To ignore the schools reading stuff and carry on with my own. How does one formally challenge?

[deflationexasperation]

I'm in between a rock and a hard place.

I can accept the 3 times a TA has heard 7 year old dd read in two weeks and read the level 7 books. Or, ignore that, and keep on the reading program we started in lock down, paying via company to get delivered the schools reading scheme books and keep going with those which are one /two levels higher.
Dd at the moment has undiagnosed sen, waiting for school Ed psych. Dd is on sen register but, unlike the other two on sen register is not sat at the front and has been sat at the back? I asked at the start, why and got no response.

I'm at a critical juncture with dd, she's very sensitive, possibly dyslexic but very bright. I'm deeply unhappy with the school, moving her has been looked into it and I'm not sure what to do. It's only with outside help, and then buying in tutors and myself, working with her in lock down that she's actually learning.
I know from older dd that reading levels are a cause of angst but dd will only read one thing a day.

My DDs school insist that they read every boom one every level in order. So because DD was 4 books from the end in March... Guess what she has now? They were too easy back then. Luckily they are giving her 2 a week as they can only be changed once a week, but take less than 5 mins to read (this scheme is worse than Biff&Chip)

I'm just relieved her sisters teacher/TA is letting her ignore her low lexile score and chose what books she is comfortable with. Her reading is below expected for Yr5, but it isn't picture book level. She can read chapter books. She reads them in one sitting and comes and explains them to me. She struggles with the computer programme at school though.

@deflationexasperation

Our ta, has apparently told dd she HAS to read the schools book... I just know, it's about control and dp getting above themselves I feel it.

I may tippex out what they write and just keep going with ours. But it's the pressure they put on dd.

This will certainly not help your daughter. It will confuse her about the purpose of reading at school and home and let her know your misgivings about the school.

Why not write in the reading record about the book she's been given and also about the one's you're reading with her? No need to tippex anything surely. And every comment could just be "she found this very easy and understood everything".

I think you're over-focusing on this. As a teacher, I know that scheme books are important, but they are just one part of our "reading diet." There will also be guided reading, a whole class reader, an English text, and library books too. Your daughter may not be being pushed on in this area, but it isn't the be-all-and-end-all.

As for seating position, there are lots of factors that go into a seating plan. Most schools now seat mixed ability, so sitting all children with SEN isn't possible. It's also not always best for the child.

Apologies if I’ve missed something, but I’ve just skim read through.

My understanding is that you are a keen parent, desperate to help your daughter as best you can - that’s great. As an experienced teacher, I love parents like you. However, you come across as slightly intimidating in your posts and sound a bit like you have already decided the teacher is no good. I know that parents like you can often terrify some of my colleagues.

Approach the teacher gently and ask to work with them. Let them know you are keen to help and ask what they suggest. I’m currently teaching 11 years olds, but in the past with 7-8 year olds, I would hear different children reading for differing times. Some pupils only once a week (whilst the TA would then hear them with the same book each day), others, I would hear each day myself. However, I’d be hearing each child read in many different ways daily (e.g. through written comprehension tasks, I’d ask them to read instructions on worksheets, we read non-fiction to help with our topic work, I buy the class novel on Kindle and put it on the smartboard, asking children to follow along and read small excerpts to me, etc.).

Without hearing your daughter read, it’s impossible to say whether or not it is a good idea to push her through the readers. Some children can be pushed through and they soak it all up, others need more reinforcement. The readers are there Not just to improve reading, but to promote skills such as inference, comprehension, expression, build vocabulary, etc. They are definitely not about reading for enjoyment.

I would recommend going to a bookshop with DD and pick interesting fiction and non-fiction to read together. I find reluctant readers enjoy non-fiction like Usbourne or Dorling-Kindersley with lots of images and short facts. Sit and look at the pictures and read the information together and talk about what you are learning.

Maybe she is more sensitive to this because you are, you are coming across ans only listening to what you want to hear, if they are not saying what you want to hear then not sure how any school will be suitable for you (i say you not your child) so maybe home school her yourself then you can control what and how she learns?

I can’t quite get my head around people analysing teachers seating plans in their classroom!
To think of tippexing out comments left by a member of staff astounds me too.
It’s just madness to me. It’s only a book.

My son 'jumped' from level 5 (according to the school) to level 10 over the summer after they finally reassessed him last week. I asked them to move him from level 5 before but they wouldn't reassess him when I asked last year even though he could understand and read them in less than 5 mins with no mistakes, read in his head, with intonation etc.. He was not being challenged at all, was getting fed up and did not enjoy reading as it was boring. Keeping him down was really putting him off reading. With longer texts the stories are much more interesting.

I bought reading scheme books to ensure that what he was reading was accessible. Before the summer he wasn't ready for chapter books and I didn't want to stress him out with books that were too hard. He enjoys choosing a reading book each day and we then read other books together every day too, even chapter books now.

Ask the school to reassess her reading. If the refuse I would carry on doing your own reading. I didn't 'race' ahead, we read most books at each level more than once and I ensured that he understood what was being read. I think it hugely benefited my son.

School books are boring and seem easy compared to what your dc seem capable of at home. This is normal and there are reasons for this - building confidence, expression, learning about particular vocabulary/punctuation/themes. They do have their place though. Just read the reading book and then continue with the ones she enjoys at home on top. Please don't tippex out teacher comments.

Alphabet, so you did the same as us.
The progress is easy to see isn't it.
Esp from 6 to 7. The 6 have lots of sounds in them but 7 and 8 are more about longer books, more complicated sentences and stamina.

There is little difference between 7 and 8.
My dd is tipping towards 9 which is more ish even longer stories. She's nearly there.
She couldn't tackle a chapter book just yet.

The books she reads at home are the school reading scheme books!. It's the only book she will read.

Re sen, totally understand that, but all 3 tutors dd has or has had have said she needs to sit at the front. These are people who know dd really well and have spent an hour each week of quality one on one time with her. They are experienced teachers themselves.
I don't mind her being sat at the back but why not respond to me to tell me why.

Why has she had three different tutors at her age?

It sounds like from a place of love you are inadvertently putting her under a lot of pressure academically. She is still only young work to develop a love of learning not making it into a chore.

• giving struggling readers a bespoke reading scheme via home that can quickly react to improvements will benefit them.

If dd thinks the school thinks she isn't good enough it will crush her.

She is a child who has to see progress.
She will only do a small amount of reading every day so it's ours or theirs.

It doesn't need to be as hard work as you are making it. Let school crack on and you crack on with your own.

As for seating, there's a whole host of factors that affect seating. My EHCP DD is sat towards the back at the side near a door

Sirzy,

By year 2 she wasn't moving forward, so instead of waiting for things to click, I asked for tutors locally.
This lady whom I now think of as an 😇, Angel, came to my house and looked carefully over dd work. She said dd needs visual learning aids. She needs to feel and see and put words into physical context. That lady 1, saw us for one week as she was all booked up. She told me all of dd gaps and gave me tips to help her learn.

She said its imperative dd is at the front.

2, tutor on going to help dd catch up in English.
3, to help dd in maths.

Unfortunately, my dd is simply not learning or retaining info at school.
She's come on with small bursts of 1:1 over lock down.

I understand the frustration as I had similar. My dc started reading at 2.5 so when they started school at 4.1 it seemed like a step back when she was given picture books for a few weeks. I asked about it and decided to follow the teacher as they are trained. We continued to let dc do what they wanted at home and soon dc was put on the gifted and talented program and off she went.

Let the school do their thing and allow your child to read what they want at school. If she's not keen then that's up to you to work it out. One book after school, one after breakfast is an obvious option.

@deflationexasperation It sounds like the school is failing your daughter, you need to insist on a socially distanced meeting with her teacher and senco. Write down all the points that you want to address so that you don’t miss anything out.
Not all schools are good with Sen children, one school local to me has no understanding of it at all labelling the children as naughty.
If your not satisfied with how your daughter is progressing then moving schools might be the best option.

The first child in the year to finish the reading scheme (the scheme where they were forced to read every book, it was bloody awful) asked me if my ds liked reading and I said yes. He said he felt very sad because he hated reading and he felt that he was the only kid in the class that felt that way, he'd read really quickly hoping that would be the end of it.
So while the teacher was openly celebrating that this kid was her most successful reader - he was feeling very different inside.

So much pressure on such a young child. Have you considered that’s why she is struggling and feeling she needs to compare herself with others?

If dd thinks the school thinks she isn't good enough it will crush her.

This is your problem - you have somehow managed to make her feel like this because all children are GOOD ENOUGH

Why does she need 3 tutors - she isnt her sister dont let her feel like this.

Explain that the school are going back to where they were pre lockdown and over the next half term will register the jumps that pupils have done over lockdown but that it is a slow process as they have a lot of pupils to go through

Do you think it's possible that DD is very focused on the levels because this is what you have been focusing on? You see it as progress in reading ability and so give her lots of praise and attention for moving up a level. As a result, she gets the idea that the purpose of reading is to move through levels.

But when was the last time you chose a book because of the "level" it was at? That's not why we read. Maybe you could try to focus more on whether or not she enjoyed a book, what interested her about a character or a story, whether it made her laugh or surprised her. Model reading, surround her with a variety of literature at home. Emphasise that the purpose of reading is for pleasure, interest, information etc.

As an adult I'm perfectly capable of enjoying a picture book if it has a surprising twist, a funny joke or whatever. The fact that the book is "easy" doesn't diminish my enjoyment. Let DD choose what to read at home. If it's the school book, fine; if it's something else, also fine. The most important thing is to foster intrinsic motivation.

The schools have only just gone back there haven't they? You seem to think that teacher or TA are in some sort of conspiracy to hold your child back. I'm sure that's not the case. Teachers want your DC to progress just as you do! You are on the same side. Don't frame things in terms of "complaints". Cooperate, share information and ideas.

I'm not sure what age your DD is, but as time goes on, background knowledge becomes more important than decoding so that's something else to think about. Daniel Willingham's book 'Raising Kids Who Read' is really great for this kind of guidance.

Ds ended up in a position where school where doing lots of internventions in school and he was missing lots of what his peers where doing. When he was in year 3 we realised that this was actually counterproductive as he was missing out on the things he wanted To be doing and was feeling pressured.

The nature of his needs is that he still needs a lot of extra support and some interventions (he has ehcp and 1-1) but we listened to what his behaviour was telling us and changed things to meet his emotional needs

Who has taught her to feel stupid?.

@deflationexasperation Continue with your scheme.

Sorry @sorryforswearing but I simply don’t agree, DS was off the reading scheme before leaving reception however, his teacher found every reading scheme to keep him on a banded book “as it would do him no favours in year 1 as he’d be bored”. He needed the challenge so he read the banded book in the car on the way home and we read a challenging book at home.
We still have the same challenge now, he’ll be bored later if we stretch him now. He’s bored now!

Pink, I think that's the best thing to move her, but I don't know where too or how.
I looked into at the end of year one but just got lost in the council system and because she is quirky how to I get her into a more sensitive school?
What questions do I ask!

OP, as kindly as possible, if we can feel the waves of angst and stress that are coming off your posts and the sense of being so claustrophobically surrounded by trees (the minutiae of reading levels) that you can't see the wood (the bigger picture of a child accessing reading, with strong parental support, at her pace and with joy), there's no way your daughter won't be picking up on this stress and pressure.

I think if I were you I would pause in the crusade and ask myself what's going on with me in all this. Could it be that there are anxieties about your dd's needs and your own response to them that are driving you to focus so intently on this?

In my school we don't make children read every book at every level. They are regularly assessed using a benchmarking scheme where we assess comprehension above all else and they are moved on appropriately.

Also, the assumption that the TA can't assess a child's reading is ridiculous. As a TA the school and have provided lots of training on the teaching and assessment of reading. TAs are often very experienced at teaching reading and in fact, I'd say the TAs in my school are far more capable and experienced than the teachers in this particular area. They have more time for it, whereas the teacher managing the class.

Is she happy at school OP or is it just you who are unhappy and is this a pre or post lockdown issue

I take it you are a reader and love books and have an older DD who loves books and is desperate to put that onto DD2.

Will moving schools actually work?