What to I do/say about this? Primary school literacy

[CathyTre]

My son has just started year three, so first year at a new junior school. He really struggles with literacy and is way behind.

I am a qualified primary school teacher and, just to be open, worked at his new school until last year, so I do know that what’s come home is school policy.

DS scored expected at maths, exceeding at science but very below for reading and worse for writing on ks2 end of key stage tests. He’s articulate and has good ideas, but there’s a definite literacy problem. He’s July born aged seven, but is not my first child and eldest son is August born, so whilst that may have bearing, it’s not the whole picture.

Why on earth send this home? It’s achievable to him like advanced calculus is to me, i.e. not at all.

I just feel that this is an exercise in demoralising a child and will obviously not be attempting it, but how would you raise it with school? New teacher is an NQT and I don’t know her, so I don’t want to be or seem too negative.

My point is, “Please learn the words that are not highlighted”!

As someone who struggled with achieving an NHS diagnosis only to get one after leaving the country - find a private educational psychologist and get an assessment that way.

Here’s what he can do.

I'm a qualified, experienced KS2 teacher. There are two statutory spelling lists in the NC- one for years 3/4 and one for years 5/6.

To achieve expected standard in Year 6 SATs for writing (ie meet age related expectations), pupils have to be able to spell the words on the Y5/6 list... and this presumes that they can also spell all words on the Y3/4 list. This is just one of 12 criteria that ALL have to be met to get expected standard.

Don't stress about the list now- in an ideal world he will learn these words over the next two years, ie by the end of year 4. I think the teacher has just sent these home to illustrate starting points (and probably used for her own assessments too). Hope that helps.

I don’t think that the list is the problem. I think that your concern over his spelling is the issue but this has caused further worry for you. I’d speak to the SENCO about your concerns and try to find out what interventions can be put in place. Forget the list, it’s triggered a worry and that’s what you should focus on xx

Yip. This is way too hard.

Ok so they highlight the words they consider the child can already spell, and there are none highlighted in his lost because he's not there yet. In a nutshell you need to talk to his teacher, reiterate where he is and what you've tried, this list is frankly irrelevant, what you need to be discussing is your son's literacy generally. She might have nothing new to add or suggest but at least you're starting the year with open communication. As a teacher yourself I'd think that was obvious.

Tbh, I feel like he has a special beef that needs fairly intensive intervention, and I need to push the school to recognise this as well as the outside agencies we’ve been trying to work with... but nothing from school and Nessie test said no problem so I’m concerned he’ll get passed over.

He’s quiet, very well behaved and the yada yada “pleasure to have in the class” child. . He didn’t alert staff to the fact that he broke his arm in the playground as he’s so diffident!

I just don’t want to be “that parent” but also don’t want him not to achieve what he can.

My eldest is 19 and school was a struggle but with a lot of support, tutoring and help he got Cs at gcse. But he was loud! And noticeable! And played semi professional football, and had a diagnosis of ADHD.

I’m worried is all. His dad and I do co parent the younger children well and don’t always agree or see eye to eye but he’s worried too.

Beef?? Need!!

I think the worry for me would be that if the words being sent home are 'standard' and not differentiated properly, then lessons might be being pitched inappropriately high and therefore he may fall further behind. I would therefore be asking how the teacher planned to ensure the key building blocks were still being worked on in school (even though others will mostly be working on more advanced concepts).

PEkithelp - you have totally expressed how I feel!

It’s ok to be worried. Some people have talked about you being a teacher and there’s a sense from some posters that you ‘should know’ but you’re also a mum and you need support with your child’s education. I’m sure there’s support and I understand that this list may have been frightening. I do understand why the teacher sent it out as it’s your right to know what the expectations are. I do think you should reach out to school. Being a teacher doesn’t mean that you should have the answers. A specialist teacher in this field can help you. Sending hugs to you x

To be fair OP my dyslexic 12 year old couldn’t spell all those words correctly (although we are now at a point where he could probably read and understand them). He was also well behaved in class and thoroughly over looked. I ended up paying for a private dyslexia diagnosis at age 9 (turned out he also has dyscalcula and processing / working memory issues) and it was money well spent, so might be worth you looking into. I’d definitely also have a discussion with his teacher about his literacy.

I know what you mean about not wanting to make the NQT’s life hard though this is the sort of thing they need to be aware of. Perhaps just say something like ‘We got the list but I’m under the impression he’s not ready for those spellings. Would it be possible to arrange something simpler for him in class / for homework..’

That list with instruction just hammers home to OP's ds how far behind he is, it must be utterly disheartening to see that with its stark message Of course it needs to be sent out, but it might have been more tactful of the teacher to issue one without the handwritten instruction. It might not be obvious to a young child that it's a target for the end of Year 4 either.

If I were OP I would want a meeting arranged in school with Sendco, class teacher, etc, to discuss the support and strategies they are planning to try with OP's ds. I would want to proceed as though he has a dyslexia dx, even though he doesn't yet, because he clearly has difficulty with this area of his work and desperately needs extra support.

Also if it's possible, I would look to find a tutor who specialises in teaching children with difficulties like dyslexia. We found some who tutored neuro-diverse children and they helped our ds (with ASD) massively. I appreciate this isn't always possible but it might be worth looking into.

It's not appropriate to send such a demoralising list home with the child if they're still working towards learning year 1/2 statutory words. Had it been given directly to parents during parents' evening as a point if reference, then not so bad. As the teacher is new, I'd go easy. Just say thanks but we're still working hard to learn last year's words; he's not ready for these yet, and use this as a way in to suggest a meeting regarding his level of literacy.

And there's a possibility the lists were handed out or put into bags without the children paying much attention.

Thank you, TheNoodlesOnciddnt, that’s really put in words without my emotion how I feel and seems like a good starting point.

I know you are a teacher - but frankly, I worry about pushing children to learn to read by only teaching them phonetically. If your dc cant read that way just help him to learn word shapes by memory by reading anything he will read with you -going over the same thing until it sticks. I learnt phonetics later & many really fast readers & dyslexics learn that way & also develop very good "reading" memories. I would also check vision & hearing to be sure that that there is no problem. My spelling was abysmal until I discovered spellcheck

I had this with my eldest (she's not dyslexic is turns out but does have a specific processing problem)

School 1 just sent home massive spelling lists that were totally unachievable because that's what was required for her year group, even though there was fuck all chance of her learning them and it was totally demoralising for her.

School 2 does specific interventions designed to actually teach her how to work with her dodgy processing and actually learn how to spell.

School 1 didn't believe there was any SEN, because she's very bright, and that's why they didn't bother to differentiate properly.

I hope that's not the case for you, but it can be a hard thing to convince a school of unfortunately, that bright kids can have specific learning needs too.

Were any words highlighted ?

Thanks for all advice! I’m no longer teaching —thank god— but do have a lot of experience. And whatever I personally think about the kids’ dad, he is a VERY well respected teacher and senior leader, as is the —other woman— my children’s Step mum.

I’ll try and have a diplomatic word with the teacher tomorrow, as I’m not working; thanks for all advice.

My youngest is three and a half so this school malarkey is nowhere near over yet! Maybe he’ll be the easy one!

Well, that's the year 3 and year 4 spelling list, so I would start by explaining to him that the govt (not even his school, teachers or you) want him to try to spell as many of these as possible by the end of next year (so explain that he has two whole years to get there). Explain how assessment works - that the govt comes up with a policy and then test all the schools across the entire country to see if their policy is working. Reiterate that it is not testing the child, but the teacher, the school and the govt. I always explain why my child is tested. I ask him what he thinks will happen if he gets things wrong in a test and help him to include that pretty much nothing. Sometimes just relearning spellings. Spellings should be differentiated. The teacher will obviously need to know this. It would make far more sense to give him the year 1/2 list (along with others who are struggling as he certainly won't be alone). Have the confidence to do your own thing with him. Watch the alphablocks (they go beyond the alphabet and cover blends, etc). Retype words up in multicolours and put around your house in random places (I used to cluster my son's spellings into groups with the same prefixes or endings and write the prefix/ending in a different colour. That way the word was broken down and he only had to learn a few letters from each word). Illustrate/breakdown words to make them easy to remember (i.e. man age (with an old man stood next to it). Read lots of books together for fun. If you read to him, just use your finger to trace along each line so that he can follow it (if he chooses to, but without the pressure for him to read out loud). Do not bother making him read the books that they send home from school. They are hopelessly tedious and he will associate them with school and work. Let him read things that are easy too to build confidence and fluidity and just for fun. Talk to the teacher and make clear that you know that the 'govt' expects or restricts the curriculum but ask if you could work through previous spellings instead. Teachers are so busy, so I found that they are open to sensible suggestions, particularly if it doesn't involve much work on their part. The new curriculum does at least measure progress, so there is no point him moving onto year 3 literacy if he still needs to work on year 2. If needs be just set your own spellings test at home and reward him for that instead. I tend to just do my own thing re homework. If it's not pitched correctly or beneficial, I tend not to bother, but instead do something more fun and more tailored. Also, finally,do not forget to also focus on science as that's clearly of interest. Buy a science kit, go to science museums or days out, do experiments and support what he is good at.

Thank you! I’m doing my best as are my ex (his dad) and his step mum I imagine
as she is a ks1 teacher, and my husband, but it’s tricky :(

I think it’s ok to hand out the list for information (ideally not to the child though but nqt like you say give her a break), but as a parent I’d use that as a springboard to go in & chat to the teacher and say I know he can’t spell any of these words yet...what support can be put in place? Ideally teacher & senco together to have a chance of action.

(Am a teacher. Also parent.)