I’m a Reception teacher AMA!

[Rycbar]

As we’re heading towards the end of another school year and lots of parents are preparing to send their little ones off to school in September. Ask me anything you want to know or are too embarrassed to ask about reception!!

Do you think less of parents that work and can't make it to the phonic classes, read with their kids afternoon and do you think it impacts the child?

Also how do you deal with the tougher parents. On the induction day one mum barged passed me knocking me out the way woth no apology and just looked like she wanted to kill me. Should I be worried?

I work in a mixed key stage 1 class - so recognise most of what you’re saying!

what are your hopes for the new government? How can eduction for our children be improved?

If you graded greater depth/exceptional and also described a child in their school report at the end of Reception as “naturally gifted by having an exceptional ability in maths”, how good does that really mean. Is it one of the better ones in the class or is it a genuine proper affinity to the subject? I’m too embarrassed to ask in case she is just being nice and means any child that can count to 20!

Do you actually see the difference between a 5 year old who has been through nursery since 12 months and a child who's been at home with mum (with lots of socialisation and activity groups)? What do you think produces the best equipped child?

Do asd kids get treated differently by nt kids?

This is my biggest worry

Thanks for what you do! My questions: How well do you manage to form an individual relationship with all the children in the class? Can you adapt your lessons to their personalities? Do you have favourites, and if so how do you try to make it fair to the others? Do you speculate (even privately) about the home lives of your students?

Does it annoy you if a parent has taught their child to read before they started school? (I did this with all three of mine as it’s a lovely thing to do and also I ensured that they learned through phonics rather than look-and-say books)

I’m in Scotland but my child is preparing to start school in a few short weeks. Is there anything you could offer me in terms of helping my child settle into a new environment? DC is autistic (diagnosed and we have things in place) but I mean in terms of helping him read/write etc. Is there any apps or websites you could recommend we try?

We definitely do not expect it from our 3’s but we do expect and encourage parents to at least start/try potty training, mark making, names and please/thankyou etc at home. It just helps us a lot because we’re in a 1-8 ratio and there’s only so much we can do.

If you were writing a list you’d have things like warm, patient, empathetic on there however I think there’s more to it and you either have it or you don’t.
Were single form entry so never worked with another reception teacher however I’ve worked with TAs that are amazing with the older children but struggle with us. It’s that skill of being able to play, being able to sit back and watch children and knowing when to intervene to extend the learning.

Ooh! I should answer with ‘we don’t expect presents’ and it’s true we don’t but I won’t pretend it isn’t lovely to get them!
Our parents tend to go together and get vouchers or something but I’ve always loved the little gifts or cards the children have picked out themselves. It means so much!

We don’t actually do this at my school but that’s because we’re small and the vast majority of the children attend our nursery (which I also teach) so there isn’t a need for transition in the same way.
I can see how this is beneficial for some children - especially if they’ve never been to a setting and how some children would cope fine with the full days straight away as they’re shorter than their nursery days!
For me, if I were teaching a class of 30 I’d appreciate the time to get to know the children which is much much harder to do when the whole class are in. Our ratios mean we can have 1 class teacher to 30 children!! So from that point I do think it benefits the children.

I don’t think less of them at all, if they’re working and it’s a job that doesn’t allow them time off it’s not their fault. I do think it’s a shame though that they can’t join. We do try to make our parent workshops as accessible as possible and we have quite a high attendance. I think that the children do feel it if their parents don’t come and it will affect some (and some won’t care at all!) but being a working parent is hard so you do the very best you can!

I wonder what Reception teachers really want kids to be able to do when they start school, in order of priority.

Would you rather they can put their coats and shoes on themselves?
Be able to sit and listen on the carpet for at least 10-15 minutes?
Be able to write their name?
Be able to focus on adult led activities?
Know the phonics sounds and letters?
Have a good pen hold?
Be able to count items to 10?
Show finger numbers to 10?
Recognise numbers?

Some kids can do all of the above, but some children I do need to choose what I focus on in their next steps. It would be really helpful to know what's most helpful to Reception teachers.

For me I’m hoping OFSTED is really looked at and reformed to make it supportive and useful instead of the dreaded thing it is!

I also think a key area for me, that will improve things for all children is more support for SEND.

I wouldn’t grade greater depth as it’s not a thing in Reception! The exceeding category of the early learning goals was removed with the changes to the EYFS in 2021.

However if I worded a report like this, to me that child is above everyone else, that I would feel would excel throughout school with no trouble at all. I say this because parents latch onto phrases like this and they weren’t greater depth further along then in setting my colleagues up for some very cross and disappointed parents!

This is a hard one to answer as most of the children who come to me spend 1/2 years in my nursery too! In my experience though, the children who have come to me straight from parents have been the ones to struggle the most. They take longer to settle, they have less resilience and it takes them a lot longer to follow rules and accept boundaries. Obviously I’m only limited to my experience but I would send my children to nursery, at least from turning 3.

My DC will be the eldest in reception. She's already counting well, can do simple sums and number bonds to 20. She has begun to blend words - on stage 2 of songbirds. I'd love to say we taught her but it's all learnt from either numberblocks or her siblings. Will she be bored out of her mind?

Yes.
but they should be.

I have a child with ASD in my class. He can’t sit on the carpet. My class never bother that he’s pacing at the back of the classroom but if little neurotypical Jonny did that you bet I’d hear about it!

in my experience children of this age are far more accepting of ‘differences’ than adults and older children!

I have a small class so it’s fairly easy to build individual relationships. I do wonder how easy this is for teachers in larger classes! I absolutely adapt to their needs, it could be a whole class adaption (all children can benefit from things just one child needs!) or it can be a specific thing I do for that child - altered resources, where they sit, the levels of expectation.
You do have favourites but you never let on. All children get the same opportunities with everything.
we don’t have to speculate. 5 year olds tell you everything!!

Are reception teachers aware of the summer born children?

How long does it take for summer born hand writing to catch up with the older kids in the class? Or can it take years to even out with autumn born?

It can be frustrating. How we teach phonics is so prescriptive and all schemes will do it slightly differently. You find that when parents teach the children first you have to unteach a lot of bad habits and mistakes. Not always, but more often than not.

Leave the reading and writing to the teacher. And by that I don’t mean do nothing - speak to them and see what they are doing and how you can help. I’m not sure if Scotland use the same phonics schemes as we do in England but it’s best to follow whatever the school do.

Twinkl is always a good site and phonics play is good but like I say - just follow what the school are doing and share stories with them!!

we don’t have to speculate. 5 year olds tell you everything!!

😂That does worry me sometimes with my chatty and imaginative 4y/o i.e. apt to exaggerate or fabulate things that have happened. God knows what she tells her teachers about what goes on at home...

How can I support my son as he prepares for year 1? He's so sensitive and doesn't seem to have gained much resilience in reception. He's extremely well liked, but almost all his advancement this year has been academic rather than personal/social. Anxiety is an ongoing concern, and labelled as such by his teacher.