Does your child's primary school have parents in to listen to reading?

[scotlou]

I happened to drop it into conversation with my dh last night that our son's primary school has a parent in to help listen to reading. My dh went absolutely ballistic - feels it should only be teachers / teachers assistants etc allowed to do that job as they are trained. I said that it was common in many schools - and had been for years. He said he had never heard of it! I am trying to point out to him that it is a good thing as it ensures that all children are getting plenty of reading practise - and as we have had previous discussions with the school on lack of reading, I feel they have done well in addressing the issue. He sees it as yet another symptom of the school letting us down..
What do you think? Does your school have parent helpers to help with reading - and do you think it is a good / bad idea?

Our school does and I listen to some of them. The teachers and assistants don't always have time to listen to every child as much as they would like to and not all parents listen to their child reading either.

I go in once a week for about 40 mins and the children seem to enjoy it.

BTW - it's a private school.

Yes, ours does. There are parents reading in ds1's reception class every day. The children also read with the teacher regularly. I don't think it matters who hears them read, as long as the class teacher does read with them often - it's just the fact that they practice.

I read with ds1 every night too - I'm not a teacher but I seem to be doing a good job of it! Ds1's reading is amazing for his age and he's come on incredibly quickly as he could not read at all when he started reception in September!

Yes our school does, and most other schools I know of too.

I think it's a great idea, opens the school up to parents and vice-versa, lets us see a bit of what goes on and yes, most importantly, gives the children reading practise.

Yes, our school does - I was thinking of volunteering myself. I have always regarded it as extra practice for the kids, rather than the teachers not doing their job. It is also a good way of getting parents/carers involved with the school.

I think it's great if they do. I wish I could go in and help out but with working 3 days and having DD on the other days it's just not possible. It stands to reason that the more practice the better. How often can one teacher and one TA listen to each of 29 children in a week with everything else that has to be fitted in?

my school did in 1974, not sure about ds's future school?

sounds like your dh dislikes the school in general?

I agree that it's the practice that is important - as long as they are being heard at least once a week by teacher / assistant to pick up on any issues. I would also assume that anyopne interested enough to help out would also have enough sense to point out any issues with class teacher anyway. Couldn't believe his reaction last night!

ours does and i did it - they all have to be police checked etc - but as others have said - often it would mean child not getting heard read otherwise

I don't think our school does. I think the head is very wary of having anyone in who has not had a check from Disclosure Scotland.

I wouldn't object to it if they did though.

IME most schools have parents/grandparents in to listen to the children read. There are possibly fewer now than in the past as school are more aware of having CRB checks done on volunteers.

I would think it makes the difference between a child reading to an adult every day or on only one or two days. The parent helpers don't teach - they just listen and encourage.

acnebride - school is very small (a 2 class village place) and in the past 4 years the roll has gone from around 15 to around 40. He feels taht it is no longer as "good" as it was - and is resting on the reputation it had when the roll was so small. We were always told that teh children got lots of individual attention from staff - but now of course it is impossible. He also feels to much emphasis put on other subjects (IT, RME etc) when they should only be (in his opinion!) doing reading, writing and arithmetic in infants!

I know my daughters school did this when dd1 was in reception. I haven't heard of it this year (dd2 in reception), possibly because the class sizes are so small they don't need the help. I have recently offered to go on the helpers list by submiting my CRB form. dd2 loves reading her book to every one availiable, the repetion must help.

Our school does too. As others have said , if parents didn't then they all wouldn't have the chance to practice reading in school. Ours also does a scheme in Year 2 for children who are finding reading difficult. Its a 12 week scheme and a parent reads with them for 15 mins a day. I did this last year, before I had ds2, and it really helped the little boy I read with.

Yes, it's just important to practice! Ds1 has taken to reading really quickly but I do get him to read to me every night, even if just for 5-10 minutes and his progress is really fast - I'm sure it must help. I'm not doing any 'teaching' as such, just listening and encouraging.

DSs school does. It's a good idea because it means every child gets more opportunities to read whilst the teacher/assistants deal with more "teacheing" type stuff. Anyone can hear and help a child read - it doesn't need special training, just common sense and an ability to read. Teaching them to read etc is a differnet matter.

scotlou, i think your dh is right to keep a careful watch on things at a school which is changing so fast, certainly. If I felt like him I would look either at volunteering to read myself (to see if I felt it was really useful) or becoming a governor.

I agree SD. Tbh, ds1 hasn't read with the teacher quite as often as I know that others have - maybe this is because he is reading really well now and really needs more practice than 'teaching'. Some are still struggling to blend at all and can't read words such as 'tree'.

I agree with everyone. It is the practice that is important. acnebride - I am on school board (scottish equivalent to governors) - as I wanted to make sure I was involved. Hearing reading in school not an option for either of us as we both work full time. I have to say that I do share a few concerns re the school with my dh - but having parents in to help with reading practice is not one of them!

I do it, and, shock horror, I haven't been police checked! (I have to say I don't really see the need). In my children's primary school, parents help children who are finding reading difficult.

I have to admit I have misgivings. A good friend of mine does buddy reading with a child who has another buddy reader as well; the other buddy reader had written "X done good this week" on the contact sheet. I think your DH is being faintly unreasonable over needing training to listen to children reading, but some checks on the basic literacy of the volunteers would be a good idea. I picked up on an issue that the school hadn't, raised it on the contact sheet and the school then managed to sort out the child's problem, so some of us do add some value.

I think it is an excellent idea. IMHO (controversial I know) it is ludicrous for a class teacher to be hearing pupils read on a weekly basis. They might spend a day a week doingthat, when they should be using their skills to teach the whole class. Hearing pupils read maybe once a half term to asses their progress is fine, coupled with updates from TAs/parent helpers. That’s what we are moving towards at our school and I am very happy about that. A parent is perfectly well qualified to hear a child read and I agree scotlou, if it gives them extra practice at reading it’s great. and as feistybird says, it’s great for the parents to get the chance to come into school.
In any case the main element of yr child’s reading should be done at home, to you, as often as possible (I am sure you do this btw)
Scotlou reading yr later posts, 40 pupils in two classes is still only 20 per teacher, so a lot more individual attention than most schools. I personally would prefer the bigger school, 15 pupils in a school is not going to offer much chance for peer group socialising (maybe only one other child of the same age?)

Clary - the increased class size worries me a bit as in ds's class there are 23 p1-p3 children - which is a lot in a composite. We also noticed a huge difference in reading practice given between p1 and p2 - which is why we complained to the school. They have obviously though made an effort to address the issue - and I have seen ds's reading improve as a consequence.

my dd1 is in year 1, gets reading practice every day with parent help. Teacher does it once a week with each child...I think the parent heplers get some training, but i'm sure most mums would spot a problem. they don't listen to children in their own childrens class and they are expected to read 2 books a day - one at home and one at school.
other dd2 is in reception, and does some reading with parents a couple of times a week, and a book every day too.

practise is important, and they enjoy it

Scotlou, I hear what you’re saying but tbh it might be a case of having to for the school. I don’t know how it works in Scotland, but here there’s no way a school of 15 would have more than one teacher, one class, just from the point of view of funding.. In fact I very much doubt if it would exist at all unless in a very isolated area. So I would personally prefer a class of 23 with a 3-yr span of ages to a class of 15 that went from 4yo to 11yo (how would you teach that??).
23 is still relatively small. Most infant classes in England have up to 30 pupils. DS1 was, because of a number of children moving away, in a class of 22 by the end of last year and it was much better. There are now 29 in his yr2 class. We are lookign at an intake of 65 at our school next yr, and it’s a nightmare because there’s no way we can fund three classes or 22-21 each.

I help with reading every week for three hours. So does another parent. Each child has a weekly reading session with the teacher. The more practice the better, I think. It's very enjoyable! None of the other parents have ever complained or objected.

Tbh, I believe that the education of children is a joint responsibility between parents and school. Therefore, if I want ds to do well and to keep progressing, I expect to put a fair amount of effort in myself. So, regardless of how often he reads in school, I read with him every day anyway so he gets plenty of practice.

In a playground conversation a while back one mum was complaining that she had to help her dc to read after school. She said 'I'm not a teacher, I'll deal with his social development and you [school/teachers] get on with teaching him - that's not my job'. Not sure why I kept quiet really - I soooooo disagree.