Year 2 DD is struggling at academically but school not helping.

[mamatothreebunnies]

dd is currently in year 2. She’s been struggling with school work since year 1 where we were told (in April of year 1) she is slow with her pace in class and tends to be quiet during lesson as a result of not fully engaging and understanding the work. They failed to provide any solution for their observation. Just waited for time to go by.

in year 2 I made sure to engage her teachers early in the year to ask for updates and ask for their observations. They sent back the same comments as year 1, with some sub standard solutions such as “we will provide regular check ins during lesson to see if she is ok”

I’ve gone into school multiple occasions for face to face meetings, demanding solutions or some customised lesson plans for her. They’ve failed to provide any.

my question is what do I do now? I’m already having to supplement her school learning at home to help her catch up but shouldn’t it be school who help her in class? Her confidence is shattered in class as she simply isn’t able to keep up. They’ve not suggested she may need SEN assessments for things like dyslexia etc but should this be my next course of action ?
i appreciate any help or suggestions.

Download the school complaints procedure from the website and follow it.

Customised lesson plans for her??

They are planning for her. They are telling you she is first call which means the teacher or TA checks on her early in any task and regularly monitors and intervenes. She clearly finds learning hard. Ask what she should work on next and support with this at home. E g she doesn't know x times table. Work on this at home to support her. Your assumption that as she is below expectations, they are not helping her is really not necessarily true. Your assumption that someone must be to blame is really not helpful to your dd. What is she good at? Celebrate her strengths and support as much as you can with what she finds challenging.

What are her bands and marks ?

Who knows. They don’t provide any information on their specific levels or bands. And we’re not allowed to ask what’s coming up for the term in any specifics because they don’t want parents to teach their kids ahead. So they just give you vague descriptions like “learning double digit number bonds” for the whole term is obviously nonsense as they do so much more in one term.

@cansu it’s not my assumptions that she is preforming below, it’s what they’ve told me. But they’ve not provided any further info on how to support her. That’s where I’m frustrated because what’s the point of telling a parent their child is underperforming but then not explaining or being able to pin point what she needs help with. It’s almost as if they want to say “EVERYTHING” but obviously can’t.

Customised lesson plans for her isn't something you can demand.

Education is the responsibility of the parent. If you choose for school to support you in that responsibility, it doesn't mean you are absolved of any involvement.

It sounds like knowing what is coming up won't be helpful anyway, she needs to go back over what has already been before moving on.

Learning double digit number bonds well (and interleaved with prior work and weaved into a new bit of other contexts) could easily be a term.

What specifics have they given you? Work on those.

She is working at a slower pace. That doesn’t necessarily mean SEN. Every child is different, some will be fast, some slow. Some will be more academic than others.
Having a TA going and checking her understanding during the lesson sounds sensible.
I wouldn’t start worrying about dyslexia from your description so far (I have 2 dyslexic children).

They should have intervention for reading and maths in place. Keeping up is much easier than catching up. Ask to speak to head or whoever is on charge of progress. At a minimum you’re entitled to a clearer picture of exactly what the issues are.

If it is "everything", then focus on reading. What is her reading like? Comprehension?

She is in year 2- what answer were you expecting to that question?

with some sub standard solutions such as “we will provide regular check ins during lesson to see if she is ok”
This isn't substandard, it's literally planning for her.

Next time ask for 2 specific targets to work on. Eg learn a specific grapheme in phonics, or learn number bonds to 5. Spend time at home on it too and see if there's much difference. If not, explore SEND.

DD2 has always struggled in class (very likely dyslexic like her sister we think), where exactly does your DD struggle?

during year 2 she was part of a focused group who had an extra half hour with the TA at least 3 times a week and was a target reader so was read with by a TA/teacher every day. The children who needed extra help were also on one table so they could be focused on.

this continued into year 3, we also got her a tutor, very low key and it’s given her a lot of confidence, just to give you hope she’s absolutely blossomed this year and for most things is now in the middle of the class.

i don’t think it helps to go in demanding solutions, most teachers work incredibly hard and do their best to support the children and there’s only so many hours in the day and 30+ children. I would suggest going in and talking to the teacher again and understanding what she finds most difficult and go from there. She’s still very young and some children just take their time to find their feet.

@Hercisback they suggested this back in September. Now in Feb those check ins haven’t helped which is why I don’t think this form of planning is working for her. I like your suggestions if asking for specifics. I will ask and hope they provide. As I said before they don’t like to give too much info so parents don’t over prep their kids but maybe in this case they can see the benefit.

@justasmalltownmum she can read. Doesn’t love it and isn’t something she would do voluntarily. Isn’t particularly fluent but I wouldn’t say she can’t read either.

I would imagine that if you are constantly asking for meetings, complaining about checks in being substandard and demanding customised plans, your relationship with the school is not that good.

I would recommend that you start trying to build a partnership. Most primaries have a curriculum doc on the website. Have a look and focus on one thing for a few weeks and see if it helps. Celebrate her achievements. Read with her and discuss what she is reading.

Ametora · Today 21:50

MamaAlwaysknowsbest · Today 21:41

What are her bands and marks ?
She is in year 2- what answer were you expecting to that question?

I am foreign, having a conversation, are they not in place in the early years ?

@DancingQueen2018 this is really helpful and reassuring to hear thank you. I am hopeful that she will balance out in the end however I’m concerned with her confidence levels in the process. Each lesson that she falls behind because she hadn’t fully understood the work she crumbles more and more and that’s my concern.

Omg she's in year 2! So what, 6years old? She's so little, stop putting so much pressure on her. Most children on the continent don't even start formal school until 7.
Some children just develop slower. My ds was one, couldn't even read until year 3, had no interest in learning at all. In year 6 we were told he was working at least 18months behind the "expected level".
He is in year 10 now and in top sets at his school, looking at getting really good grades for his GCSEs next summer. They catch up eventually, when the time is right.
Just let your dd be a child. Make sure your reading to her, help with homework, support the school. Honestly the biggest problem was Michael fucking grove deciding to make the curriculum tougher at primary school with too much to fit in with not enough time.

You have literally just said that she doesn't read fluently and doesn't enjoy it. The best thing you can do is help her to develop this fluency. Giving a child regular individual attention regularly is worthwhile.

If she can read but not fluently she can't be that far behind. Spend time reading daily, sharing book, talking about stories, you read a page, she reads a line, read "easy" books and harder ones, go to the library.

Make reading a routine. Everything else will follow.

@ducksinarow123 100% agree with you. It’s not me pressuring her, it’s the school telling me she’s underperforming. And then I’m frustrated because they don’t provide further info or help on that. I could ignore it, and I would if my dds confidence weren’t affected. She has amazing extra curriculars that she loves, performing and music is her passion and we nurture that. I’m not very strict with school work as long as she enjoys herself. Maybe you’re right, I shouldn’t really listen to their “concerns-but-no-solutions” and let her be. I know she will be fine in the end. Just unfortunate that at this stage, she’s being labelled as the struggling underperforming one at school.

My daughter is in Year 1. Since I didn't grow up in the UK and I'm not familiar with the school curriculum, I have her work on these Mathseeds and Reading Eggs workbooks on Saturdays. She only does a few pages a week and it gives me an idea of what she might need help with.

Here's a link to the Year 2 workbooks: https://www.readingeggsshop.co.uk/reading-maths-essential-skills-for-year-2-bundle/

@whiteorchids44 thank you this is very helpful.

I am sure the school haven't said that she is "underperforming." Have they said she isn't meeting age related expectations? Because a significant proportion of the class won't be.

Read with her daily. Listen to her read and talk about what she has read. Try to find what it is that she enjoys reading. She will enjoy it more as it becomes more fluent.

For maths, don't worry about the current curriculum. Most children struggling with maths, it is because they don't understand the basics and don't know how numbers work. Use toys to secure bonds to ten, and addition, subtraction of single digit numbers, the 2,5,10 times tables and related division facts. Chat about numbers in the world around you.

Is she happy going to school? It's great she has strengths too in other areas.

Unfortunately there often isn't capacity for this now. 10 years ago children were in and out of interventions but there are far fewer TAs now. Ofsted also dont like to see children being pulled from the broad but balanced curriculum of the afternoon. 'Quality First Teaching' is apparently the answer to all these issues.

My DS now in y4 has struggled with reading and writing and has had interventions in school since y2. The school has always been clear about what the issues are and what they are doing about it and what we can do at home.

In y2 DS had phonics sessions x4 per week in small groups plus a TA would listen to him read each week. In y3 he was put into phonics groups which were specific to where his gaps were. As a result his reading has taken off amazingly in y3 and in y4 he no longer requires phonics support but his fluency still needs work so he attends a x2 weekly sessions to improve this.

His writing and spelling are not following the same trajectory as his reading so this is also being dealt with via bespoke spellings a s small group sessions. State school, not private.

This is what I call a child being supported at the school, and then advice to parents on how to help at home ie reading daily, flashcards, practice spellings etc - targeting wherever the concerns are.

If you are getting nowhere with the teacher then ask for a meeting with the Senco. If it comes to it I’d change schools - they are not all created equal.