WWYD - DC may be cheating in tests?

[nanbread]

DC (6) has been getting full marks in spelling tests in recent weeks, but before that wasn't doing so well (think half wrong on average). We haven't been doing much practice at home, about 10 minutes a week.

I hope it's just clicked and/or it's down to the little effort we are making, of course, it just seems a little... unexpected, getting full marks every time all of a sudden.

Is it feasible DC has suddenly improved doing this on their own merit (when we practise at home it's a struggle)? Would a teacher know if a child was cheating? WWYD?

Just test him on the same words yourself? Either in the morning before the evening after?

Yes when we've gone through them the morning of the tedt they're often incorrect but he then tries to memorise them / get them right. He's v reluctant to spell them for me before or after tbh.

I doubt he is but maybe he is copying from another child. Poor fellow feeling that kind of pressure to do well at 6.

If I were you I wouldn't confront him. I would have a chat about how the tests aren't about being good or bad but what you need to learn/focus on. I would also - at another time - have a fairly casual-sounding chat about what cheating is and how it is a bad thing "you know, now you are in school I thought I should explain this to you - that you shouldn't copy because that is taking someone else's work - which isn't really nice and is no use as the teachers really just want to know what you know or don't know so they can teach you"

Test him after he's got full marks. If he doesn't get the same with you, let the teacher know this is happening and ask them to investigate.

I know pallisers I've been careful not to lavish too much praise on him for these / or any academic results, but one week before all this he got all words but one wrong. I made a big deal of the one he got right, and i wonder if I have inadvertently created this problem as he wants more praise? He doesn't boast about it or seem particularly excited at getting them all right though. It's all a bit strange.

I've asked who he sits next to, and I'd be surprised if those children are getting them ALL right every week, to my knowledge they're not top spellers. But I don't know how else he'd be getting them right so maybe he is copying.

Thanks for the advice.

Poppinjay I've tried his but he's very reluctant, he refuses and I don't think forcing him (however I'd do that!) would be productive.

How do you know he’s being getting them all correct ? Is he telling you or have you actually seen the spelling sheet?

If he is copying the spellings, maybe you should spend a little more than 10 minutes a week helping him? Maybe he could practice a few every with you?

I’m a ta and you can tell that they have been copying, They do all do it. They don’t seem to be stressed by the test (though I actually can’t see why they should be getting all this right at such a young age). We let them correct their own and often they mark something correct that’s actually not. So, he may think he got 10, but in reality wasn’t sure about the ‘ei’ or the ‘ie’ spelling.

on an unrelated note, what is the benefit of learning spellings? No one uses them in real life. I know my spellings because of what I read - not what I learned by heart at age 6 - I learned to recognise the right way a word looked and the wrong way. And spell check has transformed spelling anyway.

Does any teacher know why spellings are still so important?

If it is teaching learning by heart, I'd rather they learned a poem.

He's probably copying another child. My daughter did this because she was scared of getting things wrong. Her teacher was a bit of a dragon.

@DillyDilly I see the answer sheet.

We don't practice much because he's reluctant and like @pallisers I think there are better ways of learning, and he's simply not retaining the information by learning like that. So I don't push it. I'd rather spend the time reading with him. But maybe I need to try to find more fun ways to help him learn them.