "creating and thinking critically" (1 out of 5).

For "making relationships" and "people and communities" she is not even assessed to be at the level of 16 months! Some children don't even walk at this age :(

I don't know what to think. To me, she is quite a bright child for her age - knows numbers up to 20, can do basic sums up to 10, knows all the letters, can write a few too, can draw some recognisable shapes (faces, cars, dogs), playing some elaborate pretend games.

Can I ask for a second opinion from another professional? They state that this report will be shared with her future school, is there any way I can gently challenge it?

I feel really guilty, I am a single mother and have to work full time, and her older brother has SEN and takes almost all of my free time (and finances) - I feel now like I failed her. Can I find a teacher to tutor her over the holidays to bring her up to speed (I am not sure how it works in the UK - should I ask if someone in the nursery is tutoring privately or is there is anyone they can recommend)?

[Duckyneedsaclean]

Forget about it. She's plenty of time to learn and it sounds like she's not behind by your assessment?

[Muddlingalongalone]

It must be a shock to read that if it is far away from your expectations but I think you need to get some perspective.
If she's 2 7 she's got another 2 full years before she starts reception in the UK and all children do different things at different speeds.
As far as I know for EYFS ( as a parent not a teacher/nursery worker) the amount of evidence required to tick something off means that it is potentially impossible to
Cover all areas in 10 months.

If she's happy and making progress from whatever starting point and you are happy she's being cared for I wouldn't worry.

Ask the nursery how they plan to cover the lower areas/How you can support etc.
Is she bi-lingual? This might have an impact too.
I definitely think tutoring is unnecessary. Go to the park, run around, climb, let her be curious about the world including other children.

[Kokeshi123]

Oh God, are they really assessing children this young against such a specific range of criteria?

It just sounds... mad.

Your daughter sounds fine to me.

[craxmum]

@Duckyneedsaclean
Yes, but I am not a teacher, so not sure whether my assessment is accurate. And I am afraid of her adopting a 'thicko' label now and carrying it with her to the primary school.
I am trying to find online the tests / assessments they were supposed to be giving to mark her, but cannot seem to find any, just some very vague descriptions from the British Association for Early Childhood Education.

[Bosabosa]

She sounds way more advanced than my child of the same age!

[Choccywoccyhooha]

Honestly, just throw it away. And please don't feel guilty, you haven't failed her and she doesn't need a tutor. (Plus no one ethical would agree to tutor a 2 year old).
Your daughter sounds perfectly bright according to your observations, and she is with you more than she is at pre-school. No school that she moves onto will give a second thought to a report written at this age (she still has 2 more years until she goes to school), unless the next 2 years flag up concerns. But I bet they won't.
I'm sorry that you have been made to feel like this, there is much wrong with the way pre-school children are assessed. It really isn't worth your worry. Enjoy the summer having fun with your children and don't give this a second thought.

[Ummmmgogo]

you can't tutor a 2 year old!! she's a baby!!!!

could it be that she can do this stuff with you but hasn't shown nursery that she can?

[Pebblespony]

I didnt even know assessment at this age was a thing! Talk about pressure.

[Choccywoccyhooha]

There are no tests they have given her, it is purely based on day-to-day observations and you are allowed to offer your own observations too, as pre-school can't possibly have a full picture of a vhild, it is really just a snapshot. They are not saying "this is where she is at," but "this is what we have evidence of."

[Ummmmgogo]

sorry forgot to say don't be ridiculous of course you haven't failed her xxx

[craxmum]

@Muddlingalongalone

She is bilingual, but has a strong preference for English. She can form short sentences and can tell very short stories with almost no grammar, but some structure like: "Puppy wake up in the morning. Puppy go outside to the garden and play all day. Puppy happy and tired. Sleepy time puppy! THE END!".

I am not sure what else she is supposed to be doing at this age. Maybe it is my own poor English that is to blame.

[craxmum]

@Choccywoccyhooha

Thank you. That's what bothers me, I spend with her max 1 hour/day during the week, and weekends of course (I leave for work while she is still sleeping, and come back only around 7, a local nanny does the drop-off and pick-up for me). She is at pre-school 8 to 6, so it looks like they are a better authority here than me.

[craxmum]

And thank you all for your kind words. :)

[HeddaGarbled]

I know this was unpleasant for you to read but please try and get it in perspective. She isn’t going to be labelled a “thicko” going into primary school, you don’t need a second opinion from another professional and she doesn’t need a tutor.

She’s not yet three. Children develop differently in different areas. It sounds like she is good at STEM type stuff (science, technology, engineering & maths), but less advanced with creativity and social skills. Well, that describes most successful and high-earning people in STEM.

But really, it’s far too early to be making those sorts of judgements. What does “people and communities” even mean? It’s tick-box nonsense. Don’t take it too seriously.

[Muddlingalongalone]

Your English reads well & her language sounds great too. Observationally from dd's at nursery some of the bilingual children take longer to mix because nursery is their first "English" environment and you said about the making relationships that was why I asked.

Don't worry about it - honestly. As a fellow single parent it's so easy to feel guilty about everything especially with no sounding board but trust your instincts.

I asked dd1's reception teacher if she wanted her eyfs development document (pfb & very advanced at that age but it has evened out now) and she wasn't interested, wanted to make her own judgements/assessments.

If you want to understand it more Google eyfs framework by age range it will give you the ridiculously long framework with all the descriptions of what children "should" do in each age range but as they always say on baby boards your child hasn't read the framework.

[NewbieSpartacus]

Is it a very posh preschool where they think they are growing genius babies? Maybe their standards are out of whack? She tells a good story for a 2 and a half year old, I wouldn't worry.

[Maryzsnewaccount]

Oh ffs, take her home, give her a hug and go to the beach.

I have three children; one was reading at 3, one dropped out of school at 15. You know what; they are all adults now and nothing that happened when they were at preschool made any difference at all.

[Haudyerwheesht]

Christ almighty . Mortified? Why?!

She’s a toddler - ignore it and if you don’t want to ignore it then ask the nursery why they’re assessing very young children on such ridiculous criteria - that’d be my worry rather than my child’s attainment level.

[Cousinit]

I agree with pp that this is bonkers. Your child is 2 for heavens sake. She should not be assessed like this as a toddler. Relax. This really is not important - it means nothing in terms of how she will cope at school, university or beyond, I can absolutely guarantee you that

[HopelesslydevotedtoGu]

I spoke to a nursery teacher about this once, she said to tick off a skill they need to observe it a certain number of times (I can't remember how many times). So if they had observed her being creative eg telling a story once, they wouldn't be able to tick it off as they need to observe the full number of times. So sometimes they mark children as lower than they probably are because they haven't had a chance to see this skill enough. So it may just be this.

I'd ask if you can email her teacher and ask if there's anything you should be trying to do more of at home.

[HopelesslydevotedtoGu]

Probably they will reply just to spend time playing and having fun. But if they have any actual concerns they can tell you.

My child was earnestly assessed as being less good at jumping than expected age 2.5. I asked for advice and it was basically told to encourage jumping

[Want2bSupermum]

Reading your description of what your DD can do I would be asking for a meeting with the nursery to get more detailed feedback. Basically I read it as they are telling you there is a problem. As a parent what you need to do is find out if there is a problem with your child or if the nursery are being silly.

I would also question if the nanny is the right environment for your child. After 18 months mine love being in their class for 5-6 hours a day.

Good luck and well done for being a single parent to 2DC while working FT. Not easy and it sounds like you are doing a fab job.

[Topseyt]

It sounds like bullshit to me. From what you say your child sounds fine just as she is.

Preschools are often regulated by Ousted, I understand. So this is very probably just a box ticking exercise set out by some clueless bureaucrats. Most of the criteria will be bullshit too.

I would carefully file the report in the recycling bin. Seems about the best place for it.

[Topseyt]

Ofsted, not ousted. Stupid auto-correct there.

[InionEile]

She sounds like she is doing fine. If you're concerned, talk to her preschool teacher about it and ask them about it and how she is doing day-to-day as they may see a different side to her than you do.

It could be that she is just strong-willed and doesn't complete tasks on command. My daughter is like that. She's 3.7 and bright, from what I can tell, but will not perform on command as some more placid children her age will do. If I ask her questions e.g. 'what's 3 + 2?' she will just smile and shake her head 'I dunno' but then will show later out of the blue without prompting that she does understand.

Some children just don't enjoy structured teaching as much as others. It doesn't mean they're not bright and it certainly doesn't mean they will struggle at school as they may grow out of it. She's so young, I don't think you need to worry at all.