Dd4 getting work wrong at school

How did you get on OP?

Have you had a referral for her hearing at all? That's what really needs sorting. Can you afford a private appointment?

Phonics works for the vast .majority of English words. Research shows that it works well for most children.

Phonics works for most children who have a hearing loss.

She does not need speech and language therapy. (Salt will usually not accept referrals for children with glue ear.) This is all time-wasting.

She needs to be able to hear.

This means asking the hospital for a hearing aid.
This means the school ensuring that she is always at the front, next to the teacher.

The school is legally required to make sure that children with medical conditions are properly educated.

https://www.ndcs.org.uk/information-and-support/childhood-deafness/causes-of-deafness/glue-ear/^^

Honestly I'm not a fan of phonics in general. I feel its teaching them a method that doesn't work for the vast majority of words. If she can't even hear the sounds anyway, I'd be inclined to go old school and teach her whole word recognition. Look Cover Write Check style practice.

Spelling tests for 4 year olds though! Fucks sake.

Also @MelThomas1 I should have said I completely empathise with blaming yourself. It's just awful when you know something is not right, but you don't know what or how to fix it. I hope your DD gets what she needs fast. And if the long view helps my DD is now absolutely thriving. Good luck.

@MelThomas1 unfortunately this is all going back a long way, as she's 15 now. Even then we had to pay for a private diagnosis as GP was hopeless. After private consultation things moved very fast and within a month she had tonsils out, adenoids out and grommets fitted.

Didn't do much to support her speech. She had learned baby sign language, so we started a bit of sign again if she wanted it. When GP first diagnosed it i whipped her out of her very noisy nursery/ preschool setting and placed her back with her old childminder for a while. Thank goodness for the magic of grommets.

There is no point in her doing these tests if she can't hear the sounds. Because it's testing her hearing, not her spelling. A reasonable adjustment might be to give her the test 1:1 in a quiet space if she manages better at home with you. DS was offered hearing aids while on the list for grommets - have you been offered them? Grommets made a big difference to DS's speech, he hasn't started school yet so not doing phonics but we have all noticed a difference in his speech and hearing.

Exactly....and I can assure you from experience that whatever 'set' they are in in reception doesn't have much bearing on which set they will be in come year 3, and by the time they get to year 7 it will all be different again. Hearing aside this is because children's brains develop at different rates. And they all have different skills and interests, which can also change along the way......

This thread is so sad, 4 year old under pressure and even the thought of having a "top set"

Our poor children.

Don't do this.

Children with hearing difficulties need time to process sounds properly.

Doing it under time pressure is pointless. If she can't hear the sounds, she can't hear them.

Far too much pressure for a reception age child. It’s probably the teacher putting her off and making it stressful, poor kid.

Oh the poor little scrap.

It probably is her ears and as others have said testing 4 year old twice a week is ridiculous. As is too much homework. This could result in severe anxiety or disengagement.

I would move schools. She will easily make friends because most 4 year olds mix well.

At that age my DS could read and write but he was never tested. His homework was maybe a little bit of writing or colouring.

She’s getting those words because she’s in the higher ability set. Get the teacher to give you the words she goes through everyday and spend 10mins a day doing a timed test with your DD.

Most kids are able to pick up a pencil by the end of Reception and most can read and spell some cvc words. They don't just play all day in Reception although good planning can make them feel like they are i.e. not the pressure this child is getting.

I'm not excusing the teacher but at this time of year she will be preparing her 'data' to be put into the system and she will have been set targets herself by the Head. It's stinks but that's how it is.

I was a Reception teacher and I can quite imagine the pressure this teacher has been put under to do this. I don't think it's made up. The approach is wrong and its clearly not working if the SATs results aren't good but I believe it happens.

I am a teacher. I'm not making excuses for the teacher at all. Of course it's not OK. I was actually just trying to be constructive for the sake of the op, in how to get something to change. Communication is key, of course it is, but teachers, like everyone else, have to learn their craft, and they will sometimes get it wrong and need support to improve.

Absolutely agree a discussion should be had with the head. Everytime parents see evidence of schools pushing for or teachers being under pressure to get results at the detriment to the children, they should speak up. It’s damaging.

That seems like a LOT of homework! My DS is in year 1 and has never had spellings brought home to learn. In reception the only homework was reading books and now he also has 1 worksheet a week given on a Friday and normally some sort of craft project in the holidays.
If you don't think this scool is a good fit gor your daugther and want to move her, after reception would be the best time!

She's 4 with glue ear.

That effectively makes her deaf some of the time. Deaf people cannot listen and write at the same time. What the teacher can do is make sure your DD is looking at her/him when they say the word.

That's why she is writing at home but not at school, she is not hearing the word she needs to write down.

Also lip reading isn't easy with an unfamiliar face or someone that puts a book or a hand in front of their mouth.

Get yourself in front of a mirror and try mouthing the words, "beans" and "meat" they look identical.

Then mouth 'Van Gough' and see what it looks like.

Phonics screening is Y1. Children who don't pass do it again in Y2.

Children with the type of hearing loss caused by glue ear can do phonics with everyone else as they are able to hear/discriminate/produce most sounds. They don't need to read and write through other methods.

I just wish audiology/ENT services had a sense of urgency about young children's hearing and didn't leave them unable to hear clearly. At the point where they are spending all day in busy, noisy classrooms and schools are putting so much effort into phonics, children need to be able to hear.

My sons school teachers phonics based on ability so there is no class distinction. Reception, y1 and y2 all work together .

No tests until y2 phonics screening which I think they start mocks for at end of y1.

I'd definitely raise it, firstly she needs additional support in school as she probably can't hear the sound clearly so she needs a scribe.

Secondly the sad teacher reaction is inappropriate and definitely needs raising.

Tell your daughter that the Teacher isn’t sad. The teacher is very proud of her of doing her very best. I found some children find it helpful to put their hand in front of their mouth when they can’t differentiate between two words that sound same to them - they may not hear the difference but they can feel the difference

Wow that sounds like a lot of homework for reception, homework, reading learning spellings…

My DDs 6 & 10 do spellings once a week, never in reception.

Homework is half tremly and optional. Reading encouraged daily. As they progress through the school things like TTRS are introduced and extra learning activities, again all optional.

This sounds way too much. And as for the marks your dd is getting, I wouldn’t worry at all. You know she’s got glue ear, things will get better after her grommets are put in. Also don’t allow the school to put pressure on scores. My DDs regularly come home telling me they only got one spelling right, my response is oopppsss sorry I guess that’s my fault for not practicing with you. Because, yes I’m a crap mummy who regularly forgets to practice spellings with my DDs, it’s not stopping them doing well and being happy at school though.

If she has seen an Audiologist as part of the glue ear referral, take the report
In.to school as evidence of the degree of her current hearing impairment. Ask for a referral to the support service for
hearing impaired children. They will also have a helpine the school can contact to gain additional support regarding her situation. Speech and language won't help with hearing impairment.