Aibu to take this to the head teacher?

[WitBeyondMeasure]

My child is in year one and has not read aloud to an adult in school since December.
When I asked his teacher about it I was informed that there are so many children who don't get read to at home, they have to prioritise them.

Whilst I understand this, I feel it is really unfair to children who are read to at home because they are not receiving the professional guidance they should be. I understand schools have increasingly limited resources and restraints and it's not the best of times education wise right now. But i also recognise that I am not a professional and don't really know how to help my son read better other than carry on doing what we are doing.

I absolutely love the school. It's brilliant but I really feel like they've dropped the ball here. I raised the fact he hadn't been heard reading since December in February. It's now almost May and nothing has been done.

Am I being unreasonable or should I have a chat with the head teacher? He's my eldest so I've not been in this position before. He's also an August born year one so he's only five.

@Nandocushion I really don't want to get the teacher in trouble! I promise that's not my motivation or goal here!
I'm more concerned about raising it to see if the school can direct additional resources to reading with the kids or concentrate on reshuffling to ensure kids can be heard.
I recognise that he is at an advantage being read with at home, but also recognise he's disengaging at school.

It is a small school, but also very well staffed and they often shuffle staff and support to the areas that are needed.

Wow that's such a shock to me! My son is also in year one and he brings home two books a week, and practically every time we fill in his reading diary his teacher/ TA has read the book with him as well and also commented. I would talk to his teacher, it's not fair on him

I'd agree op, not acceptable. I'm a primary teacher (Scotland) and our p1 children read in a group almost daily with children. My son is older for his year (P2) and reads fluently but the teacher challenges his group with non fiction stories and reads 2 books per week with them and sends them home. Children shouldn't be prioritised over due to receiving help at home and that is far too long without your son reading to an adult. If not getting anywhere with your sons teacher I would take it further.

I would complain. It’s unacceptable and I do not accept other parent helping either. Lots of schools
Get by without this. Teachers being stretched is an excuse. When I discussed this to our head she agreed. She didn’t feel the teacher had organised the reading by a teacher as well as she could and it was rectified. Discuss with head rather than complain.

This happened to my eldest.. he was a very good reader and because allot of the other children weren't read with at home he would be ignored so they could focus on the others. I constantly had to write in his record for new books or to move up a stage as the books were too easy. His reading through primary was mainly down to us at home, luckily we love reading & have lots of books. I appreciate they need to pull the poor readers up but surely everyone should get a look in!
My youngest attends a different much better school where I volunteer for reading as they didn't have time to read with everyone. But even then there is a list of the poorest readers who will have reading time every day with the volunteers whereas the others get approx 5 mins a week which in some cases isn't enough to finish a book. Its sad there isn't more time for reading in school but I guess they have so much to get through.

I would maybe pop back and see the teacher for advise on how to keep your son interested in reading or see if they can find some more challenging books for him.

This is awful. I used to volunteer at my DSs' school and listened to children reading (amongst other things). I would be given a list of names of children who I needed to listen to, either because they didn't read at home and/or because they were poor readers, and it was left at that. Of my own volition, after reading with the set children I flicked through the reading journals of all the other children to find and choose a mixture of other children, including some of the excellent and avid readers who never got a chance to read to an adult at school. The poor mites were so thrilled to get a chance to read to someone other than their parents. I pointedly told the teacher what I was doing too. Not sure if it made any difference to her approach long term though.

I also ban Horrid Henry in my house for the same reason!

Is it a small school?
Does he read in phonics sessions? In guided reading?
I work in a small school and we really struggle to hear the children read 1:1 every week. We have some fantastic parent helpers who come in and do it but without them we'd be lost. We have two in Reception and one amazing lady who does Y1-6. However, we do hear (in my Y6 class) all the children read in small groups once a week. We don't record this in the diary.
If I do get time to hear 1:1 readers, which takes me out of class for a whole morning session, I do prioritise those who need it most, those who are struggling or who never read at home. It's not an ideal system, but I don't know the answer.
I don't know where those teachers who hear children 1:1 more than once a week find the time. To do our class of 30, giving each child 5 mins max, takes me a morning.
I have worked with a teacher who used to hear 1 page from each child through a morning, she was extremely efficient at signing the diary but it was more of a production line than an enjoyable reading session so I'm not sure how beneficial it was.
My own DS came home from his first day in Reception with a letter explaining that his diary was his home reading record, no teacher/adult ever put anything in it during his whole 7 years at primary. I'm not sure if this is because he did read at home or if they read in other sessions.
If you're unhappy I would have another chat to the teacher or head, maybe ask when he does read at school, it is definitely in their interest for him to make progress.

Mine didn't read with a teacher for a few months in year 1, but when I queried it, she was read with the next week and skipped up a few book bands.

I found that DD would listen to the constructive feedback from a teacher in a way that she wouldn't from me. Teachers are also trained to teach reading, so have a range of strategies that I wouldn't be aware of. For this reason, I would definitely want a teacher to be hearing my child read, whether in a group session or occasionally individually. My DD was a strong reader, so I was happy with at least once a half term. Since year 2 she seems to have done guided reading most weeks, albeit her group might be the ones skipped if they are short on time.

The teacher is most likely listening to every child read throughout the week during guided reading so I wouldn't listen to suggestions that they can't write reports if they haven't heard them read.

If you're not happy have a look on the school website first, they have to publish information about how they teach reading and their Literacy policy might be on there. Someone had suggested checking if the school specifies what they'll do-this is worth checking so you have your info before taking it any further.

The pressure on teachers is huge! When a teacher posts that they listen to all their children 1:1 4 times per week that's great...but most schools wouldn't have enough adults to do that. For a class of 25 children to read for 10 minutes to the teacher it would take over 4 hours each day just to listen to readers-either they only listen for an insignificant amount of time, they do very little teaching other than 1:1 reading or they've got TAs or volunteers who do it ...not every school has that level of support.

I'd ask the teacher again and if you're not happy by Friday ask to speak to the Head or literacy leader.

@cinderfeckinrella whoop it's not just us! We've have three trial runs of horrid Henry. The first they just liked the look of it and asked for it one day. A week later I couldn't believe how they were behaving and blamed the show, about six months later they asked (after I'd recover from the first shock!) two episodes in they were emulating what they had seen.
The last time, recently, we didn't even make an episode before one of them called the toddler a smelly nappy baby. Yes not the insult of the year, but also not an environment I want to spend time in and not an environment I want them to think is acceptable.

@Coconut0il it's not a tiny school but one class per year group 30 kids per class.
He does do phonics and is above his age there but he has told me when they do guided reading they don't have an adult at their table. They help each other

@Justajot I'd be ecstatic with a once a half term progress check! Like you say, I know he can read but I don't have the skills or phonics course know how to teach and guide him the way they do.

@Walkingdeadfangirl I wouldn’t call it privilege. Their parents are just lazy

Check with the teacher whether he has not read at all to an adult in school, or has not read his reading book to an adult. He may have been reading a guided reading text in a group - if he is reasonably fluent in reading, the focus would be increasing comprehension rather than just being able to say the words on the page.

That said, his reading should be being assessed and he should be being sent home books of the right level. The teacher seems to be aware that he is heard read at home, so there must be some monitoring going on. Is his reading book being changed regularly, and if he has to play a role in this, e.g. putting his book bag in the right place, does he know and do this?

If you’re concerned, make an appointment to speak to the teacher. If you're still concerned after this, then go to the headteacher.

Ah OP, you have made the classic error of expecting the school to actually teach.

How do you realistically expect them to do that when they have 30 kids all with different problem, histories and levels of development to deal with at the same time?

Of course the kids that are doing okay are left to fend for themselves or help each other. Its always been that way and until something fundamental changes it always will be.

The up side is that teaching each other is an absolutely excellent activity for both sides of a peer-to-peer process. A fact I really wish we could get across to our undergraduates!

Wow that seems bad. I go in to read; there are about 8 children labelled 'daily readers' who for whatever reason, need daily practice. They aren't all necessarily slow at reading. There are about 8 children who are strong readers, who often seem to have read only once or not at all from one week to the next - I often end up hearing them as they are 'next on the list'. The rest are read with 2-3 times a week. I'm affronted if a pupil has not been heard in over a week... let alone a term.

In terms of some book ideas:
Dogman series children seem to adore, also my DS loves Bunny vs. Monkey, Amulet graphic novels, other Phoenix-originating graphic books e.g. Corpse Talk, Tamsin and the Dark/Deep
Rabbit and Bear
Books marked 'Early Reader' - simplified versions of originally more wordy books (these include Horrid Henry, Rainbow Magic etc - the major series tend to be covered)
The original Read It Yourself - level 4/5/6 - can also go to charity shops to see if they have any
Beast Quest, Dinosaur Cove, Bear Grylls Adventure ones
If your DS isn't bothered by gender gearing, my DS loved Rainbow Magic and Magic Animal Friends at that age
My Naughty Little Sister
Clever Polly and the Stupid Wolf

I really hope you manage to rekindle your DS' love - it's pissing me off on your behalf really, as schools always bang on about how much reading brings to every area of the curriculum, and here they are demotivating a pupil with a natural drive to do exactly that!

It doesn’t sound ideal.

I understand why the teacher is focusing on the children who don’t read at home, but in your position, I would be wanting the teacher to assess his progress periodically to check whether he’s on the right book band at least. Especially if he’s getting bored and disengaged because the books are too easy for him.
Would the teacher do a progress check if you asked about having him moved up a book level?

Re. Horrid Henry books - some of them are branded as Early Reader books, and they’re a bit easier than the normal Horrid Henry books. There’s a fair amount of bad behaviour and being mean to siblings in the books, but I’ve not seen the TV version so don’t know how the books compare to that.

I’d talk to the headteacher about it - is it school policy? Can they recommend strategies for you?
I had 3 under 4 at one point and know the chaos that evenings to be...could you try reading at a completely different time? Soon as you get in maybe? Others might not be as cranky then. In the bath? A friend of mine reads school book with her granddaughter in the park after school most days! Also, I heartily recommend Oxford Reading Tree books for use at home...they are used in many schools and are great reinforcement. They have diction and non-fiction and if you have any doubts to what level to start on you could ask the teacher.

@Jimdandy

There are all sorts of reasons why the children I work with don't get read to at home - it's not always as simple as "Their parents are just lazy", and I imagine the same is true in UK. Many of them are single-parent households and that parent works all hours just to keep a roof over their heads - sometimes there's a young teen sibling looking after them, sometimes a grandparent who might not even speak English. Sometimes the parents themselves may not be able to read, but at least they make sure their children are attending school.

Sure, there are lazy parents! But there are lots of totally different issues too that have nothing to do with laziness. Not being able to imagine or understand that might be the real example of privilege.

Just to update, they finally listened to him read!
I didn't take it to the head but I wrote very extensive notes in his reading journal daily for four weeks about the discussion we had about the books, recalling information and the fact he found them dull and easy,
He was immediately moved up two reading bands (he's still finding them easy but at least the stories are more interesting for him!)
I asked him how much he read to his teacher and he said two pages. So six sentences. 🙄

Just to add some recommendations my ds in late year 1/ year 2 liked

Mr majeka
Frankie fabulous football
The shorter roald dahs like esio trot

I would be fuming if my child's school heard them that infrequently by the way. I say this as a teacher.

Which phonics programme is used? With Read Write Inc I find group sessions so much more about teaching than just hearing them read 1:1.

I had a conversation with my husband about all of this in the weeks following my first post.
I was always very academic at school and enjoyed the challenge. He was the polar opposite and didn't see the point. (He also now earns twice as much as I did before I left work and works less hours!)

But we talked about it and he did give me a bit of a reality check. Okay school aren't hearing him read. It's not great but otherwise it really is an amazing school and we're very happy with them. DS and I are reading books at bedtime taking it in turns, a paragraph each. I think I needed a bit of a reality check that no matter what school are doing or aren't doing, my son wants to read with me every single night.
I suddenly don't care what colour band he's on. He wants to read..
Read away my boy ❤️

I remember a similar issue with my daughter. I raised it with the teacher who said that she did listen to her read, but not individually. She sat with a group of 3 or 4 children and they all read a bit each.

At the time I worked part-time and in my day off I used to go into school to hear the children read. Lots of other parents did the same. However, the only children I used to hear were those who were struggling (teacher selected them, not me). Mine wasn't struggling, so was never heard individually by anyone (except for me, at home).