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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To expect my child to make progress in reception?

142 replies

LovelyMoans · 12/01/2022 19:12

Even if they started the year already where they need to be by the end of it, in reading?

The attitude from school seems to be that because DC has reached the required level for reception, they should just sit at it all year while others catch up.

It's implied I'm pushy for questioning this because "DC is doing well, why are you concerned".

Doesn't every child deserve to make progress from wherever they started the year?

Particular keen to hear views from teachers as to what I'm missing as I feel I'm going a bit mad.

OP posts:
TremendouslyJolly · 12/01/2022 19:43

YANBU I had the same battle with mine in Reception, they just seemed to dick around most of the time and he wasn’t getting progressed onto appropriate books. In our case it was party DS being shy with the teacher and getting performance anxiety, so he wasn’t showing how competent he was. But there also seemed a big emphasis on not pushing or overwhelming them in Reception as it is an “introduction” rather than proper school. He got really bored and lost his enthusiasm for reading a bit. In Year 1 they seem much more proactive and he’s finally getting books at the right level. Not a teacher but have heard from friends who are teachers that this is the approach and they really step it up in year 1.

WakkaWakkaWakka · 12/01/2022 19:44

You aren’t wrong. I had an issue with my eldest being held back in Y1 but I questioned it and they progressed them. No such issue with my youngest, they are in white books (Y2) and should Only be on orange / turquoise by the end of the year.

I’d want to speak with the head. They should have at least 3 groups per year group - 1 behind, 1 at the right level and 1 being pushed ahead IME.

Original poster
LovelyMoans · 12/01/2022 19:44

Lego

I'm willing to bet that a child who struggled with those things AND was behind in reading would be expected to progress in both?

But anyway the feedback we've had generally (from childminder & nursery before school) is that DC is confident, well behaved etc.

1.Is that your DC is excelling at reading but struggling in other areas of their emotional and social side of EYFS curriculum? It could be they're focusing more on these areas for your DC? if they are I feel that's what they could feed back, I'm happy to do what I can to support at home

2. Does your child love reading and enjoy the challenge? They could perhaps be concerned that DC is getting 'bored' or stressed about reading? DC likes reading when they can choose from a selection. DC isnt thrilled that at school a book is chosen for them and they get no choice at all.

How much extra teaching of reading and academics are you doing at home?

Just reading 5 or 6 times a week (we aim for daily but inevitably miss a day here or there...!) (one book. So if it's a school one it only takes about 3 mins. if I find a more suitable one it might take about 10-15 mins including talking about it).

I don't think I do anything you'd call "teaching". DC is exposed to stuff like maths through the stuff they enjoy playing with (we play a lot of games, Lego, toy shop etc), we encouraged writing christmas & thank you cards to practise that.

OP posts:
Mumofsend · 12/01/2022 19:48

I would do reading chest too, my DD loves them

Our school does phonics books 'learning books' based on current sounds being covered but Children also get to choose a 'love to read' book as a free choice everytime too. Works well

Original poster
LovelyMoans · 12/01/2022 19:48

I’d want to speak with the head.

Is this a thing? I hate the idea of like going over someone's head to have moan but equally when I try to talk to the teacher she just doesn't listen at all, it's like getting a politician to answer a question, she answers the question she thinks you should have asked not the one you actually asked.

OP posts:
Cuwins · 12/01/2022 19:50

I'm not a teacher but work in a special school and had responsibility for my classes 1:1 reading for a while. Obviously special needs makes it very different in many ways so possibly not relevant but one thing I found was that I had several very confident readers who could read almost anything I put in front of them fluently but their comprehension of what they were reading was far lower than their reading ability. Therefore they were often sent home with much lower level books than they could read with the focus being on comprehension. Could there be anything like this involved?

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 12/01/2022 19:51

What do you mean you want the school to feed back? We’ve had one parents evening and it was only a few wks after starting, perhaps the next one will hold more weight. No offence OP but it sounds like you expect quite a lot of feed back and info on your child- there are 30 kids in a class, a teacher doesn’t have time to report back on each child’s strengths and weaknesses daily

Callingallskeletons · 12/01/2022 19:53

Beyond Yellow level in reception?

Wow I’d be happy if DC had progressed to red at that stage tbh OP, I think maybe you need to sit back and think about what other development stages your DC could be progressing in along side their impressive reading/phonics skills and encourage those

Original poster
LovelyMoans · 12/01/2022 19:55

It could be a simple as the Reception classroom only has books up to a certain level and the next ones are in the Year 1 classroom and there isn't enough to go round.

This really seems like a poor excuse to not challenge a child.

What is her inference like? Is she able to answer questions about what she has just read, or tell you about the story on her own words? Is she reasonably fluent. They are the main reasons I’d have for not moving a child on. Sometimes a child can be brilliant at decoding, but that is quite different from really reading.

DC is fine at this but tbh on yellow level books there's not a huge amount to infer or retell. Pretty fluent. Will have an odd unfamiliar word they sound out but not loads. I do think comprehension is weaker area, its partly why I'd like harder/longer books, there's more to discuss.

OP posts:
Legoisthebest · 12/01/2022 19:57

To be honest those reading scheme books aren't the best (dull stories - a lot of children aren't enthusiastic about them). Does the school have a good supply of non reading scheme books that the children can just access? If not perhaps the PTA could do a fundraiser to get a good supply.
My daughter was an early reader and barely bothered with the reading scheme books (they could choose books to take home and she would generally go for the non reading scheme books).
Do you have to write in a reading diary? I was quite honest and would put "child didn't want to read 'Biff and Chip Do Something Dull' but she read a chapter of X book which she is really enjoying".

Original poster
LovelyMoans · 12/01/2022 19:58

Beyond Yellow level in reception?

For a child older in the year it's really not that unusual to be comfortably on yellow books after Christmas. I know lots of DC at other schools on higher.

OP posts:
Original poster
LovelyMoans · 12/01/2022 20:00

Does the school have a good supply of non reading scheme books that the children can just access?

It's all done in a very limiting way. DC is sent home with a school library book they can choose each week but it's always much too hard for them to read themselves and we are told it's for us to read to them. There doesn't seem to be any access for DC to just browse and choose from books suitable for them to read themselves which is a pity as DC is much more engaged when they've had any choice at all.

OP posts:
Legoisthebest · 12/01/2022 20:02

Also about the not having enough books comment (as in the higher level books might be in the Year 1 classroom) does seem like a poor excuse but many schools struggle to afford to buy new/replacement books all the time and often the stock levels gets small (books damaged, taken home and not returned etc).
That sucks big time (which is why my daughters primary school library of non - reading scheme books that the children could just pick whatever they wanted was entirely PTA funded).

JanuaryBluehoo · 12/01/2022 20:02

Op, I wish schools would be more open with parents about their schemes and why they do what they do.

With both dc I have had to step in and help them in totally different ways. Dd 1 was an incredible reader and loved reading and yet the school saddled her to boring books that were a waste of time eg they still had her on biff and chip when she was reading the entire lemony snicket series at home!!
In the end we just helped her ourselves and every single pe teachers praising her writing and reading etc... Which was down to us.. She was lucky to have us, what upsets me is the dc out there who don't have parenteral support!.. Second dd has totally opp issue and didn't get phonics so again we had to step in with our own books via reading chest.

I would do reading chest, make sure to ask the questions at the back and let him fly on.
Dd1 did really well with phonics.
Dd2 cannot do phonics and is a sight reader.. No less able to read now.

Good luck op. The point of my ramble... Don't expect the school to do bespoke education for your child. You have to step in and watch every step of the way.
However if he is a good person reader because of the time you spent with him do be prepared for a level off as well.

Original poster
LovelyMoans · 12/01/2022 20:05

Lego I did actually offer personally to the governors to fund new reading books.... and was turned down.... I kid you not

OP posts:
Dindundundundeeer · 12/01/2022 20:06

I do think comprehension is weaker area, its partly why I'd like harder/longer books, there's more to discuss

Harder or even less to understand! They need to ensure they understand the easy stuff first or your building a Jenga tower of knowledge

LittleBearPad · 12/01/2022 20:06

Sign up for Oxford Reading Tree online and you can access some of their books for free.

Dindundundundeeer · 12/01/2022 20:06
  • You’re
RowanAlong · 12/01/2022 20:08

You just gotta stretch em at home. That’s it.

Just2MoreSeasons · 12/01/2022 20:10

LovelyMoans I use reading chest. It's been great my year 2 child. I have a discount code if you want to PM me. Means you can try it for a month at £4.95. (I would get £5 off too)

Cuwins · 12/01/2022 20:11

@Dindundundundeeer

I do think comprehension is weaker area, its partly why I'd like harder/longer books, there's more to discuss

Harder or even less to understand! They need to ensure they understand the easy stuff first or your building a Jenga tower of knowledge

Agree with this. I was taught that if they are struggling with the comprehension part then you drop down levels to work on that not go up! You want books they can read with no effort so they are not thinking about that and you can focus on comprehension questions.
Legoisthebest · 12/01/2022 20:11

Oh that's really sad the governors turned down your offer Sad

CouldIhaveaword · 12/01/2022 20:16

All of the pupils will, sooner or later, be able to read. At that point they can pick and choose books at a level that they enjoy. No need to rush.

I was advised to stretch DS in other directions to address different aspects of his development. For example, learning an instrument at his own pace to teach the value of practice and self discipline. He was also quite clumsy and struggled to anticipate, so ball games helped with this.

Funnily enough, the non-academic aspects that the teacher had predicted might cause problems later on turned out to be correct and I'm glad we had a chance to address them at an early stage. Reading and writing were not a big issue.

MananaTomorrow · 12/01/2022 20:27

@CouldIhaveaword was told a similar version for my dc.
This didn’t work for him and the areas where I predicted he would struggle, he did.

Learning self discipline by learning an instrument doesn’t always transfer into self discipline for school for example, esp when things are always coming very easily to the child.

C152 · 12/01/2022 20:29

That's a strange attitude from the school. Yes, I would expect your child to progress, not just coast along not improving for the rest of the year. Is there a school library? If so, can your child borrow more appropriate books from the library rather than just relying on what the class teacher puts in the book bag? If not, can you go to your local library with your DC and pick out some better books together?

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