Can someone PLEASE explain to me how DSs teacher last year ...

[TotorosOcarina]

(reception) at the end of year meeting was telling us how DS was 'acheiving above and beyond in all areas', she was singing his praises totally, showed us his 'words' shet and ho he got almos al of them right and was 'above average in english and maths' ...

How come now he is in year 1 , his new teacher has put him ingroup 3 of 3

And he is on level 3 books when some are on 6 and 7?!

DHwas talking to anoter mum who said she doesn't feel her daughter is being pushed, i feel the same.

They do reading once a week with them ... 2 pages of 'Biffs dad fell over'

I'm really quite upset because I feel like he has just been dismissed.

and how do I approach the teacher without sounding like a numpty who thinks her DS is perfect - I don't but he has glided through everything so far and his last teacher really seemed to 'know' him so I trust her judgement more.

This is the first class this teacher has had too.

How do you know he's been put in group 3 of 3? Also, Are you sure they are grouped by ability? I would talk to the teacher rather than go by what other parents are saying. The reading once a week sounds the same as our school, but of course they are also doing lots of other lit work throughout the week. All good questions to ask at parents evening.

They are given group names, I never questioned them, but today were told that his group is the lowest.

I'm just surprised that after a year of him working at a high level - he has either dropped 2 or 3 levels over summer or this teacher has it wrong.

Have you seen the episode of Desparate Housewives where Susan tries to find out the order of the class groups ? Unless the teacher has told you he's in the bottom group I won't make assumptions before you speak to her/him.

You could ask what the basis of the groups is without coming over as pushy.

Loved that bit in Desp Housewives.

Yes a simple "are they grouped by ability or something else" question will open up the conversation about whether it's the bottom group or not.

Parents can get in a right round of Chinese Whispers about all this so especially if you're worried, talk to the teacher as others have said.

Ask!

At a parents' evening or by appointment: something along the lines of "Reception teacher said (ABC), but now it appears (XYZ) and we don't understand the apparent discrepancy. Could you explain for us?"

The Reception EYFS criteria are different from the KS1, so expect a change in the jargon.

Sorry to suggest this but could it be the reception teacher's judgement wasn't correct

mrz I think I teacher with 10+ year experience is more likely to be right than a teacher just qualified with her very first class.

It's good you have confidence in the reception teacher but having been the teacher telling parents their child has difficulties after the previous (with 10+ years experience) teacher's glowing report on more than one occasion I'm more of a cynic.

When it comes to ability groups named after shapes the number of sides the shape has often indicates which level group your child is in e.g. squares, pentagons, hexagons etc.

If my child was in circles,that's when i'd worry

When I had groups with names they never indicated ability and I've yet to encounter a teacher who picked names linked to ability levels.

When the reception teacher said "acheiving above and beyond" and "above average" could she have maybe been talking about a national average - rather than class average?

lol treas

yes, they learn in fits and starts at that age I think but always worth asking the teacher. Do you have a parents evening soon?

he children in your school must be quite bright as I'm sure both ds and dd had lots of non readers at that age still in their class

also don't, whatever you do, judge everything on reading. One of the brighest children in dd's class caught onto reading very very late but is bright as a button.

I have totally mixed ability nameless groups and the children know which child is the most able and who is struggling