Year 1 child - anyone else’s school report snow they are behind?

[Rocketearth]

Received DS(6) school report which is very positive in that he works really hard, works well in groups, has good friendships etc.

They have 4 levels to categorise academic achievement overall to meet the levels expected for Year 1 for maths, reading and writing - exceeding, meeting, working towards, and below.

For maths he is ‘working towards’ and for reading and writing he is ‘below the level expected,’ which is the bottom category. We were aware he needed to work on these areas at the parents evening a couple of months ago however he is 6 and we will ensure that he catches up through continuing the additional support at home etc. School also have been good with providing extra support.

But, some parents have been chatting about their DC reports and all but one claim that their Y1 child is meeting or exceeding the levels for each category. They’ve had about two terms missed of school in the last year and yet so many parents already claim their kids are right on track like nothing has affected their education at all.

Maybe there is some kids who are ahead but surely my child is not in such a minority to be behind? Both lockdowns were horrific for him, as an only child the social isolation was heartbreaking to see, and so getting him to engage with home-learning was something I’d never want to repeat. I just can’t believe my child is the only one who has suffered academically

Don't worry. My y1 DS was above in reading, on target for maths and below for writing. I'm not worried it's been a disruptive year and they will catch up on missed stuff eventually. He's also summer born so only just turning 6. Take no notice of other parents only your child matters to you and they're probably not being honest anyway.

A teacher once told me “parents lie” about their children, whether it’s regarding their behaviour, achievements, academics etc and that few are refreshingly honest with others.

Of course there could be some kids who loved home-learning and thrived but I’d say the majority didn’t, and are certainly not all excelling. Ignore the other parents.

Lots of pupils have fallen behind, but their parents just aren’t advertising the fact! If your son was way behind his peer group
Then I assume that his teacher and the SENCO would have been in contact with you.

Your child will definitely not be the only one affected for sure.
Also when my dd was in year 1 she was in the lowest category for reading and writing. Now in year 5 she’s exceeding for reading and expected for writing. They all develop at different rates.
Don’t feel bad or worried ...he is still little, only 6. It’s good the school are supporting him and he’ll get there in time!

I don't think it is about parents lying. My DS (Y1, 6 years old) would be at a similar level to yours OP, and like you I hope he will catch up in due course.

But I can say with certainty (from homeschooling) that most of the kids in his class are ahead of him, and many are far ahead. The same is true of his friends outside school. They learn faster and more easily than he does. Their school reports recognise this, as they should if the teacher is paying attention.

We haven't had a report yet, but I will not be surprised if DD (also yr1) is behind where she should be. They missed a big part of both reception and year 1, and homeschooling was a nightmare between her and her older brother. It's rubbish but it was more important we got through lockdown/a pandemic as best we could. Hopefully they will catch up. You are not alone

I just can’t believe my child is the only one who has suffered academically

Btw I don't think the school closures are the reason my DS has ground to make up. I think it is a question of aptitude and cognitive ability tbh.

I would concentrate on working on the reading as it's the easiest to have an impact on at home. Libraries are open now, go to the library every week, read to him every day and listen to him read every day. If he is reluctant then take it in turns to read and get him to look at the words or follow along as you read. Improvement in reading will also help his writing. Bare in mind if he is obviously really struggling the possibility that he is dyslexic. He's very young yet though, has missed a lot of school and will no doubt catch up. I'd concentrate on the reading for now that's most important IMO. Targets are already pretty high at this age - one of the words in the phonics screening if I remember rightly was 'modal' and only get higher ie they used to have to use inference in the reading in the Yr 2 SATs! So try not to worry, some of the expectations are very high and they are likely to all be struggling with something having had so much time out. I would speak to the teacher again for reassurance and tell her what all the parents are saying and how worried you are.

Don't compare yourself to other people your child excels in other areas.

Having said that my year one child is doing better then expected in all of the key areas. Our school has different grading. They use 1a, 1b and 1c.

@Rizzoli123

Don't compare yourself to other people your child excels in other areas.

Having said that my year one child is doing better then expected in all of the key areas. Our school has different grading. They use 1a, 1b and 1c.

I will add son is quite bright and picks up things very quickly

Year 1 children have been the hardest hit this last 16 months. Attainment for this year group is below expectations across the whole country.
I'm a governor at a primary school and the headteacher highlighted this.

I've also got a yr 1 child and I know our school is working with those that are below expected attainment.

Hi op, if this had been my dc 1 then yes it's highly likely she would have been absolutely exceeding targets.
She could also read extremely well by that age.

Dd 2 has massive struggles and is way behind in her class, lol down was actually probably the making of her.

It's quite important to know where your child is in the class, of course it is and I've personally been very honest about each child's abilities.

I'd say the absolute key is reading, throw everything at reading but absolutely don't force him.
Can you buy/ rent the reading scheme your school does? Reading chest are very good.
Use incentives to gradually encourage him to read a little, get high frequency word flash cards to help him get yhoae foundation words in place.
Does he know the alphabet? Look up resources to support the these basics. Keep a close eye on progress, my school school actually hid dd lack of movement, no transparency at all or support and it was only me requesting a meeting that meant she was put on the den register etc.

Once you have tried some extra support stuff, spoken to the teacher and see what they say, don't be afraid of getting tutors in.

My son is a year 1 summer born and also behind in reading and writing. I am worried about, but the school aren't as they have said a very large proportion of the year will not be at expected standards at the end of the year, partly because they have not been able to cover everything properly. They have a lot of different interventions taking place and planned for year 2 too.
Both DH and I and the school feel it is directly linked to the time missed in school, as he needs that routine and really struggled to engage with the online learning at home.
I'm going to keep up with reading and phonics over the holidays and will try to recap some of the maths content too and hopefully year 2 will be a much smoother year for them and they will have that extra bit of maturity too.

My year 1 DCs school uses a 3 level grading which is below expected, as expected and above expected (however I saw one of her classmates parents post a photo of the DCs report and they had a completely different grade with no explanation so apparently there's a secret 4th one 🤷🏼‍♀️).

My own DC was in the exceeding grade for reading, writing and maths although I don't know how as she did almost no school work while at home and she is summer born so already almost a year behind some peers.

We're really proud of her and have made a fuss about her report, but would have done the same had she not met expectations- any progress or effort should be celebrated. It's that kind of encouragement that boosts their confidence and will help them keep going and 'catch up'. We still make a fuss of her other achievements like her dancing (she's never going to be a dancer, but she enjoys it so gets lots of praise) or when she did her first jnr park run and really struggled I was right there cheering her on and telling her how great she was doing (while quietly dying myself trying to run alongside her).

I will however add a couple of caveats. First being, parents lie and inflate their own DC. I wouldn't trust everything you hear.
Second, the curriculum doesn't fit every child. Just because a child isn't meeting the set expectations doesn't mean they are failing or 'behind', at 6 they are still so young and very much individuals that don't always fit into neat little boxes. And after the year they have had I'm sure lots of DC aren't quite where they would have been had they had a normal year- not just in terms of missed school but the change in how they've lived, uncertainty and anxiety. It's been a lot for adults to deal with nevermind small children who don't have the same understanding and tools to deal with emotions.

My eldest is "well within" for everything. My youngest is below with almost everything. But honestly I'm not worried at all. She is happy to learn and to me that is the most important thing at this age.

This is her pace and as long as she has an enthusiasm to learn and confidence and pride in what she's doing, then that's enough. They are so little right now that it's not worth stressing about.

It's quite important to know where your child is in the class, of course it is and I've personally been very honest about each child's abilities.

Its absolutly irrelevant as to where your child is in the class. My kids went from easily the top of their classes at primary school 1 to solid middle of class at primary school 2. The intake had a massive impact on their placing in the class.

We've not had ours yet but I'm expecting below on handwriting, social skills and personal care. I won't go out of my way to advertise it and I'm sure there will be some who actively fib

God it's so wrong to judge 5 and 6 year olds on arbitrary standards like this. I fucking loathe education in this country.

Op i do think that y1 will have been quite hard hit as a year group. However by mar last year they would mainly be reading and blending well. Then were able to go back at some point last year.

1. What band is he on? Our school were looking for about 7/8 turquoise or purple by end of y1 2 did he pass the phonics check?

I think.the issue will be for those still not reading well by last mar and those not doing well by jan this year as obviously they cant read non scheme books easily so if like our school they didnt send books home you are say 16 books behind plus missing some in reception.
Out school has annoyingly carried on from where they stopped and havent even moved onto the digraphs they did in jan. So imo the reception didnt need to be behind - eitjer could have provided the books or skipped some when they returned.

Anyway my dc1 is bright but as summer born didnt quite get met expectations in y1 maths. The level is quite high when considering for maths they need writing too. I helped a LOT in y2 using CGP books and dc did well at ks1 SATs
How much time are you spending reading with him every day?
Bear in mind other kids will have older and younger siblings affecting their motivation and learning in lockdown.
Talk to the school and clarify if they think it is because of lockdowns and what they will do next year.I
Take action yourself over the summer. Reading is normally mostly done at home as they very rarely read 1-2-1 with the kids.

Interesting to hear other parents perspectives and experiences.

At parents evening the teacher said he needs to work on, in maths, switching to the next decade of numbers ie 29 to 30, 39 to 40 etc but other than that was all fine. Writing could be improved by encouraging him to write our weekly shopping list and greeting cards to people. Reading - we have always known he is well behind in because he flatly refused to read since starting school, however by Easter he suddenly took an interest and has gone from Pink to Red to Yellow bands (Oxford levels). Well aware that this is still very below where he should be. He now loves trying to read and gets great comments and stars in his reading several times a week. The teacher just said he needs to work on memorising diagraphs and common exception words, which he has now much improved on. We didn’t realise though that these short-comings means he is well below expectations though (except for the reading level).

His Reception teacher said he is bright twice plus possibly gifted with maths, so we’re hoping he catches up soon. His MH took such a serious hammering in both lockdowns (Senco gave us advice in the second one) that it’s no wonder he couldn’t focus on schoolwork.

Oh well, hopefully he will catch up with the right support and if he doesn’t by about mid Y2 we will consider a tutor just to get him up to the level he needs to be at.

Op, was he able to to chat or interact with friends in the lock downs at all.
My dd was 6/7 in the first one and relied on phone calls and playing computer games with her friends? They also did lots of Minecraft etc is he doing anything like that, just in case (fingers crossed) there is another one, unlikely..

Check he can get phonics, some dc don't and unfortunately schools seem quite rigid on it without using other methods like site reading.
Keep an eye on that and don't be afraid to help him get high frequency words with flashcards or simple books like the 70s..
It does not mean they won't use phonics but sometimes phonics locks the child out and then they fall further behind in every thing because they can't read! So just getting them over that initial hurdle can help. Good luck!! The main thing is keeping an eye, keeping positive and being prepared to try new things if something isn't working.

@PeonyTime but your dc were top and middle so nothing to worry about? Mine was at the bottom so that was action stations to find out why and I only found out when I asked.

I’m surprised the teacher previously said gifted for maths if they’re now working at. Work on things at home, by books that are at his level he might like (internet search for recommendations), write as often as you can, ask mental maths questions when out and about. Keep things ticking over and in summer use that as an opportunity to help him catch up, only needs to be daily short bursts.

Re: comparing your child to others in the class - its unhelpful and in some cases hugely misleading. A relative once worked in a very deprived school and he had to explain to a parent that while their child was in the top 10% of his year group at school so was in all top groups etc he was still below the age related expectations nationally.

One of my children didn't really start reading until end of year one - he didn't get the point, and then suddenly found it hilarious that he could pick out some words on the calendar and read my text messages, and he was away. Both my kids still refuse to read school reading books, and to be fair, they are generally artificial and boring. We just keep more interesting books at home.