to be pissed off with this school (and myself)

[lola88]

Dniece has jus moved schools 2 weeks ago as Dsis has moved to the area i live in we live in a village with a class of 20 old school was inner city with a class of 28.

Her old school said she is doing well and has no problems she is where she should be for her age (5) however at her new school her teacher told us she is quite behind her struggles to read and write and can no complete anything without the teacher constantly standing by her telling her to consentrate. I had never done home work or anything school related with her before as i only have her fri-sun but now since i get her from school i do.

I took her 45 mins to complete her reading book and math work sheet one day and the next an hour to write 3x make made and like plus 3 sentences including the words. Her old school was over run with 2 teachers job sharing and over 1/2 the class having no or broken English to start her new teacher explained that often the children who don't speak good english need a lo of extra attention so take a lot of teachers time otfen leaving the other children with less attention so fair enough he teachers have a hard job.

I'm really annoyed tbh i understand that her old school had to many kids and no enough resources but how the hell could they say oh she's doing great when she can hardly write 8 weeks away from Primary 2. I'm so annoyed at myself for not doing more to check on her my sister suffers depression i should have known she might not be on top of it. I feel like he school have let her down and so have i :( now her summer holidays are going to be cathing up with what she's missed.

She's only little and has plenty of time to catch up; good thing you have discovered this so early and can start helping her.

I hadn't even started school age 5.
No reason that she can't catch up :)

Please don't be too hard on yourself. Different schools have different standards. Also, an inner city school is likely to have more problems than a little village school.

My friend moved from inner city London back to leafy midlands when she was told her son would be classed as "special needs" at their local school as he would be only one of 2 in the class who spoke English as their first language. To allow him to progress he needed special help while the teachers taught the rest of the class the language!

Then at my DS's small "outstanding" school his teacher told me in reception that he was "failing" (yes she used that word) as he "only" knew 56 key words. That was the ofsted standard but at this school they expected them to know 100+ so he wasn't doing very well in their eyes.

Your DN is young and with support will flourish. You just need to encourage her to read, make maths fun and get her writing. With DS we got him to write a diary every day in the summer holidays to help his writing. It was only a couple of lines but meant he did it every day and it really helped. He loves books so we found lots of books that linked to his interests which again made it fun. When we go shopping he helps with adding things up and getting change - again fun things.

You sound like a great aunt and you will look back at this time in a couple of years and wonder why you were so worried.

You are right to be peed off with the old school but like others said, she'll soon catch up now she's in a different environment. 45 minutes homework at 5 years old is mad. I'd keep extra work to a minimum and if you're still worried at the end of term, do some reading, maths activities etc during the holidays to get her ready for the new school year.

Please don't worry about this, ds is 6 and still hasn't got a reading book. The other children in the class have because they have reached the level to be able to bring books home. Also he can't write sentances And his number are not that good either.

He is making process but it is very slow. If she continues to struggle then step will be made for her. My son gets lots of 1-1 and is being statmented by the educational physiologist for extra funding for more 1-1.

You're on the case....don't beat yourself up.

Could she also be struggling because she's only just moved schools and the small differences in how they do stuff may be shaking her confidence and having an effect on her ability.
She's only wee and will catch up with support, but I suspect she'll also do better as she settles in. 2 weeks isn't a long time to get used to a place. It won't take her long I'd only be worried if she was still having a hard time 6-9months down the line.

Um, I think you are and should be concerned.

This may be a case of her old school letting her down.

Or it may be a case that she's got something going on like dyslexia which makes it hard for her to learn to read and write.

If she's got dyslexia, then you're in for a long rough ride :(

And even a good school with small classes may not be able to help........

So, do a bit of extra work with her now - but if she doesn't seem to pick things up at a normal pace, don't keep blaming the old school, or her home life, or settling in to a new school, or .........

Bear Necessities or Dancing Bears would be a good thing to start with.

Well, if she were Finnish she wouldn't have been taught to read yet. And the Finns seem to be doing OK.

I can see why you're stressed - there's so much pressure to have kids learning things as early as possible - but really, she'll be fine. I know kids who at that age hardly spoke the local language and who have caught up with no problems.

kirsty - and I'm sure you also know kids who haven't caught up. Obviously Finland has as many kids with learning difficulties as any other country......

I'd just like to agree with everyone else, yes do something about it but don't worry or beat yourself up about it. At this age children are doing things at different stages, she is only little and will catch up. My approach with my DS, who is 5 is to keep it fun, build his confidence and focus on getting him to think, question things and enjoy learning.

Have you talked to the teacher about how you can help her to progress and work together? I would be worried about 45 mins a night, I do 10 - 15 mins a night plus a book to read, as they are tired, they will find it more difficult to concentrate and are more likely to get it wrong as a result. Don't turn homework into a battle, I've seen friends do that and wondered how they are going to keep doing this for 12 - 14 years.

Be inventive about how she can learn, write words in the sand on the beach, in mud. Good luck and she is lucky to have such a loving caring aunt.

My DD began in a new school aged 7 (year three) and I was blissfully unaware that she was at least a level behind her peers because her old (private) school had told me she was fine and where she ought to be.

Ths year has been anxious as they dragged her up to where she ought to be...she was allowed to coast along at her old prep because she was quiet and no trouble. I am just happy we moved and happy the thing is being addressed. OP...5 is very little and she'll be fine now she's where she ought to be.

Indigo the kid is FIVE. My DD could not read at 5 and now she's exactly where she should be. No dyslexia.

Indigo, I hear what you're saying, but often my DS can take 45 minutes to do his homework because he's tired, he doesn't want to focus, he doesn't want to concentrate etc, etc. And he's just changed schools too, from an inner city school to a country school, etc, etc (OP are you actually my sister??)

It's entirely possible that the new school is working at a higher standard and she needs to catch up. But if she's always been 'the best' at her old school she may be feeling resistant, less confident because everyone else knows what they're doing, etc etc. Also changing schools is BIG and she'll be tired at night.

I now don't do more than 20 mins homework a night - if DS doesn't finish then he doesn't finish. I would do a little bit every night till the end of term then I would build in some fun-type activities through the holidays, again 20 mins a day. She'll soon catch up. In fact, one of DS pals told me yesterday - all wide eyed - 'Wilson Jr is BRILLIANT at dividing'.

Its a waste of energy being cross at a school that was doing its best as well. Top of the class has always meant just that - each school can only teach to its own standards.

TheHouseOnTheCorner - were you ever told your child was quite behind?

Lots of kids can't read at 5. Not many of them are told they are quite behind.

If a school is worried, the OP should be as well.

I don't know how things work in Scotland, but in England if you can't read a bit by the end of Y1 alarm bells should be ringing.

If she can read a bit, just not well, then that's a different story......

In England, any child who has been to school for 2 years and is not picking up reading is in trouble.

And odds are they won't catch up.

She's going into P2 so has been at school for a year.

The reason why she was told your DNiece was OK can be due to lots of different things. The school and the high proportion of children who speak little english. The teacher who wasn't up to speed. The child having some issue with reading etc... Or any combination of the above.

Personally, I would take this opportunity with both hands. You are told there is an issue, Ask how what you can do to support her. Ask what the school is going to do with her. Liaise with the teacher often to follow what is happening, progress and also give some feedback to the teacher of what you can see happening at home.
And in all likelihood, she will flourish again :)

The other thing, my DS class of 28 was quite - chaotic for want of a better word, whereas this class of 20 is very quiet and very focused (its a composite and there's 14 girls in it too) so for him it's like a giant spotlight has been shone on him. Honestly, I would try to see this as a good thing - she's behind but it's been caught and school are aware of it.

The questions you should be asking are how is school going to address this, and what can you be doing to help. And make a firm plan with school to re-assess her at October next year. If she's not making progress, then start to worry.

X post with NotSure

My dd was struggling in P1 and was found to be severely dyslexic BUT it was fairly obvious with her - she could not learn the phonic sounds (even teh basic initial sounds) and could not reliably write the numbers 1 - 10 until the end of P1 (even though she had covered them in nursery)
If your niece can read some words and write sentences I do not think it is likely that she is so far ahead that she can't catch up.
By teh way - my dd has to put so much effort into working at school she is often shattere dby end of school time - in P1 / P2 we started doing her reading before school when she was less tired.

Is P2 the equivalent on Y1 in england?

IndigoBell actually the school system in Finland ranks among the best in the world. Finnish students always perform miles better than English students in the international PISA survey that is run by the OECD, and that's despite (or because?) starting school and learning to write and read much later than here.
www.oecd.org/document/60/0,3343,en_2649_201185_39700732_1_1_1_1,00.html

I don't know what your source is for saying that Finland has as many children with learning difficulties as any other country. Is it a given that the figures are the same worldwide? I would have thought there may well be local differences.

Not sure think so - you have reception then Yr 1, right? We start in P1, then P2 etc...

@Indigo. I read the OP as saying the child can read - though maybe not very fast - and write a bit, but not that much. And this isn't considered enough for a five year old by her new school.

Coming from abroad - and obviously that means I don't really understand the ramifications of all this in the English system - I think that's crazy. It means you're setting the rhythm of early school learning so fast that kids are likely to struggle with reading/writing if they don't have a supportive home environement, or if they have mild special needs, or if they have to change schools, or there's some kind of disruption at home. Whereas if you - as most Continental systems do - leave learning to read or write till about 6, then children whose learning is disrupted in some way don't get left behind to the same extent - there's some extra time built into the system that can be used to help them along.

Of course, this means that lucky children with plenty of support learn to read at 6 when they could have learnt to read at 5. (Or more likely, learn to read at home with their parents). That's to me much less important than making sure that all children do learn to read and write well. I do believe - though this is a matter of opinion - that Finland does so well because they learn to read and write later.