how much do you really know about what goes on in your dcs' classroom and how much do you think you should know? (primary age)

[hatwoman]

I'd be really interested to see what people actually know and what they think they ought to know about what goes on in the classroom - particularly interested in any teachers' take on this (as I realise that communication wit parents is an extra job when many teachers are already stretched) Do you/would you like to know

• the daily/weekly routine
• the structure of the class in terms of any groups (eg reading groups) and which one your dc is in; whether this is fluid; if your dc has been moved
• if your dc is taken out of the main class at any time and if so what for
• any themes or topics for the week/term?

And if you do know - how do you know? From your dc? (water out of a stone in my house; from standard communications of some description? by asking? through parents' evenings?

Apart from the reading group stuff we are told the rest . The kids know who is top at reading and stuff .

I have one in Yr1 the other in YR

Yr1 - came home with timetable for the week so have an idea what he will be doing each day .

Only know what reading group, literacy & numeracy group he is in as I am a parent helper.

Term topics - posted on door for parenst to see at pick up time.

Ds not taken out for class for anything , but as a parent helper I take some out of class for extra handwriting etc > Don;t know whether parents are aware of their child having this support.

Reception - Term topics - note sent home. also outlining whole topic/themes for remainder of term. We will get this each term.

Phonic sounds being covered t hat week - posted on board outside classroom wher parents pick up.

What they do evryday - only know when they have PE.

Will be going in as a parent helper after half term so no doubt will find out more.

One reason why I go in as a parent helper is to find out what they are doing. Otherwise it would be 'nothing' & 'nobody' all the time.

for dd in year 2 I know she does PE twice a week (not sure which days though) and I know what days choir and recorder are; I know they have assembly every morning; they do show and tell once a week - but not sure what day. I don't really know how the day is structured though.

I have gleaned from dd which reading group she's in (is it standard practice to be opaque about this?). I have no idea if there are numeracy or any other type of groupings. I know roughly what the purple sticker on the books she brings home means - but only because I asked.

dd has just informed me that once a week she and the others on her table go into a different class and do some work with a different teacher and has been doing for a year had no idea about that one but maybe that's normal!

I know that dd is not allowed to sit next to her best friend anymore. I learnt this from bf's mum!

We get a termly topic sheet - which I don;t find all that helpful, as there's no schedule on it.

We get a letter every half term saying what topics they'll be doing. I know what reading level he is on from his reading record. Three parents evenings a year and a report to know how he's progressing. That's enough for me really I think. I don't need to know the ins and outs of each day.

A lot of schools display the half term planning for the parents to view. Quite often stuck to a window.

Ds1 is in reception - we know the daily routine as we (all the parents) had a meeting with the teacher a few weeks ago and she went through what they do each day. They also have signs for each activity up in the classroom so children can follow where they are and we can go and have a look in the classroom at the end of the day if we want.
The topics for the term are sent out in a newsletter.
Ds1 tells me quite a lot about it and I ask the other parents, or ones who's children are now in older years if I have a question, or I ask the teacher or headteacher when I see them.

Mummydear, that is one of the reasons I like to help in the classroom - the other reasons of course are that it's helpful to the school and nice for the children.

I've got DSs in Y4 and Y1.
We get a half-termly curriculum bulletin from each class, as well as a monthly school newsletter. We also have curriculum evenings for some years, but not all - we had Reception and Year 1 and Year 2, but have had nothing in KS2.
At the curriculum meeting things like reading schemes were explained.
It's always made clear to me at parents' evenings pretty much where my children are in the class (ie DS1 is in the top third for numeracy, and the top quarter, roughly, for literacy, and the top reading group), but I don't know exactly.

I always want to know more information, because I hate the fact that my children are away from me for 6 hours a day doing stuff I know nothing about.

When DS1 started school last year I found it really strange not knowing what he had done through out the day, wheras at playgroup etc you knew as staff were OK by asking ans they woud often tell you without being asked.

Found it difficult for the first time in his life I didn't know what he was doing.

dd1 (yr 1) can give me a blow by blow, second by second account of the whole day. dd2 (reception) will either 'not remember' or sigh and say 'painting, cutting, glueing...' like these are all terrible chores!

Funny how they are so close in age yet so different in outlook.

Agree that it is hard to go from knowing every detail to knowing hardly any.

I have no idea of the daily/weekly routines are in DS's class (Y1), simply because he doesn't tell me ANYTHING!! I'd like to know though.

I do know that they have different groups for reading, as DS's teacher wrote in his reading record that she is moving him to 'a different reading group - he is well ahead with his reading'. Had she not told me, I'd never have known.

As far as I'm aware, he doesn't get taken out of class for anything and to my knowledge he doesn't get extra support with anything (although I would like him to have more help with his handwriting - his writing is v v big and he doesn't form letters properly, he tends to take the long way round - something i am working on at home and something his teacher is aware of as i pointed out at parents evening last week).

We get letters home at the beginning of term telling us what the topics are for the term, again, I'd never know otherwise, getting one iota of info from DS is like pulling teeth!!

DD in reception tells me loads as she is very nosey! DS1 in Y2 tells me nothing -'played with my friends'

3monkeys, do you think that is a boy/girl thing?

Ds1 is in year 1.

Know snippets of the routine that I pick up from going in to help and from what ds tells me. Nothing is particularly communicated to us regarding the weekly routine though.

I know the children are in groups and each group is a colour and they all sit together on a table. From what I can see, these seem to be randomly allocated - well, I go in and read and I've read with most children adn there's definitely a mixture with regard to ability in this area in each group - so they are not literacy based!

I know that there is a group called the 'Billy Club' (so I'm told by another parent) and 5 or 6 children stay behind with the TA instead of going to assembly on the day I go in and read. They seem to be getting extra help with writing and numeracy. Ds isn't in the group.

When ds gets his new spellings put in his book on a Monday, there is another little sheet stuck in that outlines what the class will be covering in literacy and numeracy that week.

Only know topics from looking on the wall or from what ds tells me (not a lot!).

So most of my info is from ds and from being nosey when I go in!

I know where he sits in the class for reading but no idea on numeracy although he doesn't seem to be struggling.

evilannie, no, it's not a boy/girl thing. DS2 tells me far more than I want to know (who's been sent to the Head and for what!), but DS3 tells me nothing. DS1 used to tell me nothing, but is a little more forthcoming since he started at secondary school.

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I really don't think I want to know any more than I do already. It would just cause anxiety on my part (or on dd or ds's part) if I knew every time they were moved up or down a group or where they were in relation to their classmates. I trust the teacher to sort them out - I know they would come to me if there was a major problem so until I'm approached, I assume that everything is ok.

we got a sort of overview timetable thing for reception (ds) this year (didn't when dd was in reception so must be a new thing)

dd in yr 2 - I know very little about what she does.

We have parents meetings this week (to say how they have settled and what they want them to work on) and then again towards the end of the year (I think) and we have one afternoon in the year when we can see their work.

We get a letter every Monday telling us what the reception year topics are for the week.

We get a monthly school newsletter with wider school events and issues in it.

Each year group brings home a termly curriculum leaflet 'what we are learning in YrX this term' - this sets out subject by subject what the children will be learning and doing.

Sets etc - All juniors are set by ability for literacy and numeracy and I find all the children know whether they're in 'top' or 'bottom' set.
The children also know within the set whether they're on one of the top tables getting slightly harder work or not.

At parents' evenings (3 times a year) we get a general overview of things, and for the main subjects we are told what national curriculum level our child is working at.

Topics - this is covered in the 'what we are learning this term' leaflet, but we also get letters asking for help/money with various topics!

Routines - on windows of infant classrooms they put up notices saying when certain things happen (P.E., reading books changed or whatever). They don't do this for juniors but most people know the routines anyway.

And I'm a parent-helper so get to be nosey too!

Probably helps if you go into the classroom in the mornings but we leave ours at the door