AIBU to think there is too much pressure and expectations put on infant school children

[BazilGin]

This may be a huge cultural difference that I will never get over. I started primary school at the age of 7. I move to the UK 10 years ago and my August born daughter started reception just after her 4th birthday. This in itself is wrong, but I am honestly shocked at the curriculum the teachers have to follow. She has just started year one and is given spellings every week that the teacher tests on Monday morning. AIBU to think this is too much too soon? She is doing well academically, but said she is sad they are not allowed to play and "in the morning it's literacy and we just have to get on with it". At this age I though they are just learning through play! Clearly not !! I honestly believed that infant school will be more play based, but they were doing lots of writing/ready ng etc even in reception. DD went to a wonderful Montessori preschool and somehow I thought that infant school will be just extension of that, sadly not. I wish the whole system was different. If my circumstances were different, I would home school as it breaks my heart.

[arethereanyleftatall]

Farawayhills - my experience of sats is different. At dds school, the children didn't know they were sitting them. The parents didn't know when they were either. You didn't need to find out your child's results. So no pressure at all.
So, I'm not sure if they improve a child's education (though I guess they help compile ofsted which many parents do like) but they did nothing at all to harm it. Ime.

[FarAwayHills]

As long as the current system of testing and measuring at primary continues the pressure on kids and teachers to perform will remain.

I have yet to see any evidence that the introduction of SATS testing has improved education or the outcome for children. The only outcome I've experienced is fantastic teachers at my DCs school leaving in droves and having to deal with stressed kids who feel they are complete failures.

[DameSquashalot]

www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-news/sats-mps-launch-inquiry-after-upheaval-years-tougher-tests

Let's hope they make some positive changes

[MrEBear]

Absof
The second article states the starting age was set at 5 for mothers to get back to work. That really only works for the youngest child 1870 it wouldn't be unusual for mothers to have 10 kids. When I was hunting around for the history of school starting age the answer I found was MPs wanted kids to get 5 years of education before starting work at the age of 10!!! Two MPs argued that age 6 would be better but they were over ruled.

Scotland followed suit a couple of years later with a leaving age of 12 if i remember correctly then England upped the leaving age too.

[MaddyHatter]

my experience is somewhat skewed as my eldest child (ds) is autistic... but i'm a homework refuser.

DS needs the downtime at home to be able to function and i point blank refuse to do anything with him once home, and DD is only just 7 and i don't agree with any child doing homework they can't complete by themselves.. this year, if any comes home that she wants to do and can do without me, she can get on with it, but the moment she needs help or gets annoyed, it will be forgotten.

The only thing i do with them is reading (We read every night and i use this time for them to read to me before i finish the story) spelling (they have 10 words each week and i run through them before school) and occasionally maths if its number bonds or times tables.

[Feebeela]

I have a Y1 son. When I questioned the transition between R and Y1 where there are rows of desks and academic timetable, the teacher said that I was not to worry as they started formal, sit down writing and maths in the last term of R. She presented this as a brilliant idea. My heart sank as this meant these poor children had even less time to enjoy being, y'know, children learning through play etc.

Don't get me started on learning nonsense words for the fucking stupid fonix phonics test. Let's not let kids enjoy reading stories or anything like that.....

[arethereanyleftatall]

Minions - ironically it's the same parents who loudly campaign that 'kids should be kids' who are the worst offenders of the competitive parents.
Because their snowflake isn't ready to learn at 5, there's no way on earth another 5 year old might be

[bumbleclat]

its like that in the primary I teach at too

[minionsrule]

It also saddens me that, although we all bitch about this and how they start too young, there are still competitive parents who go into school in Year 1 bitching that their kids are not being moved up the reading scale quickly enough, should be given more homework, and should really be on the top table for maths.
I am soooo glad to be out of Primary....... maybe its just the snobby competitive town I live in

[ByAndByTheWay]

For anyone saying that they can't homeschool as they wouldn't be able to do it justice, I think it is worth pointing out that, for the primary years at least, it may be easier than you think. I think teachers in this country do an amazing job. They have to meet standards, encourage, motivate, support and monitor so much. The marking, planning and paperwork is huge.
With homeschooling you only have a very small number of children to teach (for most families) and it is easy to know exactly where they are educationally, what motivates them, what time of day or routine works best and so forth. It is a totally different kettle of fish. There is also loads of online support and access to easy resources these days. I can easily check where my child would be according to the national curriculum and focus on that, if I feel it is necessary. There are apps, workbooks, free and paid for curriculums, ideas on Pinterest and in many areas of the country, lots of home ed groups. Money is a limiting factor but educationally it can be much easier than people assume :-)

[AVY1]

Overall I believe that our children in the UK should go to school later etc and that the OP is not being unreasonable at all.

However, I actually moved DD whilst she was in reception to a more education focused primary as that was right for her and she was miserable at her play-led school where she was, in her own words, bored at not learning anything.

She is also doing spelling tests on Monday mornings now she is on year one and is loving having them as homework during the week. I have a better behaved child because of it.

I think that mainly shows that there is not a one size fits all model for education that really does need to be addressed in the UK.

[BummyMummy77]

I'm in the states and have been under huge pressure from everyone to send ds to school since he's been 2.

He's almost 3 now and all of his same aged friends have been at pre school a year already.

A lot of them know their days of the week and how to recognise them written down, how to write most of their letters etc.

I heard his would be kindergarten teacher bitching the other day about how she hates 'the dumb kids that don't do two or more years of preschool and arrive like babies as its so much more extra work'.

[Absofrigginlootly]

Not rtft but will go back and read it because im very interested in this topic...

A few links people might like to read:

www.cam.ac.uk/research/discussion/school-starting-age-the-evidence

www.newscientist.com/article/mg22029435-000-too-much-too-young-should-schooling-start-at-age-7/

[iamapixiebutnotaniceone]

Absolutely agree with you! My daughter is the youngest in her class (year 2) and she is struggling so badly it is killing her confidence. She's just not the right mind yet to do well academically, she is a beautiful, creative soul and the way things are going with school right now it could easily ruin her entire experience of education.

[Green18]

Try getting a very immature 5 year old to write a few sentences to decribe a setting using interesting adjectives whilst simultaneously trying to coax the thumb out of their mouth long enough to grip a pencil. This is how I spend hours at work as a TA in year 1. Cheers Ofsted!

[Chopstick17]

Please don't bash teachers as 'lazy' for printing display banners off Twinkl!

Would rather a teacher spent time marking and planning than making their own borders/banners!
Thank God for Twinkl!

[Chopstick17]

There are parents who try to push their DC to do even higher spellings because they believe they should be pushed. I see this happen at the school I work in. Learning a word from memory and regurgitating it at the end of the week is not the same as using it and spelling it correctly in their work or understanding the meaning and context. Most teachers I work with believe it's all too much too soon but it's not just Ofsted it is some parents too.

[Chopstick17]

The infants have to knuckle down and learn their spellings so that the Y4s can write like robots using fronted adverbials and so that everyone can correctly underline the past progressive tense in Y6. Without that, the year group test percentage drops, ofsted arrive and the school needs improving.
When parents stop choosing schools by sat results the madness may end

This is the truth!

[0ellenbrody0]

Please don't bash teachers as 'lazy' for printing display banners off Twinkl!

Thanks to the ridiculous amounts of pressure we're under and the immense amounts of totally unnecessary paperwork we do, creating a beautiful banner, woven from yaks milk and lentils is the least of my bloody priorities!

Thank god for Twinkl.

[waterrat]

I completely agree!!!

It breaks my heart the sudden transition from Reception to Yr 1. No toys/ no free play/ no special outside space - why the hell would a 5 year old suddenly want to sit down all day jsut because they have become a yr 1 student.

People keep telling me 'oh it's all play when they start' - well yes for the first year then it is a steep decline towards tests/ learning grammar etc all totaly wrong for young children

my son is lucky - he is in Reception in a very play-focused forward thinking school. However - he is exhausted and confused at being there from 845 till 3.15 - where is our faimly time? Like many / most parents I work until 6 three days a week - so now I only have time with him for a few hours each week - how have we allowed this to happen to our young children?

4 year olds need to rest after a busy morning - when we are at home there is no way my son would play/ be stimulated constatly from 845 till 3pm - it's unnatural and against the flow of a young childs natural energy.

[Memoires]

When I was at primary from Y1 up we were working hard, sat at our desks, learning and being all the time. We were doing geometry in Y2, indices and logs in Y5. It was not unusual for girls to be in tears in lessons because they couldn't cope with whatever test we were doing then, and they'd be ignored until the end when they'd be shouted at and get some sort of demerit or be sent to the head, thorough disapproval would be shown, and woe betide any pupil who showed sympathy. At the boys' school they had the ferrule and the cane.

So having remembered my school days, I can see that primary school nowadays is a dream. Mind you, every single one of us passed the 11+.

and we lived in a cardboard box in middle o' road

[Natsku]

eolian yeah most schools are equally good here in Finland as equality of education was always the aim, not excellence although that naturally followed. Its changing in Helsinki though as middle class parents try to avoid the schools with lots of immigrant children which is creating differences between the schools. Its a shame and I hope that attitude changes before they fuck things up there.

[Eolian]

As long as people place such an emphasis on data, statistics,progress measures and all the other jargon, this madness will continue.

As long as people make their judgement about a school based on it's Ofsted report, this madness will continue.

This^. My favourite quote on this subject is "Measuring your pig every day does not make it fatter". League tables should be banned. Schools should not be in competition with each other. Education should not be run like a business. Children aren't products.

From what I understand, not only are schools in Finland happier places for both children and teachers (and yet still more successful in their results than here). There is also very little difference in results between the 'best ' schools and the 'worst' schools. Presumably this means pretty much everyone is happy to just send their child to the local school, so the local community has a common interest to support its school. Schools aren't vying with each other for pupils, and parents aren't vying with each other for places.

How have we got it so wrong? I'm a (secondary) teacher and have very bright, academic dc, but that doesn't mean I want a rigid, joyless, data-driven education for them. There is no reason that more creative or play-based learning should bore a bright child if it's done well.

[ScarfForAGiraffe]

I am massively envious of the childhood and education some private schools are giving children. I do realise others have them at desks doing formal learning in reception so Its not all rosy!

My little one loves reception. I'm miffed my yr 3 girls comes home talking of tests but she enjoys the topic work etc.

[LyndaLaHughes]

As a teacher I am devastated by the destruction that has been wrought on our Education system over the past few years. The arrogance of politicians who ignore all evidence and professionals to push an agenda which is having a negative impact on children and causing huge mental health issues is just astounding. Teachers are leaving in their droves and the majority of those who remain are unhappy. That's not a climate any parent wants for their child but unfortunately until parents start to rally and protest nothing will change. I mourn the Education my children could have had but will lose out on thanks to those who send their own children to a private system where this does not apply. The hypocrisy is astounding. The teachers unions are absolutely useless and there are too many of them. I have stepped down from senior leadership because I refuse to lead a system I do not believe in or contribute to destroying staff morale any further. It makes me utterly furious.