Do you feel like your Reception child is getting ready for Y1?

[bigroundbrush]

I am a P2 teacher (equivalent to Y1) and I feel at the end of my tether with the P1 teacher. She has full time TA support, and I have none. She will not contemplate making any adjustments to her teaching to prepare the children for formal learning.

What I've asked for

• all children to complete a sit down morning task, so that coming in and sitting straight down to work is less intimidating in August.
• more independence in writing (currently they only write sentences if sitting with her)
• a big push on looking after their own belongings

AIBU? What happens in other schools?

Why cant you set up independent activities on tables and carpet for the children to do while you lead a focus activity at a table with 6 children at a time after the carpet input?
I have seen Year 1 done like this in the first term and beyond very successfully.

It feels like this is a far wider issue than just you and the p1 teacher butting heads. There definitely needs to be a better strategy in place by your school for this transition. I'm sorry OP, early years is tough. Fingers crossed for a day tomorrow where no one wets themselves, forgets their reading book or loses their un-named cardigan and swears blindly that the only un-named cardigan left in the classroom isn't theirs, only to reappear 20 minutes after hometime to say that it actually is theirs...

Why cant you set up independent activities on tables and carpet for the children to do while you lead a focus activity at a table with 6 children at a time after the carpet input?

That is exactly what I do, but they are so used to freeflowing with no set outcome that they struggle to achieve anything on their own. They also don’t want to!

Have you expressed your concerns to the head about the provision? That they are entering P2 below the expected level, and your general concerns about the provision?

I'm not familiar with the Scottish education system, I hadn't realised P1 was more like Year 1 and Reception like Nursery there. Do you have ofstead ? Are you due an inspection soon? I'm sure the head would be interested in ensuring the year groups are meeting expectations. It sounds like there will be concerns raised in the next inspection if head doesn't evaluate the P1 provision now.

Op I think you need to take this up with your HT. Get them on board with making sure it's an easy transition for the kids.

However one thing to remember about this year's P2s, they probably had a lot of catching up to do in P1 as well. Those kids missed 2 full terms of nursery because of covid lockdowns and didn't have a normal P1 either with bubbles and teachers in masks.

My P2 moved into his nurseries preschool room Jan 2020, we had a holiday mid Feb, illness start of March then lockdown. Back to nursery July-Dec, lockdown to Jan-March 21 and back for Easter and Summer term.
That's a lot of lost preschool learning that needed caught up in P1. OK I could have deferred but I'm not convinced being the oldest in the year is a good thing.

We are probably due an HMI inspection soon, but they’re so delayed due to covid.

There’s just not the culture of speaking against your colleagues in our school. There has never been so many children so unprepared for the next stage and tbh, I was really disappointed that the P1 teacher refused to acknowledge it.

I think there's a huge mismatch here between your expectations, transition between year groups and guidance from SLT.

I've got a child coming up to age 4 in June, and I'm so glad we've moved to Ireland where he won't be in school until he's 5yrs +2 months. I just can't imagine him even being in 'Reception' next year.

He is in 'pre-school' : 3 hours a day from age 3 to 5. A lot of the rest of Europe don't do any formal learning at all until aged 5 at the youngest, but do have a lot of 'pre-school' at earlier ages which is similar to 'Reception' with lots and lots of learning going on informally.

Some of my most respected colleagues working in Early Years really push for 'year one' (England) to be very informal and play based until at least Christmas, meaning not one seat per child; play based; writing only happening in very small guided groups; focus on child initiated learning.

They are so, so young and some children will have nearly 12 months difference in age that makes such a huge difference at that age.

But to agree with you, absolutely the year below should be teaching independence. Another reason why the 'Montessori' approach is very popular in lots of Europe and USA. (but this is absolutely not children coming in ready for formal learning at 9am)

Would you share your council op? I feel like we are making good progress with the transition from play based to more structured learning and if I can put you in touch with anyone who could support you I would help.

Feel free to PM if you'd like to chat.

I start transitioning my Reception class in the summer, likewise the Year 2s are gradually transitioned into the ways of the Junior part of the school. I wait till after Easter though for most of it!

I do encourage independence though (and offer no choice to the bulk) in terms of their belongings and changing. From Day 1 they unpack their bag and pack it again in the evening. Of course I verbally say “has everyone got their water bottle? Their lunch box? Go and get anything left in the cloakroom”. Plus putting their books and drawings in their tray, work in my box etc. I push for personal habits such as doing their own shoes and changing for PE from the beginning and work hard on this with them.

But the vast bulk of their work is done in small groups in EY whilst the rest choose in free play. So in the summer, I do start to do lessons, starting just once a week, where, after the input, they all sit at a table from the start and begin their task together with me and the TA working round. It takes time for them to learn that a staff member can’t always be right there with them and to think about solving their own problems (for example fetching themselves a number line or a word card). It’s tricky because they are little (some won’t be 5 until the very end of summer) and the learning style should be play based, but I do think it’s cruel on the children and the new teachers to not even start to introduce more independent and formal learning.

As summer goes on, I also start to stretch them that little bit more by keeping the work going - so they can’t just do their sentences with the high frequency words in and wander off, they do that bit more, because in Year 1 they can’t just go and play once they’ve done the main objective.

Its a hard one OP, but if there’s one thing I’ve learnt at my school is a teacher who is fully set in their ways will likely not change for anyone so it may be you that needs to make some adaptions to ease them in, however unfair that is.

You seem stuck in the belief that they should be 'prepared' for your class. Is this usual in Scotland? I thought the Scottish system understood the benefits of continuous provision, play and experiential learning even more than in England. I agree about independence etc, but that has very little to do with formal learning approaches.

Ok, I take back some of my comment above - there is carpet time, group phonics and maths and some group stuff at tables in DS1's reception class, and I do think that's normal and expected. There was a little bit of carpet time at nursery, even. I agree that total free flow doesn't match what I'd expect.

I wish our Year 1 was more play based, I totally agree with you that we start formal learning so early! I feel for our children, I wish we were more like mainland Europe. I’m very gentle with our transition (though my first post now I look back makes me sound like quite a pushy teacher) but it’s a sad reality that I need my 4 year olds to realise that the resources they enjoy in free play are about to become a one hour Golden Time offering tops!

How many children are in your class @bigroundbrush?

Currently I have 26. The limit in P2 is 30 but we’ve never reached that.

I know I’m not wrong here. I really appreciate people sharing.

Y1 retains a lot of feeling like EYFS (P1) at our school, with continuous provision throughout the year and gradually lengthening carpet focus time. But both our Y1 (P2) classes have at least one additional adult.

Sounds hard for you!

Op you might get better answers if you post in the Scotsnet page.
But as I said remember this years P2s had their Preschool years disrupted so will have been doing catch up in P1.

Hi OP, I think you should maybe post in Scotsnet too for Scottish teachers experiences.
My child is in P2 and I know their school is still working on incorporating play pedagogy as they call it into the day. P1 for her was bums on seats for a large part of the day although what they did in their seats was mostly play based.
I understand most other P1s are now all free play and no desks and some places that has only happened in the past year or so. I understand these are huge changes for the schools especially going up the years.
Comparing to England really doesn't help as the curriculum and expectations of the children at different stages are different and less fixed.
I hope you get some support soon, I really see your difficulty.

The fact that you're not listening to the research is a shame. People here have signposted you in the right direction on where to find it. Make changes to your environment, speak to your SLT and explain why these changes are essential for these children's development and what you need from them. This is for the children.

Because the OP thinks she knows best and everyone else is wrong, the reception teacher, the SLT and the children, all wrong and she's right 🙄

As someone upthread tried to gently say - these Reception year children were toddlers in the lockdowns.. its worth reminding SLT of that to argue your case in providing additional playtime etc - this is a generation that has been through an exceptional time, and their development in particular.

Get ready for the cohort starting in Reception this year teachers.. babies in lockdown.