School reports results came as a surprise

Sounds like you are doing a lot to support him at home. Some kids just aren’t academic though, but equally some are just late bloomers. I would bet he isn’t the only one in the class with a similar report. The working towards category exists because lots of children across the country fit into it.

Sounds like you are doing a lot to support him at home. Some kids just aren’t academic though, but equally some are just late bloomers. I would bet he isn’t the only one in the class with a similar report. The working towards category exists because lots of children across the country fit into it.

Are the results based on teacher assessment or test?

Chill out! He’s so young. No way would I be stressing this much about a report at that age.

The school feel that if children drop behind in year 1-2, they can’t engage with the harder work in years 5-6. So better to intervene and get all children reading adequately by end of KS1. Also means dyslexia etc gets picked up early.

Every parent I know who has accessed it has found it really helpful. There’s no stigma to doing it.

This is EXACTLY my experience.

I wish I hadn't worried about Y1 reports. At that age, DS could barely sound out cvc words, and couldn't write his (3 letter) name.
He's doing A Levels next year, predicted 3xA* and A, and is applying to study Aerospace Engineering.

DD was the "prodigy" in Y1 the very next year. Reading chapter books for fun, joining Y4 for Maths etc.
She's just done GCSEs. Hoping she's passed sufficiently to get into Travel and Tourism at college.

It’s very possible that at Easter he was at the right level but has dropped slightly. Nice weather wants to play out and what not. Don’t panic too much yet and don’t go in accusing the teacher of ignoring him or letting him down. Listen to the feedback and ask what more you can do to support him. He is still very young and things can change quickly at this age

I find that incredibly sad at that age. That’s far too much pressure on a young child.

But if OP’s child is genuinely “working towards” in all areas, he IS one of the struggling ones, not one of the more able ones.

He’d be having phonics intervention, maths intervention, English intervention in DS’s school (extra 1:1s run before and after school for a term)

The teacher said she didn't notice this.... so it really looks like she didn't pay much attention to him.

This isn’t necessarily true at all. My son is totally different at school compared to home and always has been. He finds it much easier to concentrate in the classroom than with me at home - different place, different mindset.

It’s year 1 - kids progress at different rates. I couldn’t read until age 7, my maths was terrible all through primary - I left school with the top A level grades in my school and then went on to get a 2:1 law degree from a Russell Group uni.

My son couldn’t read until they stopped the shit show that is phonics, never managed his spellings, he struggled to write. He’s just won the Year 8 English prize.

Forget the grades. Is he happy? Is he confident? Is he having fun making friends? Social and personal skills are much more important at that age. Take the pressure off. In many countries he wouldn’t have even started school yet.

As others have said, the teacher focuses so much on the ones who are struggling that the more able pupils get left behind with no opportunities to be challenged to the best of their abilities. We're actually looking for another type of school for DC which is why we had him assessed.

My child scored outstanding in Reading only, rest of the subjects he got Working at the expected level. I tried really hard to help him have outstanding in all subjects, he works great at home but school is a different setting. You have 30 children one teacher and one assistant and the classroom can get very noisy. I would look into supporting him during the summer holidays with his handwriting and maths and reading 15min a day.

I know what it's like to feel anxious about a small child's education but you really are placing very high expectations on a teacher to fully understand your tiny child's exact learning stages out of a class of 30.

Just put it into perspective: your child is 5. They are not about to sit their A levels.

Take the pressure off and just let them enjoy learning and getting used to the school environment. It is enough.

What reading scheme do the school use? What level is he? Can he form letters accurately and write sentences?

From your comments it does sound like he has gone unnoticed a bit academically in a challenging/demanding class. 😔

But the good news is you can support him at home and he's only in year one.

Next year don't be shy to check in more often and make it clear you don't want him flying under the radar like last year. Most teachers would be happy to know you will be proactive IF you are told how to support at home.

Mine has just finished year one too and is a very well behaved little masker at school and doesn't obviously struggle with his work, he has definitely gone unnoticed at times this year but I've nudged the teacher a couple of times during the year, and asked her to observe him when she gets chance and she has been really receptive.

I do think that sadly teachers are just spread too thin in big classes with little support and often it's about the most demanding or struggling in the classroom unfortunately.

But that is crappy teaching- a good teacher sees and brings out the best in their pupils.

I would feel the same. The triangle between pupil, teacher and parent is suppose to be supportive with great communication for the benefit of the pupil. This teacher basically didn’t pay enough attention to your DC as a pupil and her report at Easter feels generic and dismissive. I agree with your DH he is probably low down on the priority list as he isn’t causing trouble in class. Too many pupils not enough teachers and probably disruptive pupils in the class. I would spend the summer encouraging reading and maths as previous posters have said.

My son was at the same level in year 1. We weren't used to it because DD did so well at the same age. I do think there's a bit of a difference between girls and boys at this age.
He's really turned a corner in year 3 and there have been vast improvements. It used to be a battle to get him to read with me for more than 2 minutes. He jumped up 10 reading levels fairly quickly. His handwriting is brilliant now. He's Within for everything.

They're still so little and will get there when they're ready.

Reading isn’t just about the physics of actually reading but the breadth of reading.
Your DC might be able to read the words/sentences but it’s about understanding and being able to relay the emotions and concepts back to someone.

However, I wouldn’t worry so much about everything - just mentioned to his new Yr2 teacher in September and ask that they monitor certain aspects you’re worried about.
And remember, of all the kids all around the world, the UK starts formal school much earlier than a lot of them.
Finland for example have an excellent education system and they don’t start formal schooling until age 7.

With reference to your presentation concerns, don’t worry over summer - just do lots of fine motor skills activities with him to improve his pencil grip and hand/eye coordination. So using scisssors to cut up paper shapes, playing imaginative play with small figures, threading etc.
That’s going to help much more than blasting him all summer and putting him off reading/learning.

@Mumisconfused

"In the past we had to tell the teacher the books he was bringing home were too easy and not challenging him. She seemed surprised. We insisted to send a level up home, which she did.... since then he has gone up 2 more levels in reading. If we haven't pointed it to her, she would have not noticed his improvement"

I suppose they can only comment on what they see in the classroom and how well they perform on particular assessment on the day. My DC is an avid reader at home and I'm surprised by the words he's able to decode and read. He loves science and non fiction books so picks up a lot and asks loads of questions. Teacher describes him along the lines of "beginning to recognise simple words" despite at home being able to work out the word "schizophrenia" from one of my postgrad study books. At school, he struggles with the "Pat the cat sat on a mat" type reading assessments because the stories are boring for him so he rushes through and mistakes are interpreted as lack of understanding. I had him independently assessed and his reading is good for his age as I thought.

Keep encouraging DC at home. The good news is that the teacher is saying that they don't see any reason for concern which is a positive and will hopefully mean things will be easier for him going forward.

Mumisconfused was replying to Freshstart25 who asked for activity advice I presume.

Am I missing something? Name change fail?

If you're confident he is doing well I wouldn't worry. My son’s y1 report was like this. Year 2 all on or exceeding.
I blieve a few years later the school were doing it on purpose to inprove their progress scores for reporting.
Nothing to do with my child’s performance or progress between yr/1 - 2

I had exactly the same with ds in year 1. Parents evening was good, quick chats at the end of the day all good but report was a child that was way behind and seemed like she disliked him. Also given on the last day of term so no chance to come back on it, ask more questions.

I decided to give his new teacher a fresh start with him and we have just had his year 2 report and it’s all good.