Worried about Year 1 progress in School

[Floorplan101]

My son is almost 6 in a few weeks and is in year 1 at school. We tried to get him into the best school for the area, which I was very pleased about.

Since starting at the school he has kind of been behind from the beginning, struggling with learning phonics and struggling learning to read. We had alot of personal issues during his reception year, so admittedly I could not do as much work at home as what the school wanted me to do, and could not do as much reading as they would have liked.

He did have a SALT assessment as he was struggling to follow instructions, which came back as satisfactory and he was having separate sessions each week with the therapist in school.

This year, things have quietened down at home and so I have been doing alot of extra work at home in reading, maths and writing. We try to do a bit of all three everyday, or if not at least 4-5 a week. We typically do a page of reading (which is not much), practicing numbers 11-20 or sums (simple addition and subtraction) and then some writing, so either copying writing my words or writing simple sentences. (I feel like this is alot as he is at school 9-3 then does after school club until 6, so there just is not any time to do much more.)

This was ramped up mainly in October because we had a parents evening where they said he was struggling with focussing in class, general concentration and falling behind.

The reason for my post is that I have emailed his teacher, to find out about his progress, if he is focusing/concentrating more in class and if there has been an improvement of his learning.

The teacher has said that he is still needing a high level of adult support to both follow instructions and remain focussed for his learning. There has been some improvement in his reading although they are not seeing the improvements in his maths/writing which is quite disappointing as we have been working so hard on this at home and I have definitely seen an improvement since October.

Has anyone had any experience of the same? Everyone keeps telling me he's still only young and they all level out, but I am just conscious of him falling too behind and then not being able to keep up in later years.

The teacher is going to discuss with their SENDCO/SALT to see what they can implement during class.

Has he had his eyesight checked?

With regards to writing , i would ask if it is the content, handwriting or technical stuff like spaces and full stops that are the problem so you can focus your help better.

Also by best school in the area, do you mean the year 6 SATS results? Year 6 SATS results are sometimes higher than average because there’s lots of tutoring (are you in a grammar area or do many kids go private for secondary?) or the parents are richer so can pay for educational help. It’s possible that the school do loads of SATS practice in year 6 to boost their scores which is also sad as it writes off the whole year.

I would chase the teacher about what the SENDCO says. I think he’s too young to diagnose issues like dyslexia but schools should be familiar with early signs of possible issues like that.

Tbh I think you are doing a lot outside of school, I would struggle to fit all that in if he’s in after school club til 6.

I don’t know your child, obviously, but it all sounds very intense. Does he get time to just play or do things he enjoys?

he IS still very young. I understand your concerns but equally I’d be worried about putting him off learning altogether! If you do do extra things at home could you make it a game? Things stick quicker with kids if they’re fun.

There is a game on the BBC website called Karate cats that is very good for English and maths practice which my DD likes.

He has had his eyesight checked probably this time last year, as his eye check at school was inconclusive. Specsavers said his eye sight was fine.
The school have suggested another eye sight check and hearing test, which I will try to get booked in ASAP.

Yes just by general reputation the school is alot nicer, it's in a better area also

@Bigoldmachine
I do see where you are coming from, I do think it's a lot too and that's why I'm asking for other peoples experiences ie do kids just catch up all of a sudden.

I also wonder whether a little bit of it is the school expecting too much? Because he is only 5/6 and so if he needs a little bit more adult help then please just give it to him.

I would agree with you, if he needs adult help isn’t that completely age appropriate? So so difficult to know what to do (sorry that’s not helpful but I empathise with your situation). If it were me I’d take the pressure off for a bit, focus on games that include some of the things he needs to work on (eg a board game where there are two dice means you have to do addition! Oh, I’ve rolled a 3 and a 2, what is that altogether… etc etc). Same as reading…. You could make a treasure hunt with clues he has to read to find the next one. Five Minute Mum website and Instagram and books have some great ideas for this kind of thing. Little by little by little these skills are built so just do a tiny bit each day.

The problem is that they won’t heve enough adults to give enough help.

@Floorplan101 If DC evened out, they would all get 120 in their sats. They clearly don’t all even up. It’s impossible. Accept any help offered and dc can, of course, make progress. It is early days and concentration will obviously help. Ask the school for the curriculum and for data on his progress.

I think it's too intense. They are VERY YOUNG at this age. We sometimes lose track how vulnerable children are...

Clubs till 6 and still has to "work"... His concentration would be really poor by that time and the idea of "much mental demand" awaiting at end of the day would just wear him down... There's a real risk his desire of learning (to learn because he wants to) would diminish just for the pressure of it.

And if he's exhausted, would the stress affect his sleep quality? If he doesn't get proper rest, physically and mentally, would he be able to have the mental energy to focus in the class in the day? Please examine carefully, if there's a knock down effect...

All kids are different. Mine needed intervention at Reception and Y2. Phonics ten minutes every evening for 3 months at RC, then he caught up with the rest of the cohort. Maths was shockingly behind when I found out in Y1 (school never said a word to me). I went through the foundations with him myself quite some days (maybe about 2 months. Can't remember the details.) And since then, he always needed maths top ups from time to time. I think school has a tendency to move on to the next topic before the last one was consolidated; or just only him being not bright enough!

I was quite worried about his writing around COVID time and found his writing painfully slow and the results were embarrassing pieces of broken sentences. I didn't know how to tackle honestly, as he was obviously trying but just couldn't. It brought much tension and trauma between us during the lockdown. I gave up in the end, and was only happily handed him back to school after the reopening.

We then started prepare for 11+, just because I thought we needed to give it a try no matter what. People always say, to write well, read, read and read. Which worked in the end. He read LOTS and by the time his tutor did some writing classes (short timed writing sessions), he wrote alright. Despite still with persistent grammar mistakes here and there, sometimes his writing was very smart and delightful. So instead of making your DC write when he doesn't know how to write, read TO him and read WITH him, EVERYDAY.

For maths, during those 11+ months, we fought constantly because he didn't like to be corrected by me. In the end, the breakthrough came when I started doing paper together with him. With an agreed structure, we enjoyed working together to tackle maths problems - sometimes, he beat me. It may not work for early years maths, but the key is to share the joy between you. Maybe like what others suggested, playing maths games and be creative.

The joy of learning is the key to success (even though DS still hated that process no end). I deeply felt it by the end of the 11+ journey. So please, take the pedal off and reduce the pressure on him. Work on one topic at a time. Don't overwhelm him with multiple subjects at one time, not mentioning in one evening...

He must have become aware he's behind and he's not progressing. Imagine what he felt inside? They are young, but are capable of feeling a lot.

My DS has ADHD which undermined his learning abilities for many years, due to incapability of concentration. But there's a strong family history which usually always presents for ADHD. He might be too young to be diagnosed. But lack of focus and not being able to follow instructions are telltale signs. Does he fidget? Does he socialise well?

There's no doubt you love him. But love comes in different forms. Each stage has its own challenge. Don't overload him and yourself. One at a time...

I don’t think schools in y1 make it obvious to anyone in the class that some children are “behind.”. How do dc know their reading books aren’t as advanced as others? Or they are doing easier maths work? They mostly just do it without knowing about anyone else and receive the same whole class teaching.

Children who need extra help should receive some as a group and where I was a governor, a few dc received revision of concepts needed before the new maths topic was introduced. This was at a junior school though. It’s impossible for some children to be at expected progress. Children are not all the same and you obviously have higher and low achieving dc. As you do in adults. A short amount of reading, writing and maths helps at home. However that’s quite an ask after a long day. I would concentrate on the reading in the week and maths and writing at weekends. But in moderation.

@Floorplan101 you have described my 6 (just turned this week) to a tee. His teachers are great and have said the exact same things as yours! I am using reading eggs to try and help but will both me and dad full time working it's hard because you feel as though you aren't doing enough to help even though we are probably.

I'm terrified of him falling far behind and losing the interest (luckily he is fully engaged right now)

I'm happy to message and think of ideas together if you ever need to. It's hard alone and mum guilt if bloody awful. I cried in his last 1-2-1 and felt like a right pillock.

@Floorplan101 and @whatthehellnow23 I wish I could give you a big hug and reassure you both that you are doing the best possible you can just by being loving mums who care so much about your children. I’m a teacher, mum and grandma and have taught well over 1,500 children. I can honestly say I’ve only come across 3 children out of that number who I just couldn’t teach without getting super stressed and ending up in some sort of conflict. All three had one thing in common…. They were my own three children!

The best thing I ever did was to stop trying to formally ‘teach’ my own children anything and just read to them on weeknights (letting them chose their own books for me to read from the local library every week) and then at weekends play board games and do some junk modelling with them, or anything you can just have fun together without any set outcome in mind.

You can get loads of fun board games from charity shops, school fetes and jumble sales. They don’t have to be explicitly ‘educational’ ones either. My little grandson is 5 and he loves the ‘Monkey Flip’ game I bought him for Christmas for less than a tenner from Argos. It involves catapulting little plastic monkeys onto a plastic tree and trying to get them to cling on. While he’s playing, I just casually count my monkeys on the tree and then ask him how many he’s got… we count in ones then twos then work out how many more he’s got etc. He makes his own rules as we go along, for example if 2 monkeys are on the same branch you get double points. I ask him how many he started with and how many are still left and we calculate the difference - it all just happens naturally with no pressure on either of us. We also do jigsaw puzzles, build Lego, do junk modelling etc.

Similarly with reading, we do silly voices, make up our own stories just looking at the pictures, tell the story backwards, act the story out with toys etc. You can get a set of cheap story dice from Tiger and make up games with them. If your child wants to write then obviously encourage this but if not, get them to dictate and you write. The more fun you make it, the more they will see learning as enjoyable. Praise them for trying something not for perfecting something - there’s loads of research to say praising the effort is a far more effective motivator.

Poor baby , where is his time off ? To play , to live his childhood ?! No wonder , he's behind în school . He's too young to stay until 6 and everyday and then do also homework . I think staying until 3pm is too long for this age.

Hi @Chris432
Since my post, I have been able to change my hours so that I pick him up from school everyday at the normal time. I have also taken a back seat on the learning at home, but try to ensure we practice the reading.
I have taken the pressure off ourselves and are much happier.

Oh nice to hear . Hapiness comes first ! 🥰🥰🥰

This thread reminds me of how seriously flawed our education system is. Children being labelled academically "behind" at the age of 6 is beyond ridiculous - in many countries children don't even start formal education until age 7! Boys especially are at risk of switching off due to our boring, SATS driven curriculum. This is not just my opinion, check out the evidence:
https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/discussion/school-starting-age-the-evidence
The government decided to ignore this research. No wonder we have a nation of stressed, anxious and miserable teenagers.

@TopKat28 Thats not entirely true about education elsewhere. Early readers are not held back and told play is all you need. Ditto with maths. The curriculum is structured to produce the right outcomes for each child. Our EY classes are similar and by Y1 many children in many countries are reading. No bright dc is held back.

My son is in year 1.He always forgets Phonics.Everyday before and after school I am doing Phonics and reading with him.He is very slow with reading and still he is reading pink books at school.If I teach him one word 100 times after 10 minutes again he forget. I'm really fed up with this.He also tring to read.but words are not coming from his mouth.so both of us get stress.Im really worring about him.I done eye check as well.all are normal.But he is good at maths.So my problem is if he can do maths why he couldn't approach Phonics. Please any one can give a solution I'm really appreciate. Sorry for my English. I'm not a native.Thanks

I think you’re doing too much tbh. I’d drop the maths and writing and just read with him. Reading is the fundamental skill that then helps everything else. Lots of 5/6 year olds don’t like writing at this point.

In our school they are really focused on maths mastery (and get great results by end of year 6). They aren’t going beyond 10 at the moment in y1 but making sure they are incredibly solid with number bonds, addition etc within 10 before moving on.