To wonder if DS’s teacher is a bit crap

[traingal]

I don’t actually mean that, as think at worst it’s a symptom of teachers being overworked and under resourced but.... DS is an August boy, and by May of Y1 he was at reading (biff chip) level 5. I asked one morning what he needed to do to move up, as he had been on that level since Oct and said he was bored, and easily read the books straight through with me at home. The teacher said she would try to read with him and check, and after that moved him up to level six. Two weeks later I had the same conversation and he was moved to level seven. One week later the same and moved to level 8. One week later the same and moved to level 9....
Is that normal? Do I need to keep pushing (totally goes against the grain, also will be v hard as I usually work FT but was out of work for a couple of months) or do teachers normally notice?

I'll admit to being totally pfb, but I wouldn't be happy with this at all tbh. Are you happy with the school in general? Any other options you could go and look at if you think he's not being challenged?

Lack of reading record/ability to communicate is utterly crap!

Reading diaries work really well in my experience. Plus our school gives out prizes based on the amount of reads, which is a good incentive. The teachers and I both comment in the books about what had gone well, the teacher tells us what to focus on.
But, I have learnt to ignore book levels. We go to the library and grab a load of books,that appear to be about the right level and give them a try. DD2 has just finished Year 2. We read Roald Dahl, David Williams, really just let her choose. I couldn't tell you what band she was supposed to be on. The best thing you can do is to encourage a love of reading, and, certainly in DD1s case, that can mean not forcing it when she isn't in the mood.

We do lots of “other” reading too... so he does his reading from school every night, but at bedtime I read him and DD (3) a “proper” story that spans days/weeks eg Roald Dahl. He usually reads the first chapter and then I read the rest. When he reads I always check understanding which seems one.

Generally happy with the school, he’s happy and has loads of friends. Seems very popular indeed bless him which somehow I didn’t fully expect from a pretty quiet and shy boy!

That sounds mean. He’s very kind so I expected him to have friends!

NoIDontWatchLoveIsland

Teachers simply don’t have enough time to spend on every single student in their class. This is reality and the only way the op will get what she wants is to either pay for private school or pay a tutor.

Well I think what I wanted was to know if this is “normal”, and if I have to raise it every time he might be ready to move up, or if they might do that on their own...

Thanks everyone for your responses. Appreciate all the help.

It does sound a bit pants. Maybe bring it up at parents evening?

It’s normal because sadly teachers don’t have the time. Reading records are 95% a waste of time in every school i’ve worked in, mostly they’re stamped by a TA or a parent signs it when they haven’t bothered to read with the child because they can’t actually read it/don’t know what it’s about when you speak to them. Individual reading is hard to keep a track on in a less than five hour day with 35 kids and 5 lessons to get through. It’s hard. I think you just have to accept you need to help and play a part in some things at school and for your child’s education. I’ve had to do it in PPA before to fit it in. It’s a nightmare.

Do they need help with hearing children read was my thought as it sounds like there's an ad hoc approach which resulted in this. When teaching I heard the 4 or 5 children who struggled with reading daily & to lessen the load parents who volunteered heard the others. But I'd discreetly listen while passing every now & again to keep tabs on progress & parents recorded comments in a reading record that I also checked. Would your school do that?

I can see it from both sides - both having taught the year group in question and from the point of a parent who had a bit of a crap teacher for DD2 in that year group this last year. They do tend to plateau for a while and then suddenly progress, but yes, sometimes a child slips you by in the endless rush to hear as many read as you can in a week that really needs moving up a book band (toward the end of an average week it tends to be that any child standing still for more than a second is told to get their book bag and come read to any adult spare!)

My own kids teachers know that mine are very good readers (both greater depth and got 100% on the phonics screen) and that if they ARE running frantically behind one week - I'm one of the parents who gets it and won't get in a fuss if they skip my kid that week (our school is really strict on the expectation that at least one adult in school hears every child once a week) and that mine read at home - but I do on occasion have a quick word with the teacher to say "think they've suddenly made a jump - can you listen to a page or two to see if they need to move up a band" and the bulk of the time they agree that I'm right and tweak the level accordingly. I'm around school a fair bit anyway helping with things like gluing work into books (my personal pet hate to watch teachers waste flipping hours doing this - so if I've got the time I'll happily sit and do it so they don't get stuck doing it themselves) and listening to readers.

To be honest though mine read so much at home and much more complex books (and actually with good understanding as they're forever discussing the stories they've read) that I don't get in a tizz much about school reading books at all. We go through them a bit at a time (longer chapter ones) and I silently curse the bastard who put some fucking Rainbow Fairy books into the school reading book band trollies (especially if I've been in hearing readers and then get the kids bringing them home as well so I get a multiple dose of the bloody things).

Yes I’m totally happy to play my part Amanduh, volunteered and did loads when I wasn’t working, although not reading as the only day they needed help I had DD with me and no nursery place available. But with a full on FT job it’s hard and I’m limited to just helping DS at home and limited contact with his teacher. Here’s hoping next year we can make it work somehow.

Just a thought, are home books and school books linked? Are the books given to the children or do they pick them themselves? Only asking as some schools ask the children to pick the books to take home,some children don't change them for weeks,some pick easier or lower books which isn't always noticed etc.

DD reads at home same band as at school, but for home books she'll always pick the easiest ones (short,poems etc).

Tbh, it's probably a mix... and you will have to mention if there's a long time with him stuck on the same books but you feel he's made progress.

There's parents evening around October and February (so that's two occasions where you can mention it), also you could plan a day or two of leaving early or if you have a day off anyways just drop in. Do you have the option of ringing the school (most teachers are still in until at least 5) or sending emails?

Have a plan B figured out, but give it tome and see how it goes in y2. They'll have to step it up anyways in preparation for the English sats. Speed and comprehension will be a focus this year.

Yes they get to pick from their level... so any book in that band and they’re told when they go up and can pick from a different level.
Will def at least think about it more this year than I did last... I just totally trusted the system and when he was stuck in five for ages just assumed he wasn’t improving so kept up the reading with him at home in the hope it helped...

Not sure this is any different from how it was years ago, unfortunately. My children are 22 and 19 and were never heard reading individually after reception, either by the teacher, the TA or parent volunteers.

I didn't work on Fridays when they were young and used to go into school and hear children read. It was always the same children I was asked to hear - the ones the teacher knew were struggling - which obviously made sense.

Each child had a reading diary. When I thought mine were ready to move up, I just took matters into my own hands. The next Friday when I was in school, I'd give them a book from the next level and noted in the diary that I had moved them up to pink level or whatever came next.

DD was "stuck" on the same level since mmmm march I think?
Some books she whizzed through, some I could see myself she found a bit more difficult. Once she started fussing about moving and having read most of the books(nearly end of summer term) that's when I mentioned. The teacher explained how and why they move, and why this last move takes longer (basically they jump two bands in one go) but she'll assess her. Once she explained I doubted she'd move up,but she was assessed and she moved. It was also an issue of how many words per minute she can read correctly (we also had the same in y1)

So sometimes it's the teachers just not getting to it yet and the parents mentioning it. Sometimes it's an issue of kids not being quite ready or needing a bit of a push.

Just read at home , all types of books. Fiction and non fiction,short books,chapter books. Expose him to various vocabulary and writing styles. As long as he makes visible progress and enjoys reading he will do well.

No one will ask on his Uni application what band was he on in y1.

Oh and I didn’t mean to say you’re not playing your part; I understand how bloody hard it is to fit everything in - as a parent and a teacher! I hope you can make it work but I don’t think it will be a problem really in the long run

Sounds familiar! Both mine got ‘stuck’ for ages on levels for the simple reason that no one had heard them read. I just moved them up myself using library books from the next band.

Sadly it is the way it goes with reading.

Before the summer I mentioned to DS' HT that I could pick up a morning a week helping in the school every other week as DD3 starts school and DD4 nursery. Another Mum in the same position with a school starter said the same and the HT almost cried in gratitude as their current parent helpers who do reading are finishing up as their kids are going off to high school.

Schools are just so stretched just now.

In year 3 my daughter told her teacher she wanted to move up as she had read all the books in her level. She was keen so he let her. She struggled with some of the words, but generally did ok and found them more interesting.

We are at the opposite end of the scale. We think dd is dyslexic and since February she has been having 1 to 1 tuition from a teacher specialising in teaching children with dyslexia. That combined with some group intervention work by the school mean she is progressing well and is getting more confident.

(The school know about the tuition. We are using someone the school suggested, tgey had a copy of the assessment that was done , and a ta in the school also teaches there).
Reading diary is not completed as much by school as it was at the start of year 3, but I put that down to the ta doing other phonics based activities with them instead of just listening to them read.
It sounds as if the teacher was responding when you spoke to her. If she didnt respond, then i would be concerned.

That may be normal in a lot of schools - seems that several parents on here had the same experience. But I don't think it's normal in the sense of being what's supposed to be happening and it isn't what happened with my kids when they were in infants 4 years ago.

My kids' teachers separated them out into reading groups by level and spent time each fortnight with every group listening to all of them read at least a little in the group, from that she identified ones that might be ready to move up and spent more times with them. Ones that were struggling also got more time and 1:1 reading time with a volunteer parent. Mine were moved through reading levels pretty rapidly with no prompting from me. I think you have a good example there of your child being left behind due to lack of appropriate attention and it's well worth raising with the school. It may be a poor teacher or a systematic issue because of teaching methods the school dictate or because there are too many other things for the teacher to get done, but it obviously hasn't worked for your son and it's important the school be aware of that. Maybe they can't do anything about it because they don't have the resources. But maybe they can change things a bit and do better. If it's not brought up more formally it will just get swept under the carpet, because the teacher is still relying on you to identify that he's ready for testing.

There will be other kids in that class, whose parents are not willing or able to be the advocate you are being and those kids are not going to be getting a suitable education. And there may be other ways your DC's progress is being overlooked but which you aren't aware of how well he's doing or don't know to ask about.

Why don't they have time? Genuinely asking. I did work experience in a year 1 class when I was a teenager and the class teacher had 1 hour reading time a day with kids having 10 minute slots each. She did this every day. The class size was 30 kids, are year 1 classes bigger nowadays? Do teachers have less autonomy on how to organise the days, weeks learning activities?

Why don't they have time? Genuinely asking. I did work experience in a year 1 class when I was a teenager and the class teacher had 1 hour reading time a day with kids having 10 minute slots each. She did this every day. The class size was 30 kids, are year 1 classes bigger nowadays? Do teachers have less autonomy on how to organise the days, weeks learning activities?

Less autonomy. More subjects. Less assistance. More mixed abilities making every task more complicated. Much much more firefighting

Mostly, what do you do with the other 29 children while you read for an hour? Cuts to TA funding means there's noone else to help the other 29 with a task (and at that age you can't just set them going and leave them to it!).
Also more constraints/demands on the curriculum: when I was that age 30 years ago we didn't have much TA support, but we had much more free playtime in which the teacher could sit at the side and read with individuals. That's now been cut right back, but without the TA support to do it.
Someone mentioned making the school aware. I suppose it's the right thing to do, but ime all that will happen is the teacher will get it in the neck for not being in 30 places at once. Support will not be forthcoming (there isnt any). Blame will be. There's a reason for teacher stress levels and the numbers leaving the profession.

When mine were small, we read whatever came home from school but went to the library once a week and my DC read those to me too. Once the school books became ridiculously easy we just asked not to have them sent home anymore & we sent in whatever they were currently reading. It wasn't an issue. I went in once a week as a volunteer reader as the class teacher and TA were run off their feet.