Falling back to Reception

[braybeatle]

My daughter is 5.10 yrs old. At age 4 we sent her to a Steiner school, where there was no numeracy or literacy whatsoever. It was our intention to continue within the Steiner system. Steiner schools deliberately avoid reading, writing, numeracy until the age of 7.

We moved to a new area in April this year when our daughter (J) was 5.4 yrs old. We decided to put her into a mainstream ie not Steiner, fee paying school. She started in Reception in April. Having never had any numeracy or literacy, she was now exposed to the normal curriculum in Reception. We did a lot at home too esp over the summer. She grasped the basic phonic scheme and is able to read by herself (Oxford Tree level 2). Numeracy was more difficult but she can count in order to 20. She is now in Year 1.

Her class tutor indicated at parents' evening (2 weeks ago) that J is not able to cope with Year 1 work. It is too advanced for her. She said that the gaps in her basic learning and understanding because of her delayed start mean that she cannot keep up. In addition to that, J, who used to love school (both the Steiner and Reception) has been saying for a few weeks that she finds it hard and cannot do the work, she gets a little upset and sometimes says she does not want to go as she finds the work "tricky". Her form tutor has taken to giving her Reception work sheets in class, which she CAN do and which she really enjoys.

We are faced with a dilemma. Do we continue her in Yr 1 and hope that the school helps to bring her up to speed, knowing that she cannot engage with the work she is being given. Or do we allow her to go back to Reception (we've only had 6 weeks of it so we are near the beginning), so that she build a solid foundation. She may be ahead of the other kids in literacy as she has gone through the Phonics work books several times since April. She will fall back 1 year and lose her immediate circle of friends. She would love to go back to Reception as she has said so many times - long before it was on the agenda.

The school have suggested that a return would be sensible and would be more than happy to accomodate it.

What do you think? I am torn. I know that going back 1 year would be better for her educationally but a part of me resists it (prob because of the guilt associated with cocking it all up).

This is all ridiculous. A state school would be quite happy to have your child in year 1 whether she can count to 10 or not. The private school doesn't want her in year 1 because they can't differentiate the work or because they don't want their beautiful league table results ruined.

There is no way I would consider moving her down to reception. She'll catch up very quickly. However I would definitely consider taking her out of such a horrible school and sending her to an inclusive state school.

What is the LEA policy on being taught a year behind, we she allowed to be for her whole education and as a result take her GCSE's a year "late"?

TBH the school is being a bit rubbish they are supposed to differentiate the work for each child according to their ability. My 3 youngest didn't learn to read until after Easter in year 1 - one of them went on to free reading the following January!

I agree with IndigoBell the school should be able to accommodate her needs in Y1 without any difficulty and should be supporting her to catch up not giving her reception worksheets. Personally I'd run a mile from a school that has reception worksheets.

Good point mrz!

Reception and onwards in my local primary actually focuses on the children learning to learn and how they learn rather than focusing on what they've learned IYSWIM.

I would move her back to reception and see how it goes. The odds are high that she'd accelerate away from the other children by Yr2 or 3 (because of her inherent age advantage), and could end up skipping back up to her natural year after all.

AT least, I would talk thru those possibilities (down for now and back up later) with the private school.

and is seen by her peers as part of the group?

The comments thus far are overwhelmingly along the lines of "the school have done little or nothing to support the late start". It's what I felt instinctively. We sent her to a fee paying school precisely because we thought it would help in bridging that gap. From comments so far, it seems to me that State schools generally seem to have a proper approach or policy to tackle these sort of issues whereas this particular private school does not.

My son has had learning problems at school, he had SEN's that hadn't been formally diagnosed and dealt with, also we're in a foreign country so was learning to read in a different language. Last year which I think is probably the equivalent of Year 2 in the UK he really struggled to the point that he went from loving school to hating school. During this time school were very good bringing in educational psychologists and putting in motion getting him help, but they didn't help him in the classroom. At the end of the year they suggested he repeat the year. DS was very unhappy with this because it meant leaving behind his friends.

However, he is repeating the year, he has facilities in place to help him with his SEN's, but most of all because he has done the work once, albeit he struggled with it, it's easier to understand now, he's getting very good marks and is probably at the top of the class this year. This has done wonders for his confidence and emotional wellbeing and he's gone from being a kid who literally threw up every Friday morning because it was spelling test day, and crying every night because he hated school to loving it.

I'm so glad that school insisted on this because I think if he'd continued with the other children where they were progressing and he was just getting further behind would have had a negative effect on the rest of his school life.

braybeatle I don't think it state v private in this case just that the particular school doesn't seem to be up to speed in providing for children who need to catch up

MrZ, i think you are right. I've emailed the headmistress setting out my concerns re catching up.

SuperLapin, your points are really great to hear (not that your little one was upset!! but that he came through it well) - we're in the same position vis repeating.

I'm reluctant to change school but if they are useless, why not? But I do think I need to explore how they may support her to catch up.

One real problem that is actually touched upon by some of the respondents is that the school has brilliant GCSE and A Level results (it's a girls school aged 3 to 18). So I think there may be some truth in this idea that the school has not got a clue how to deal with kids who are behind (or rather it's not too bothered about them).

In my DS's class (year 2) in his pre-prep school is a boy who, chronologically, should be in year 3. He was living in America where they start school a year later and when he first came here he started with his age group. However he was moved down a year and is thriving. This was what the parents wanted (his mum is a secondary school teacher). I don't know what they intend to do with him later on as I know that in the state system they don't like them to be 'out of sync'.

In my school (senior indie) we have a girl who came with very little English and was placed in Year 7 whereas chronologically she is Year 8.

Reception is a really important year and putting down the foundations in all learning is so important. The whole foundation stage curriculum (nursery and reception) are so different to year 1 that it is in reality difficult to differentiate from a year 1 curriculum. I think the school are being honest that she would be happier and not playing catch up if she went for reception. A private school is in a better position to recommend this as in state schools permission for this is more complex to get. I have worked in many schools who would have loved to recommend this but their hands are tied as they were state schools. I think some of the posters are being very judgemental and the school may well have tried to differentiate but at private schools year 1 is often more like year 2 and along way away learning through play and less formal teaching. I don't think you say whether your child is a summer birthday if they are the diffference in age with the other children will be very small.

The point is LetsEscape she will have put down those foundations in her previous school, unless they obtained exemption from EYFS (which a few Steiner schools managed to do) as it applies to all EY settings.

I think exactly what IndigoBell said.

mrz, the steiner school DID obtain exemptions from EYFS, so J did not have any grounding at all in numeracy or literacy. her only exposure to n & l has been from April this year.

the school has excellent results at GCSE & A level, it is very academic and i think that is reflected in its year 1 onwards. but brill results at age 16 & 18 does not necessarily result in a more considered approach to the sort of issues presented by my J.

the school were willing for J to carry on in year 1. they suggestd a return to Reception as one possible option. no more was said about it for weeks. then at the parents evening prior to half term I mentioned it as the form tutor indicated that J was having difficulty concentrating and doing year 1 work, whereas when they gave her Reception Work she did very well - ofcourse she would, as that work is at her present level!! but i digress - it was I who hearing how she was struggling, brought up the issue of Reception Return, at which point the form tutor indicated that it would be the best option as she would be able to get a really good grounding and be in a position to actually do year 1 work (which she cannot at the moment).

i am now thinking over our options and see that while a return to Reception is a good thing in so many ways, the underlying problem will always be her being out of synch. she is a december birth by the way, so she is one of the older ones.

i DO need to find out what the school will do to support her learning if she continues in year 1. what specific support will they give her in numeracy and literacy so as to assist her in getting up to speed? what startegy will they adopt? what will they require of J's parents so as to support what the school is doing?

the irony in all this is that we did not want her bombarded with numeracy & literacy at the age of 4 and wanted to delay it to around 6 or 7 - in a round about way, that is precisely what we have achieved.

the odd thing is J still enjoys school and on some days runs out of the door to get to school (which is just 5 mins away). her enthusiasm has not been dimmed, thankfully.

In the UK we do not have a tradition od repeating years or skipping them,I know this is different in other countries.
What are the long term social implications of being taken from her normal year group?
If she repeats a year in reception will she then skip to Y2? Or stay with those a year younger?
This may not matter at 4/5 but it certainly will later on.
I think the best outcome would be much more individual support but in Y1.

braybeatle speaking as someone who taught reception for 15 years worksheets aren't reception work

Agree with others the first strategy should be to keep her in year with some one to one to consolidate the basics. Unless he has any underlying SEN I suspect she would more than make up the ground in a year or so. It is also unlikely she si the only one struggling with Year 1 as for many it can be a big transition whether they do a full Reception year or not. She probably won't be more than 6 months behind the youngest of her "peers" whereas potentially she would be chronologically 18 months older than the youngest of current Reception. This would also become a more significant a gap as she gets older physically and for things like teamsport where she couldn't participate with her year group.

I don't understand why you guys are so determined that the girl would be best off staying with her peer group. I realise there are issues if the girl wants to go back into the state system, but that problem might never arise.

I also come from the USA and it is fairly common for children to be held back (or indeed to advance) a year group. I have several relatives who have repeated a year only with net good results, eg. My brothers repeated kindergarten because of a situation rather similar to OP's. They didn't at all suffer socially for being held back.

Ragged - the diff is that in the US (and most other countries) it's a popular thing to do. Here in the UK it is virtually impossible to do. So she would almost certainly be the only child in the school whohas been held back. That is what makes it different.

Why though, Indigo, do you assume that she'll be socially isolated or bullied or teased... or what? What problems do you anticipate?

As we are in the UK and the state system really dislikes moving children out of their year groups, I think that she should stay in Y1. Private schools do have their own rules, but they should not deviate too much from the state system on this issue IMO.

Your DD needs to be brought up to the level of her peers by 1 to 1 tutoring IMO. Unless she has particular difficulties, this should be easily possible. Has the school suggested this?

Ragged - I never said anything like that - only that the school should provide appropriate material in Year 1 for her. What would they do if she had learning difficulties? Ask her to leave? (Quite probably - this is very common with private schools)

Anyway, seeing as you asked, I'll tell you my experience. As I have posted extensively on here my DD has severe dyslexia and is doing very badly at school. In R and Y1 I was desperate to keep her back, however it was not an option.

Now my DD is in Y3 and my DS is in Y2 I am very glad I didn't keep her back. She is still very badly behind her peers - in fact even if she was in Y2 she would still be behind her peers. However socially and emotionally she is miles ahead of her brother (who incidently is doing very well academically).

So I see loads of Y3 and Y2 kids, and I know that DD finds the Y2 kids babyish and would not be able to have 'equal' friendships with them. She 'mothers' them rather than playing with them as equals.

I am in favour of keeping kids back a year - in other countries where it is common and they don't differentiate as well as they do here in the UK.

The school system is totally different here than in the US. Most children are mainstreamed, children aren't kept back / pushed ahead - and consequently teachers are expected to teach all the kids in their class. Even though there will be years and years difference in their ability.

I have a DS who is socially behind his peers, I'd be delighted for him if he could be held back a year (or 2) because of his social immaturity!