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

Lockdown affected all children differently. I wouldn't be hugely worried about anything at this stage, especially with little ones who have not experienced a normal school year yet.

@Lemonmelonsun but bottom of the class in one school could be top half in the next school. The bottom of each school isnt equivalent. You need to look at what is being said, and compare to national expectations more than you need to look at class position.

Yes but in a large class of normal state school size, it's going to be unusual to get a huge sway either way.
Class position esp if in conjunction with other data certainly helps to paint a picture

So your child won't be in the minority behind, I guarantee. People lie about their kids all the time. It maybe lockdown, it maybe he hasn't got reading yet and it will suddenly come and there might be more issues (and I say this as someone who is dyslexic so I would have been in the end category).

I think it''s disappointing this issue was not flagged up with you before and not in an end of term report - cause now you will be worrying about this and we are at the end of term.

My advice:

1. Ignore other parents. If anyone asks you then I'd probably lie and just say he was average.

1. Keep up reading over the holidays. Take him to the library and get books to read that he enjoys.

1. Get him to do a holiday scrapbook and get him to write little things in. Again no pressure it's just keeping skills up.

1. Next term, arrange meeting with class tutor early on to discuss what is being proposed to help your child in these areas, are they concerned there is any underlying SEN and what can you do at home to support them.

I totally get why people lie but it really helps to have someone honesty with other parents who are going through the same problems, unfortunately in many cases we realise the school is actually not on our side

The main thing is to pin the school down on what they are doing to do to support him to get to the expected level.

I think a class of 30 could easily be swayed either way. Plus they obviously affect each other's attainment.

In a 30 class 1.5 would be top 5th centile. Whereas a 100 intake would be 5. With such small numbers of 30 easily some schools will have none others 3 of 30 say.
Then add in that the kids range 12m in age. The brightest could be the youngest. The eldest are.more likely to meet expectations

Hs and when viewed in a class of 60?

3 per 60. But if say a 2-3 form entry puts them in 'ability groups' 90 would have 4.5 top 5% in 1 class. Which is v different to if they dont set them.
So comparatively if not set the top say i guess 30% on 1 table vs only 10% maybe if they are set.
I think our 2 form entry stay in their own class.

Speak to the teacher. Children don’t develop at the same speed.

If your child is struggling with reading, I recommend a scheme called Toe by Toe. I used this with my daughter when she was behind her peers.

OP, just a thought re reading. Does your library have a summer reading challenge or event? Ours is doing a competition where the children get an entry slip each time they check out a book and can enter a prize draw for a load of prizes (switch, Lego sets, panto tickets and various other toys or tickets) and others have special days or different competitions, my DD is really excited to take part- she's got her eye on a Lego set and enjoys picking out books. It's a great way to get some excitement around reading when it's a 'thing'.

We've also had deals where she gets cash or tokens towards things for reading- like 50p a book or a stamp on a chart that gets different rewards but whatever motivates your ds could work to keep him going over summer and a chance to catch up.

I have stopped worrying about what parents claim about their kids. I have observed that to succeed as a parent you need to quickly realise what your kid is good at and support it fully.

The Nerd - head down you don't need to enrol in any incentive scheme and the kid will read and practice on their own. Just needs a bit of encouragement, however, PE, arts and crafts could be an issue. These children need more socialising not to push them to be extroverts but at least to ensure a balance.

All-rounder: As a parent, this tires you down as you are constantly trying to help coordinate their interests. Joy to see these children take up a lot of things and enjoy.

Sports and drama: Some kids are so talented and the nerd mums will definitely be swooning over the capabilities of these kids. As a parent, I feel the key is to ensure that they keep an active connection with books and have small and regular breaks of study time.

Comparison is the thief of joy OP. He’s only little. They’ve had a very disrupted year, some kids will cope with that better than others. Hopefully if he’s in school more consistently next year he will make good progress.

Discuss it with his teacher at parents evening, but don’t get too get up over it just yet. Read with him over the summer and give him chances to write etc without forcing it. Some kids really are just slow starters, but they catch up and excel when they are ready, at 6 he’s barely more than a baby.

Also don’t forget parents share freely when their kids do well, but tend to keep it a bit more to themselves when they don’t. Try not to stress.

My y3 is behind his normal trends, in some unexpected areas too.

He was still 6 when this started and still wasn't fully in gear for y2, and then ended up stuck in with an older sibling with multiple specific learning difficulties and it's been pretty impossible to do worthwhile home learning in the 7 months of lost school time between an immature child who needs his peers to learn and an autistic child who refuses to accept his parents being teachers. Much of y3 has been undoing the social damage when he has been in school. DS lost his friendships with the keyworker children who continued in school, has been stuck with only a ND child for company and lost his social confidence while his old friends moved on without him. He's now forged a new friendship group which I've had to feed by getting him into their extra-curricular activity. The loss of extra-curriculars Nov-Apr on top of last year has also hit him hard.

It's taken longer to get him sorted with tinted reading glasses and like his sibling, I suspect dyslexia although milder. School disagrees...

It's hard. I've done what I can with our circumstances. It's been horrid having a 7yo crying into my lap about the fucking home learning while seeing his classmates functioning on the computer screen day after day after day. And seeing the beautiful pieces of work created by the studious girls 6m older over the communications app.

He will mature and get there in his own time, but it's been tough trying to limp past all the bloody hurdles and we've been in survival mode. The rigid one-size-fits-some curriculum doesn't help either.

It has been easier for children who were already secure in their basic skills with some enthusiasm for learning to begin with. It's been very polarising for any child with existing challenges.

It says it all when my SEN child is performing better than the supposedly NT one...