I'm a Reception Teacher - ask me anything!

[Danceintherain2018]

Happy to answer any questions anyone has. I understand that I cannot prove I am who I say I am (happy to try if you can think of a way) so I completely understand if you don't feel happy replying to this thread.

If you do, feel free to ask anything you'd like! I'm happy to answer and I hope I can reassure you!

Also joining he PTA can be a good place to meet people :)

Wow!! One bath a week is fine!! My goodness you realise it is companies like Johnson and Johnson who are now being sued to the outer stratosphere of the universe who put it into people's brains they needs washing everyday and patting down with cancer giving powder.

Each child is different. We have bath once week and splash in shower to wash nether regions if neccsary.

Washing small children however is not necessity.

I’m due in just over two weeks it’s boiling and my ankles are huge d.p and mil have taken ds to his last two stay and plays I did the first. Im glad you don’t judge!

How do you keep track of 30 4 year olds on a school trip?

My 4 year old son keeps escaping to try and find his brothers during the stay and play sessions. The teacher said not to worry and he will be fine when he starts. How can she be so confident?

elliejjtiny - we don't! There is no way we could safely take 30 children round the zoo etc. We split into small groups so each adult (included DBS checked parent helpers) would have their own group to look after. I would count (and double count!) them on and off the coach but looking round they would be with their adult helper.

He won't escape once at school full time, he'll get used to seeing his brothers at break and lunch.

What’s your opinion on delaying entry for summer borns? My second DC is looking like very end of August birthday...

My DS, who is starting school in September, has a few little quirks eg he’s scared of a loud toilet flush and doesn’t like to ‘go’ if the toilet looks dirty. I don’t want to be the annoying parent who expects his teachers to give one child special treatment. Have you ever had children like this and did they overcome it? (I will mention this to his teacher when I meet her)

moreismore - I think it depends on the child. For most I would say there's no need (some of my highest achievers are summer borns) but for others an extra year in pre-school would make all the difference.

Thank you for this - what would you expect in the way of differentiation for someone starting school who can read (a bit) and is obsessed with numbers so can do basic addition/subtraction, count in 2s, 5s, 10s?

And how you handle a child who struggles in new environments and is very anxious about going to “big school”? (I wish nursery would stop calling it that...)

ThatsNotEvenAWord - I have had children with similar issues but not identical. You may find that once he's at school that he's actually okay. One parent once told me that their child wouldn't like assembly as she hates lots of people singing - we were told to expect crying refusal from said child. She was a little anxious at first but loved it after a few weeks!

Can most children starting reception wipe their bum fully after a poo without any help?

Good to know! I will find some other things to worry about for a few years . Thank you.

CertainSlant- the teacher should be assessing your D.C. Over the first few weeks when they arrive (some do this up to half term depending on the individual school). They should then be making sure the provision on offer and adult led activities meet the needs of all learners. If your D.C. were in my class I would be making sure they went on the right book band and I challenged them.
With regards to maths I would be making sure that they were secure with the basics and them moving them on so they continued to be challenged. You could challenge them at home too... call out calculations and let them add them up in their head. Ask them to count in 2s, 5s and 10s but challenge them to start on a different number e.g. Count in 10s starting from 5!

I would make sure I did lots of work with you and your D.C. This half term when all our transition events were taking place. I would them follow this up at the home visit in September and support child as they started school. I also go and visit all the nurseries with a photo book so they can see pictures of the classroom etc.

Thank you so much Dance. That is really helpful.

The school only have one transition event - the kids spend two hours with their new teachers in their classrooms without parents. I am expecting a lot of tears. (However realise that I need to be positive - it just seems quite a brutal system for my sensitive snowflake ).

I know my child can be difficult - anxious with others and a perfectionist. Plus he is not great at taking instructions, instinctively he is defiant (not unlike DH...). So basically a reception teacher’s nightmare.

However he is unbelievably curious, and is passionate and knowledgeable about the things he loves. When he clicks with someone (like he has with his keyworker and a couple of “best” friends) he adores them, but it takes him a long long time to get there.

So I am bracing myself for a difficult term or two...

Do schools have a policy of being really positive in end of year reports, even if the teacher thinks a child was a challenging PITA most of the time?

You're welcome certain.

IntoTheDeep - we are asked to focus on the child's more positive attributes yes! Although anything that needs changing would be in the child's areas for development.

What book band do you think a child should be on to meet age related expectations by the end of reception? I have seen/heard various different answers depending on who/ which website I ask.

Stopclimbingbob - the Early Learning Goals don't require a specific band to be working at age related expectation.
Are you waiting to hear if your child met the expected level?

When you meet a new class can you give a good guess as to who might be picked on and who might do the picking on? Do you see characteristics which the bullies and the bullied often share, eg height, speech delays? I'm scared my shy DS might get bullied at school.

whitsunfells - very rarely do we see a bully in Reception.
Children in Reception are usually very accepting of others differences e.g. Height, speech problems, glasses.

A child can wet themselves and come out of the toilet, comfortable to tell me they need a change of clothes in front of the rest of the class as they know nobody will laugh at them etc.
Any unkind behaviour is stopped immediately.

I've had my DC reception teacher speak to me at the end of school to say he has been disruptive/ rude (about 6 times since Xmas) is that them settling into school life or a sign of worse things to come?

He will have periods where I hear nothing, then one day the teacher will tell me he's hit other children etc. Am I not enforcing behaviour sufficiently? Some days they come and say how nice his writing was etc.

Why do Reception teachers put on that weird high pitched voice when speaking to the kids?

Have you got kids of your own? If so, and you taught both before and after having them, I'd love to know how parenthood has impacted on teaching / working with kids?

Are you male or female? Do you find it annoying that male primary school teachers often become heads / heads of year etc really quickly (this is in my experience) because they're considered a rarity and therefore more deserving of promotions?