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ARE to Greater depth

10 replies

Kettleon80 · 21/01/2019 21:57

Hi

Is it possible to enable a child to go from ARE to Greater depth in a school year for Reading and Writing?

I won't bore you with the back story but Id like to help my daughter do this if possible.

Can anyone give me any tips?

Thanks

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SureIusedtobetaller · 21/01/2019 21:59

I’d say it depends whether she’s already a strong ARE or not. How motivated she is, of course.
What year?

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HonestTeacher · 21/01/2019 23:25

What year group? Easier in some than others. Usually teachers are pushing for as many children as possible for GD as it looks good for their data so if they felt your child could get it with a push they'd communicate this to you. Best place to find out how to get there would be to ask the class teacher as they would have a good understanding of why they are not GD at the moment and how they can get there.

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HonestTeacher · 21/01/2019 23:27

Also, and I am saying this as a moderator, if a child needs lots of extra support to get to GD, then they probably are not really a GD child (and there is nothing wrong with that).

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user789653241 · 22/01/2019 06:16

Why do you need to enable a child? I don't see the point in it, unless it's long term aim to make the child more capable in that subject. If the child is GD material, they will get it anyway. But trying to make ARE child to GD in short time, does it worth it?
I think it's easier with maths, since it's black and white. But with literacy, it's more complicated than that. If the child learns what to say/write as a tick box for GD and doesn't really grasp it, it will be lost as soon as no one is pushing it.

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HexagonalBattenburg · 22/01/2019 07:21

Probably possible if they were a borderline kid anyway (DD1 sits absolutely slap bang on the borderline for Maths - had lots of discussions about it with the class teacher who has her predicted as ARE but it really could go either way depending on if she pulls it out of the bag or not so school extend her with the potential GD kids to give her the chance to do it).

DD2 did turn around from being predicted not to even make ARE when she started Reception to being GD in reading in year 1 but that was more down to her being a deceptive little character and the teacher not figuring out there's a sharp mind in there to start with (she comes across as very "sweet but dippy" to start with). In that case I had gone on record as disagreeing with their initial predictions - and the teacher admits I was definitely right!

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leftear · 22/01/2019 08:22

My youngest was meeting ARE at the end of reception, and by Christmas of year 1 he was exceeding them. He just carried on with what he had been doing. We read everyday and he quite likes maths.

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Laura0806 · 22/01/2019 09:07

I'd agree that its easier for maths and that it depends on how strong an 'expected' your child is'. The reading involves inferences and subtle observations that in my opinion some children just aren't ready for at this age.

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LetItGoToRuin · 22/01/2019 11:07

I agree with PPs about the fact that it somewhat depends what age/year she is in, and how close she is to achieving GD at present. What has the teacher said?

A goal of giving your DD some extra support in reading/writing is fine, and there’s lots you can do, though I would be inclined not to focus on the Greater Depth aspect. If she enjoys reading/writing, and is happy to spend some extra time on it at home with you, she will be more likely to reach her potential in these areas this year, regardless of whether that’s actually GD.

It’s difficult to advise without knowing her age/year, but for reading I’d suggest to spend plenty of time reading a variety of things with her: school books, choices from the library, modern and traditional stories, poetry, non-fiction, news etc. Encourage her to read aloud, quietly to you, and also ‘speech’ style across the room, with lots of expression. When she encounters unfamiliar words, discuss what they might mean, and then look them up in the dictionary. Ask her to think of other words with similar meanings, and then look in the thesaurus. Give her plenty of opportunities to read by herself, perhaps by going bed earlier, or in the car / waiting room. Always have a book or word puzzles on hand for those little moments.

For SPAG, talk about ‘unusual’ spellings when you come across words. If she has weekly spellings from school, go back through previous ones periodically to ensure words aren’t learned and then forgotten (I always photograph spelling lists for future reference). If she likes doing things online, perhaps look at Squeebles, or IXL for practising grammar.

For writing, encourage her to write shopping lists, thank-you cards, write to her friends (or an imaginary fairy or similar?). The BBC Radio 2 500 words story competition is currently open, which is a great opportunity to get a child writing imaginatively.

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Kettleon80 · 22/01/2019 22:04

Thanks so much for your replies.
Some really useful info.
She is Year 3. She has been exceeding (year 2) for reading and writing but seems to have slipped, for various reasons. Lots of problems in her class.

I don't think she would ever be a GD for maths, but I do believe she could be for reading and writing. Not wanting to push at all, just curious. Writing she is a 'high' ARE, reading low, to do with comprehension. Inference appears to be the issue, although I continuously ask inference questions and she seems fine ( I currently teach secondary English and History so I know inference and comprehension).

Im a bit worried she has been benchmarked low so expectations will now be low, so just wanting to help her any way I can without being ott. The teacher in me I guess!!

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LetItGoToRuin · 23/01/2019 12:58

In your shoes I'd be keen to support her to keep on track as well.

Is her current assessment based on the school’s targets for the END of Y3, and therefore she’s not at GD yet but there’s plenty of time once she covers the remaining material? My DD is also in Y3 and the accompanying notes with the end of first term report said that working towards/expected/exceeding was based on end of year, so it would be rare to have an ‘exceeding’ child at this stage.

Is this possibly a case of her Y2 teacher being a little generous, and Y3 teacher being a little conservative? I know assessments are quite heavily moderated these days so it’s not that likely.

Did your DD get high marks in her reading papers in her KS1 SATS? I know the SATS don’t go to GD but I’d expect a GD child to get close to full marks.

The benchmarking is likely to be based on end of Y2 results, so I don’t think artificially lowering expectations at this stage would achieve anything, other than flagging potential concern at the drop from GD.

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