Why can’t my son have a higher level reading book

[WeRTheOnesWeHaveBeenWaitingFor]

My son has been on the same reading band for 6 months or more. When I asked his teacher why he isn’t moving up they said because he is already on the highest band for year 2 and they don’t allow them to go higher. Why would they prevent a child from moving up? He has just had his report and it states that he is achieving expectations in reading but they won’t let him go higher so how could he get exceeding?
I don’t want to ask the teacher because I’m already ‘that parent’ and don’t want to add to my reputation.

@Waveafterwaveslowlydrifting

I still don't really understand it though.

You don't need to fully understand it. Do you fully understand everything your solicitor does? Or your orthopaedic surgeon? No. They are professionals.

Unless you have responsibility for teaching 30 young children it's unlikely that you will understand to be honest.

Trust the teacher.

I'm an accountant and explaining why the recommendations I make are correct, including where relevant the appropriate references is the cornerstone of what I do. I expect the same when I see a doctor: we discuss the issue at hand, including the reasoning behind the diagnosis and as an adult I work with them to come to a mutually acceptable solution to that problem. I don't just sit there and say yes doctor, whatever you say. If I was in need of surgery I'd expect them to discuss treatment options and why one was or wasn't better than another. They should already have thought that through to get to the answer so discussing it with me shouldn't be a problem. I'd expect similar from any professional.

I’m not saying teachers don’t know best but I would like to know why. Is communication with parents such a terrible thing.

I definitely think communication is so important! But if your child is not ready to move up, they’re not ready to move up. I don’t think there’s much point in explaining why as he’ll get there eventually.

I remember the days of primary school and parents were obsessed with what level reading book their child was on and that they needed to move up.
Honestly if he can read and you are encouraging a love of reading at home you have nothing to worry about.

@Waveafterwaveslowlydrifting

I still don't really understand it though.

You don't need to fully understand it. Do you fully understand everything your solicitor does? Or your orthopaedic surgeon? No. They are professionals.

Unless you have responsibility for teaching 30 young children it's unlikely that you will understand to be honest.

Trust the teacher.

Bullshit. Attitudes like this do nothing to build and preserve trust or good relationships between schools/teacher and parents. And I say that as both school staff and a parent.

If a parent has a concern, a teacher should be able to explain in a way that makes sense to that parent . After all, they explain and teach much more difficult concepts to young children and very day.

OP doesn't understand it because it doesn't make sense and it's not actually a "thing". Keeping a child back because they reached top band of their year group?

I seem to remember I sent mine in with an appropriate book and the school was fine with that.

@TheLovelinessOfDemons

That's weird. When DD was in year 1 she had to go upstairs for reading books. No one told her she couldn't read a higher band. That was nearly 8 years ago though. Maybe teaching has changed for the worse?

Over lockdown, we had a TA who read with the children. She moved a lot of my class up one or more bands based on their fluency.

The problem was that, when we did the end of year reading assessments, their comprehension was way put of kilter with the book band they were on. So we had children reading book bands that were two or three bands higher than their comprehension level. They could read the books fluently but couldn't answer any more than the retrieval or most basic inference questions etc. No doubt their parents were thrilled that they'd moved up book bands. Unfortunately, it's now meant that I have children who are on book bands beyond their maturity or comprehension level that I'm unable to move back down.

It's not always a good sign when children are sent upstairs for higher book bands for this reason and it might actually be a sign that the teaching of reading has improved that children aren't just being propelled through the bands once they've read all the books at that level.

If schools are deliberately holding children back then that is wrong but I'm happy to expain my reading band decision to any parent who asks. Some still insist that their child has read all the HP books by the age of 6 and so should be on a higher band (yes, but how much of it did they understand?) but most of them get it.

I'm always very happy to explain to parents my choices over book bands. There is no secrecy or conspiracy.

Overthinking book bands could be a symptom of anxiety over wider school life. There really is no need to fret over it if you are adequately supplementing the child's reading diet at home.

Op, you can see what some of us have been up against.

It really needs to be transparent and pushed much more that parents really do need to engage more with their dc learning at primary, as we see the underfunded, over worked teachers have other things to do with the dc and reading is one of area certainly where parents can support.

It's unrealistic for any one except perhaps of really bright all rounders who seem to get things first time and don't need support to envisage that dc who do need more than support will get it.

Most parents on mn do seem to be engaged with the theory dc eduction, our dc are lucky to have us, parents who ask questions, and supply them with reading materials when the school, their supposed place of learning falls short.

One must spare thoughts for the dc whose parents for whatever reasons leave their reading for the mercy of biff and chip and their school and that's it.

I think everyone is getting the wrong end of the stick it’s not that he is or isn’t ready to go up. No-one in his year can move beyond the year 2 reading books. They aren’t allowed regardless of ability.
I’m not sure I buy the idea that the reasoning around capping book bands is so complex no one but a qualified teacher could understand it so communication is pointless.
I’m not even saying they’re wrong I’d just like to know why.
My eldest child has SEN so I’m sick of fighting the school about what she gets (or does not get). So I’m not going to be arguing about book bands when, as so many have pointed out, I can just give him more challenging books at home. It’s just bugged me for a while and I though someone on here could explain it to me. But I’m yet to hear a reason that makes any real sense to me.

Wave, we look at the "holistic" child, not just a snap shot of a child on a few snatched minutes in a frantic day.

They holistic child who is absolutely and utterly sick of biff and chip, whose bored with the magic adventures and who not only answers every question in the book but many many more.

The child who then picks up a novel and can't understand why they have to endure this sheer boredom of biff and chip.
Ultimately for such dc it undermines their faith and trust and perhaps that's actually not a bad thing. They learn that rules of ten don't make sense android rather than put ourselves through purgatory for no sound reason, we have to bend those rules a little.. Mums forced to sign off books that were beverage read..

😂😂🤣 My phone!! Sorry!! Top marks for anyone who succeeds in dechipeeing this nonsense 🤣

@WeRTheOnesWeHaveBeenWaitingFor

I think everyone is getting the wrong end of the stick it’s not that he is or isn’t ready to go up. No-one in his year can move beyond the year 2 reading books. They aren’t allowed regardless of ability. I’m not sure I buy the idea that the reasoning around capping book bands is so complex no one but a qualified teacher could understand it so communication is pointless. I’m not even saying they’re wrong I’d just like to know why. My eldest child has SEN so I’m sick of fighting the school about what she gets (or does not get). So I’m not going to be arguing about book bands when, as so many have pointed out, I can just give him more challenging books at home. It’s just bugged me for a while and I though someone on here could explain it to me. But I’m yet to hear a reason that makes any real sense to me.

That's because it doesn't make sense and if you have the time and the will, I'd query this reading policy.

What book band level is he out of curiosity?

@Waveafterwaveslowlydrifting

I'm always very happy to explain to parents my choices over book bands. There is no secrecy or conspiracy.

Overthinking book bands could be a symptom of anxiety over wider school life. There really is no need to fret over it if you are adequately supplementing the child's reading diet at home.

And have you ever told a parent that their child has reached the max book level for their year group and can't go any further?

Have you ever heard of such a policy in any of the schools you've worked in/been involved with?

Nope

When did you ask the teacher?
My DD only has 5 school days left so she’s not going to be given work for September.
If your DS is at the end of year 2 going into year 3 in September they probably don’t want to put him up a band incase he struggles with it and they’re not there to help him over the summer.

Exactly

@Waveafterwaveslowlydrifting

Nope

Exactly. That's what bothers me about this situation and it's not even my child!

I probably need a life... or a break.

He is on lime along with most of the class now.
I’m tempted to ask them but honestly my sons teacher is not approachable and would be so condescending it’s not worth it.

As a teacher, that policy makes NO SENSE AT ALL.

None.

I completely get - and support - the discussions around moving between book bands being a balance between decoding and proper comprehension, and i have both moved and kept children on book bands based on one being out of kilter than the other.

However, to have a blanket policy that no Year 2 child moves above a certain book band is WRONG. Daft. Silly. It's not as if the 'not allowed' levels are likely to contain 'age inappropriate material' (as can sometimes be the case with a very able KS2 reader who is exploring the world of longer, ambitious chapter books). It's just a rule for the purpose of having a rule, probably for some silly reason like the next bands up are kept in a different place.

FWIW, DS left the book band scheme in Reception, and was a free reader for the rest of his primary years, in two different schools. Nobody batted an eyelid. DD stuck at it for a bit longer (more conventional, though equally able) but not much. The schools and I just worked together to keep them reading age appropriate 'proper' books, and the school assessed their reading in ways that didn't use book bands. Not an issue.

My cousin and i went to the same primary and they had the same rule.
I started to hate reading as I kept being sent the same crappy books.
My parents ( even after a discussion with the school) ended up just buying me books at higher levels so I didn’t stop reading.
There’s a year between my cousin and they had the same problem

Get him reading a lot of proper books for fun over the summer, and have a discussion about assessing which book band he should really be on iwith his new teacher in September. i have had children who have gone up 7 bands this year, and some who have gone up 1, because after lockdown things were a bit of a mess in the banding scheme. It's a routine part of a teacher's job, to properly assess - and with an open mind - in September, and while we do try to avoid moving children down if we can manage it, several bands up is quite normal, even if they spend a week or so on each band in between. (We use a commercial 'band assessment' decoding + comprehension scheme, just for ease, and though it's imperfect, it's really useful for this kind of scenario)

Don't they read higher levels at school than they bring home? Our school do, anyway. But either way, I don't see why he couldn't go into a higher level if he's ready. My daughter was reading way above her peers in nursery and they went to get books from year 1 for her. It wasn't a problem and she was encouraged to read at her level.

We don’t let ours go too far ahead because the content of the books becomes much deeper and some of the stories are what many people would consider unsuitable for a Y1/Y2. When we have this situation at my school we use more unbanded library books to send home and try broaden the children’s reading rather than push it ahead unnecessarily. Reading shouldn’t be a constant challenge for a child.

Oh yes the sheer depths of biff and chip in ejypt!

I had this argument with dd2 in reception.
It was explained as it had match phonics level at which point I had to remind teacher that she was doing phonics with yr1 everyday so surely that.meant she could at least have year 1 books.
Gave up in the end and just let her read Oxford Owl at the right level. Fortunately school has a new phonics lead now who actually assesses her at a reasonable level.

Now that she's super fluent I let her choose between school book or library/home book. School has a lot more non fiction so I encourage those as they are more challenging for her.

Lime is the last book and in some schemes before free reader.
And the problem with free reading is that both parents and kids gravitate towards big, complex novels like Harry Potter. I think Harry Potter is amazing, but I have been teaching over ten years and only ever found one child under 8 who could access all seven books. (And she was reading The Hobbit soon after so was a clear outlier).
Spend the summer reading some short chapter books. Horrid Henry's are a bit old now so you'll probably locate some cheap ones in a charity shop. Nick Sharrett. Dick King Smith. The shorter Road Dahl's like George's Marvellous Medicine and the Twits.
Keep Harry Potter as a shared reading activity and don't go beyond book 3 until KS2. They get darrkk...