To expect a child to read with a grown up at least a couple of times in the first term of reception?

[Benibidibici]

DC is late aug birthday so only just four on starting school. Happy there and enjoying it etc, settled in fine.

They are never heard read by any adult. Teacher has acknowledged this.

Have found out this week some kids are reading with an adult one on one three or four times a week.

I know they have to focus on the ones who need a bit of help but come the fuck on, how does a little 4 year old feel if they never get that little bit of one on one time with a grown up and others get loads? Its not just about the reading - its about that bit of attention, the teacher or TA learning who they are and how they respond. Surely they can fit in my DC once or twice a term if they can find 3 or 4 times a week for other kids. Dc hates never getting picked to go and read. :(

The entitlement here is everything that's wrong with parents at the moment. Your child is doing well, you admit that yourself. Children who come from homes with deprivation you can't even imagine, parental illness, or huge historic disadvantages deserve a step up. Your child probably doesn't even notice whether he's chosen or not. Reading with the teacher isn't a cosy time to connect, it's just reading. If you don't like it, home educate or go private.

How often does the OP listen to her child read?

I or DH read with him every day.

Kids who are struggling falling further behind and - if not corrected - having their life chances severely affected because little Jonny has to have exactly 1/30th of the teacher's attention

Rtft. I am very clear that i do not expect DS to get 1/30th!

I'd expect 1/500th rather than 1/5000th. While other children get 5/30.

if you wfh occasionally you can spare half an hour to go in and then make up the time over lunch or after bed time etc

I am not allowed to do this with my work. I also already work reduced/flexible hours to cut down on wraparound care needs. I would fucking love to go in and volunteer but I just can't during the school day.

it was open to you to delay their start until 5 so that they’d be a bit better able to cope with independence and less teacher input.

I wasn't worried about him and im still not. He's coping fine and is independent. I would describe him as "very able" etc as people on here assume but he's doing fine. Its utterly normal for a child to notice when they never get a turn at something others get almost every day.

Agree. I wfh and I am chained to my desk for at least 8-9 hours a day. There is no “popping out” to volunteer. I read with my children in the evenings and at weekends and volunteer in the school roles that I can commit to (school governor out of work hours). We can’t all just drop our full time jobs to volunteer.

It's a different country so the curriculum will be different. That's all it is.
Juniors Infants in English medium schools in Ireland are at the phonics stage too.

This 100%
people assuming wfh means it's somehow easier to nip away I literally have meetings after meetings and already use my flexibility to do school runs and such it's main draw js the lack of commute time etc
it's fine for the op not to volunteer! Anyone suggesting this as the solution is living a sheltered and privileged existence work wise that many can only dream of
would you tell a surgeon to just nip out during an operation to volunteer at school- no so why is ops job any less valuable to her or society somehow because it's done at home!
She sounds entitled and a bit deluded about the normal reading process in reception but her work isn't the issue here really is it 🤦‍♀️

You’re an adult.
Do YOU read with your child?
If not, then do it!

I still agree with you and I think the majority of teachers on here do too from reading. Interesting that his own teacher really also accepted it isn’t good enough. Parent support is vital in helping them to do well and I will always hear my child read and recognise the benefit where children read at home. However, it is the teacher’s job to be monitoring a child’s reading and good schools are still achieving this despite all the cuts because it should be their priority. It is also their job to ensure all children feel valued in their class and while the picture won’t be the same for every child, never reading while others read daily is not fair - and let’s remember that these children are four and equity is a tricky concept for children far older as well as many adults.

So why is there nothing at all written in this child’s reading diary from any school staff? The teacher herself has essentially admitted the ball has been dropped here with OPs child.

I accept that struggling/SEN children may need some additional help in school but it’s not acceptable to just put kids who are on track on the back burner to do it. Children who excel in school also need to be appropriately challenged and stretched.

People suggesting that anybody with a child that doesn’t have SEN should be home educating or paying for private education are quite frankly being ridiculous, and I don’t agree that it’s entitled to expect a child to receive a good standard of education from the school they attend.

1000% worth talking to the teaching team about!

Mine recently and heard every day and I continue at home

I think the way a lot of teachers manage it, is to listen to readers during lunchtimes and playtimes which is also their break when they should be having a cup of tea and preparing for the next lessons. Schools are running on goodwill and not much else at the moment.

This isn’t true at all - as a teacher you see a lot of children who can read basic sentences at 4 years old. It has alot to do with parent interaction and reading at home. You see so many older children that don’t own a book or even have a library membership - it’s awfully sad tbh.

Sorry but you are being a bit ridiculous here. If children are going out in the first term of Reception that regularly, they are not going to ‘read’ - as in read a book and have lovely storytime - they are going to do phonics catch up interventions with flashcards etc… these children need 1:1 intervention to secure the initial sounds needed for reading which is the single most important thing in early education. If your child is doing well and doesn’t need this, then be really happy and relax because your child is exactly where they need to be or a little ahead. I’m not sure why you think your child needs this extra attention - that’s not really school’s job. Your child will get lots of attention throughout the day in other ways and throughout their school lives they will grow in confidence due to receiving positive feedback on their learning. Some of those children who are having the ‘extra attention’ now will have terrible low self esteem and confidence throughout their time at school because they’re overwhelmed by how hard everything is.

I’m a teacher and even when children are 10 they still want to be picked to read with the adult - it’s just natural for children but not something that you need to get bothered by if they don’t get chosen. Even though you try to facilitate this as much as possible, those children who need it have to be prioritised. My job is to teach and the majority of children have learnt what they need to through my whole class teaching and those that haven’t need to have ‘extra.’ Children in my class have asked before why it is that some children get to go and play Lego but they're not able to. Their perception is that this is a treat away from the classroom but it’s actually an intervention for a child with ASD to build relationships with peers and learn to take turns. My 5 year old had noticed this about a boy in his class and wanted to know why he didn’t get to play with Lego like they did. I explained that some children find aspects of school more difficult than others and sometimes need a bit of time out or extra support to learn. He’s absolutely fine with that and now understands that it’s not a special treat because they’ve done something well and he hasn’t.

With regards to the actual reading though … are you sure they’re not reading every day in a guided reading group? All schools need to be signed up to an approved phonics scheme and these all involve reading in some form every day. If this isn’t happening then I would be requesting a meeting to discuss why not.

They have just started reception. The first term is all about settling in.

The teacher hasn't admitted that the ball has been dropped.
The teaching assistant has initially said that no children read 1 to 1, possibly because as far as she knows this is true as it is not routinely done in class and he/she isn't aware of what children are doing when taken out. TA then said that she will find out about who is getting 1 to 1 reading. Then being faced with a parent that hasn't accepted that answer, has apologised and said that they will make sure that op's child has done 1 to 1 by the end of term.
TAs are not in the loop of every detail of the day to day of every child's education. They go to where they are needed and do whatever tasks they are asked. Especially if the TA is still at college and volunteering as part of their college course.
The reading record will probably only be written in when 1 to 1 reading has taken place, Still doesn't mean that the teacher isn't hearing the child read in group.

You are missing my point that, children that need extra help with reading and/or other areas of learning, manage this by missing out on other activities and lessons. Do you think that the whole class does reading at the same time and some children sit and listen to the same children reading to the teacher, or they sit and read to themselves whilst the same children are chosen to read to the teacher over and over. No, they are being educated in groups doing other activities. Having to be taken out of class, even just for ten minutes, to have extra support in 1 area of learning, is disruptive to that child's learning in the lesson that they are partially or completely missing.
Not doing 1 to 1 reading in the first term of reception doesn't mean that the child is not receiving a good standard of education. If the child is where they should be for their age then they are capable of learning through normal classroom learning. If the teacher sees any signs that there is a problem with the child being able to learn in this manner, then they will flag it up.

If the education in the school is not good enough on the whole then that is entirely a different matter and is hopefully recognised in ofstead ratings. But you can't say that a child isn't getting a good education by comparing how much 1 to 1 they are getting compared to a few other children. Because some are getting extra help doesn't mean that others are not being appropriate challenged or stretched. The level that the child is working at is probably challenging enough.
When my son started yr he was still at preschool level because it wasn't picked up on until he was 2 that he couldn't hear very well. It delayed everything about his development aswell as him having a physical disability. It took until y6 for him to catch up to national average. Maybe we should have been happy for him to start secondary school below national average and for him to struggle even more and fail his exams so that was in his class gets to show off to the teacher how well they can read on a 1 to 1 basis.
It's extra funding for children that need extra help.

Hi OP im a reception teacher with a lot of additional responsibility, a full on phonics scheme, expectations of work in books for English and maths (🙄) and children who need a lot of extra help. I still read with every child once a week! It is hard and sometimes I have to use lunchtime to read but I do it. Terrible for it not to happen!

The amount we have learnt this term
is unbelievable! Learnt all single sounds, children are currently up to reading words with ‘ai’ in them!

It should be equally spread unless these are TAs or helpers specifically assigned for SEND kids. Is your son telling you the truth? As in he may not be lying but he may not be telling you the full picture. If the school have said it, okay different. Most schools have one TA and one adult to 30 kids. Impossible to do. So maybe volunteer your spare time to help and read with him as much as possible at home. Signed, parent of a summer born reception kid/teacher.

What did the school say about it, it’s the only way to truly understand what they are doing and why

I get it OP. My dc were in a state primary for reception. They read to an adult at least once a week. We moved and they went to a prep school where they read with an adult every day. Both occasionally read with a teacher up till year 4 (no difficulties reading but for the benefits of 1:1 time. All the children did this. Children who need learning support read way more with teachers/TAs)

They have to prioritise the ones who need it. Those kids are likely to never catch up - I work in teaching kids to read and there are always very scarce hours to do this in. Kids who are behind at age 4-5 often never catch up to their peers. Many of them will still be having extra time in high school, unless they are given appropriate time now. I think your DC can handle a few hurt feelings, more than a kid can handle never being able to read like their peers. Teach DC about everyone having different needs and don’t take precious life-changing interventions away from kids who do not have such good fortune.

Is your child telling you everything though? I bet if you asked the teacher he is sitting with TA or other member of staff to read. My son told me his teacher wasn’t helping him and ignoring him. I went in to speak to her. In his head she was because it was a TA helping him. So if he says my teacher doesn’t listen to me read he means the teacher but I would guess someone else in that class is