My year one five year old boy is at the standard of a new reception child

[fairyfly]

12 months behind they have just informed me in an incredibly patronising manner. He is happy and has all his confidence back and now they are going to drop him back a year. What did i do to fight his corner burst into tears. How bloody assertive.

Fairyfly, i don't know your situation but I so agree with your comments and Lisalisa's about academic assessment at age 5. My DS will start reception in january and I'm really hoping they just let him grow as a little boy and not put pressure on him to 'perform' academically and compete against his peers. Judging from the time I've spent at the school so far, his induction period and the comments from the head teacher, i think I've made the right choice of school but time will tell....

i have a friend with a 4.5 year old in private school, he's been there since 3 and at only 3.5 years old he was being given homework and his parents were being told he was 'falling behind the rest of the class'!!! FFS!!! 3 and a half!!

Plus I know the head of a very respected, high achieving boys' school (state sector but selective) who admitted privately that IHO, boys should not be judged or assessed academically before age seven because they develop more slowly than girls, and it was pointless trying to make any judgments on their ability academically before then.

As long as he is happy, smiling, and not actually wrecking the class and making the teacher's life impossible (which obviously he isn't) why on earth is your school stigmatising your lovely DS in this way?

....sorry meant to say that they develop differently from girls before then, (more slowly academically but not emotionally, psychologically, physically etc). If you get my drift!

Thanks Wordsworth, i wouldn't mind seeing some evidence and statistics of children under pressure at 3 and how it helped as an adult. I would much prefer ( even though of course i want him to be succesful) he was a well rounded secure man.
I myself only started getting higher academic achievements at college because i actually enjoyed it. His father is a poet and i am an artist ( in a loose sense of the word) so if it comes from a genetic path he's screwed anyway, not going to get any maths out of that boy

Just seen this, FF - I'm glad it's not a problem after all but am v cross with that teacher - has she been ticked off I wonder? (They wouldn't tell you if she had I suppose.)

He is such a lovely boy and it makes me and that KS1 teachers are pushed so much to achieve certain levels that infant classes have to be like this.

Message withdrawn

I know there's a lot of pressure on primary schools to perform for the local league tables and it takes a strong head to stand up to that and say that a child's happiness is the most important thing. Academic pressure can come later - heaven knows they'll have enought of it at secondary school!

Re my friend's 'non-achieving' 3 year old, I was just angry with her at the time for actually paying to put her child in a school that stigmatised him like that, a year before he even legally needed to be there! They made her feel a failure so what on earth must the little boy have felt like? She's a fantastic mum in every other respect but a frighteningly high achiever business-wise and very keen for her kids to excel. I think she's swopped schools now though!

PS Fairyfly - Wordsworth - I wish!!

Sorry I haven't read all the posts but as an ex reception teacher I find it really odd. I was always taught that in an average school class there could be a 7 year difference of ability (which would make some in reception -3 so it doesn't quite work!). And at that age there are chronologically a year different anyway which can make a big difference anyway but you plan for it. Is yours a private school because I have never heard of this happening in any of the state schools I've taught in.

ff, so sorry you've had this stress. Well done for standing up for your ds. The pressure on 5yos makes me too.

Thanks WWW

ff, so sorry you have had this stress (and lisalisa too). Our ds is a late June boy and small and quite emotionally immature for his age. So concentration, sitting still at carpet time etc are still occasional issues for him. What we wanted from Yr1 parents' evening was to hear that he was progressing well by HIS standards and his lovely teacher was very clear about that. for you that your teacher was so * * * * unhelpful.
We went the non-selective private route (and appreciate we're lucky to have been able to) because we feel so strongly that KS1 and the National Strategies can be very detrimental to small children's introduction to formal learning. That pressure is non-existent at ds' school.

I havent read all of this, and dont know the any background on your little boy, but can only tell of my experience with my 4.8 year old ds. Over the summer term his nursery told me they thought he should stay back in nursery and not go up to reception. At the time we were seeing a pead as they felt there was something not right with him, no concentration, didnt say a lot, anyway, we insisted he went up. The head told me he wouldnt cope. Anway, he has and is doing well. He is keeping up and is really confident now, chatters away and puts his hand up to answer questions which he didnt do before. Somehing in his new class, may it be the teacher, or that some kids he didnt like much are in another class, or perhaps its more stimlulating, I dont know but he has really come on. He even got the head teachers award for tyring hard. He still sees the SN teacher once a week, but she did tell me she doesnt think he will be an SN child forever. If we had kept him back in nursery I feel it would have been disatrous for him. Not sure if this will help you but just writing about what happened to us. Good luck and just do what your gut instinct tells you.

Marina i coundn't agree more, the National strategies just don't work for children like mine , they get overlooked. I have had my son crying because he doesn't know why he cant do things. It's vile. Glad you got it sorted.
Thanks Jellyhead, and no she hasn't said anything, she wont give me eye contact.
Pepsi thanks and i hope your child continues to progress.