To expect a Year 2 teacher to listen to children read

[paulagil]

My DS is in Year 2 and in a class of 10. He is currently on ORS grade 4/5 and the average should be 7. He is a very clever boy with an extraordinary memory and his numeracy is excellent. So I am concerned that his literacy level is not in keeping with his other levels. I do know that not everybody is good at everything. But what really annoys me is that the school do not listen to him read at school. He does Read Write so he listens to the story being read out, then remembers it and regurgitates it. I asked him if an adult has listened to him read 1-2-1 this term and he said no. There are 21 in his school year, 10 in a class, 2 teachers and a TA. So in my mind, there is no excuse and I just see it as laziness.

Technically this should be in education section but I'm interested to know about all the other Year 2 mums and their experiences. Yes, I have been to the teacher and it hasn't done any good. They still don't listen to him read. I spoke to a Year 3 teacher and she said that she listens to her class kids read 3 times a week.

I am cross. We're paying for this, you know. There is a fantastic primary school down the road, but no, DH said he has to go to private school where I feel they are taking the piss a bit.

Unless they've stated otherwise, someone should be listening to him read on a fairly regular basis. How else do they know when he's ready to progress to the next level?

This really pisses me off! At my daughter's old school she was constantly being kept to reading books that I felt were below her ability level. She started a new school and based on the level her old school had her at, we agreed to test her for dyslexia. The test showed she was far from it and they've now got her reading books set for 12 years olds - at 8!

My DS is in year 2 and his teacher does not listen to him read either. Reading is done at home in the form a book and in class it is reading out loud the work prepared for them for that day.

For instance, a child from each group they work in (groups of 3 or 4) will stand up at the beginning of each lesson and read out the task for that table. The idea is that every child will stand up at least once during the day and read out instructions for their table. In addition to this other questions and tasks will be given to them and they will be expected to read them out to the rest of the group with their teacher/TA listening. They also read together. So that teacher will put items on the board and they will read out loud as a class.

They do read far more than they realise. Reading isnt just sitting with a teacher and reading out of a book. Its also reading their work back to staff and the things I suggested above. If you are worried then have a chat with the teacher but my DS reads really well despite being convinced he doesnt do any reading whatsoever at school.

They don't read like they did in the olden days e.g. child sitting next to teacher reading 1-2-1 several times per week. This changed in the early 2000s.

Guided reading takes place (in groups) and shared reading in whole class work.

If very lucky, TAs hear pupils read.

Go and speak to the teacher for clarity.

And hear your boy read yourself and take him to the library etc etc.

Read Write Inc is a good system IMO, and if it's being done properly along with guided reading, the teacher will probably have a good idea of your child's ability.

While I don't think it's acceptable for no one to ever hear your child read at school, I don't think it's as essential as some parents think it is, especially if parents are doing their job and hearing their child read every day.

Do the school allow parent helpers??

Our (state) primary asks if parents/grandparents/older siblings etc... can give up an hour every so often to go in and help listen to readers... the kids look forward to it, they get moved up if they read the book they have confidently and everyone gets to know the teachers.

pottylotty - we do read with him everyday. He does understand the books the first time. He is very articulate but his reading level does not reflect his innate intelligence (ie he can tell you about gas giants, which dinosaurs lived in the Jurassic period v cretaceous period and now he's moved on to how submarines worked in WWII - but this is stuff he's picked up from our conversations, museum exhibitions and TV programmes - hence it's a shame that he's still on grade 4 and can't read the Dorling Kindersley books to himself).

The Headteacher at his school says the focus is on fun. Yeah yeah. There's learning through play blah de blah, but if there's more play and less learning then bolloxcks to that.

I get wound up because I see the literacy levels in their Year 10 kids and it makes you despair. I guess I'm fretting that what others see as "fun lessons" is, in my mind, complacency.

My daughter is also at private school, also year two.

She reads every day to one of the the class teachers (they have two teachers in the class of 15). We also read together every day at home.

I would be pretty disappointed if they weren't doing to be honest.

My DS1 is in yr2 (25ish in the class) and this is the first year where his teacher is listening to him read on a regular basis! From the look of his reading log he's reading with his teacher once a week and a TA or volunteer once a week as well. In reception and yr1 there were occasionally notes to show he'd read at school but no pattern and several parents used to get quite irate about how often their children were reading on a one-to-one basis at school.

Ultimately though, the thing that will make the most difference with a child's reading (barring any SEN which may require "expert" intervention) is reading every day at home and being read to.

My DS is in Y1, not at a private school. He reads to a teacher or a TA once a week, and does guided reading as well. I would not be happy with less than that. With the numbers you say they have in a class it seems very strange to me that they are not doing any one to one reading. I can see why you are so unhappy!

It's worth bearing in mind that the WRI system (which I'm assuming is what you mean when you say they are using read write) deals with punctuation and written work right from the start, and more time spent on those things will naturally mean that progress in reading can appear slower than it would if they were focussing on nothing but reading or recognising words.

DD is in a private school, in Y2 they had a class of 20 but they still had 1-2-1 reading at least once a week, plus those who were below their expected levels were taken out of class once a week to do dedicated 1-2-1 with the SENCO (DD has been assessed and shows traits of dyslexia, dyscalculia and dyspraxia, not enough individually for any kind of statement, but all together it means she has difficulty processing unfamiliar stuff, couldn't get to grips with phonics at all, and needed lots of practice at whole word recognition).

You mention that you look at Year 10 literacy levels in the school and despair - if they still have problems at year 10, after that many years of private schooling, I would suggest you look elsewhere for a school - unless the children have underlying SN that affects the figures the school are not doing their job properly and you are paying good money to have your child badly educated.

As Lovecat said - I'm astonished that you would choose to pay for a school whose Y10 literacy levels would cause you to despair.
My DS is in a state school, class of 30. They do a range of literacy activities including some reading aloud weekly. His teacher's comments in his reading log indicate they discuss content as much as checking he can read the words. They also have group discussions of texts etc.
If you are concerned that your DS is dyslexic (is that what you are hinting at?) you may want to speak to your local Dyslexia Association. My nephew did this as he was being educated outside the UK and his school kept saying that his reading was within the "normal" range, even though it was patently way, way out of line with his IQ. He had a private assessment and was found to be severely dyslexic and is now getting proper support in (a different) school.

DS1 is in Y2 in a private school. He reads to his teacher three times a week and his TA twice (and me every night). A couple of those sessions are extra (I think) because his reading isn't great he is on level 6. Like your son his knowledge and understanding outstrip his ability to read the words.

If that helps. It isn't an academically pushy school.

Ask if they do guided reading.

And if not, ask for exactly how they know the children's reading ability if they don't do one-to-one reading either.

I am a Y2 teacher. I listen to children read between 1-4 times a week depending on the level of the reader - I work in a small international school (we use English NC, and ORT). I also have 10 kiddies in my class...
WE use a mixture of 1:1 and small group reading, plus shared,guided reading as well. Even with guided reading I would record this in the Home Reader so the parent knows that we have read.
I used to work in a prep school in England, and we did not have parent readers - the Head thought that the message to parents would be that they couldn't afford more TA's...!
I do support prep school education - I loved the 'whole child' aspect to the school in which I worked, but remember, there are unqualified teachers working happily in these schools - never assume anything!
I am overseas trained (not UK) so technically I was also 'unqualified', no QTS - but I do have a degree in Primary Education from an Australasian university.

YANBU- I think it is shocking and lazy of the teacher TBH, in a class of 10 children. No excuse.
I would ask to meet with the teacher and ask about his/her policy for reading - if no joy there go to the KS1 leader and/or Head and ask to see the school policy. It should be differentiated according to the level of the reader ie less able readers should be heard more often.
Failing all that check our reading eggs - iPad and android apps and also online, well worth it.
Good luck.

Thanks, everyone. My DD is leaving at the end of Year 11 - I've tried to persuade her to change schools at Year 9 and Year 10 but she was having none of it.

I would like DS to change schools NOW but our 2 next schools of choice (1 state, 1 primary) are both full.

I have been to DS's teachers in Reception, year 1, and now in Year 2 and they get very defensive and say Read Write Inc is a proven method of teaching etc etc. I'm sure that is correct, if followed correctly. This is the same logic which says that I should be a size 10 if I did Slimming World (tried it, didn't do it correctly, am not a size 10).

God. The school is in Hull. No wonder the literacy levels there are so poor if this is how private schools function with WILLING parents who don't smoke at the school gates and actually WANT their children to do well.

Thanks again, xx

What on earth does smoking at the school gates have to do with a child's literacy levels?

DD was in year 2 last year at an international school.
20 kids in class - one teacher and one TA and sometimes EAL teacher too.
Guided reading once per week
books changed daily if required
parent readers came in 4 times per week
class teacher aimed to read with every child at least once per fortnight

Worra - the smoking bit was a reference to that head teacher who went into a school to turn it round, instil discipline etc and she has banned smoking from the school gates and is now the victim of a hate campaign. It was on This Morning earlier today - Phil and Holly said that if this was what the parents were like then no wonder the school was in special measures.

Not that I'm against smokers.

dd1 is in a class of 30 y2s.
she is heard reading weekly by a TA.

My dds are in classes of 30. They read individual with teachers or ta once per week, also once per week with parent helper and once per week guided reading. One of my dds get taken by herself to school library twice per week to get library books as she is more advanced than rest of class at reading so access to wider range of books is given.

I would be changing schools in your case.