When would you move your child?

[clare40]

My DD goes to an infant school, and is in Yr1. Unfortunately we have not been happy at all with the school - the learning is incredibly slow and it seems all they do is fun stuff (I know sounds a really silly thing to moan about!). I really wouldn't mind if her reading or maths was progressing, but day after day she comes back saying they did cooking/went exploring/ etc. They are still learning single sounds and compared to our friend's children of similar age, it seems they are really behind. (I have also spoke to parents who have told me their child has struggled when they moved to a junior school>). The problems is my child is happy and has friends. There are other schools in the area - would you wait until YR3 or move sooner rather than later?!

I would have thought only learning single sounds would have a major impact on her learning to write and spell. How far on is she with reading and writing?

She is ok, but thats mainly because I spend a lot of time at home with her. She is on yellow on the reading scheme. I was told off by her teacher for teaching her blends!

If you want out of the school I would move ASAP, but you need to be sure that where-ever you move her to is actually going to be better. If it is demonstrably better it may also be full and then you will have the issue of trying to appeal for a place when probably the infant class size regs will apply. Under those circumstances you will probably not have a very good chance of suceeding at appeal.

So you need to check that spaces are available before making too many decisions.

Of course if you are in Wales then you will be following the foundation stage curriculum till the end of year2 which is all about learning around play. That is not to say your child should not be further on than she appears to be but that it will be in a less structured classroom environment than you might expect.

It's a really tough one isn't it because she is so happy and has good friends etc. It does seem an incredibly slow pace though - I would be concerned too. Is the whole class only learning single sounds?
What happens further up the school? Are the KS1 sats good? If so maybe they know what they are doing.

This all sounds a bit slow (and I'm unpushy!).

Our dds school did all the sounds in the first term of reception (and indeed, that is how it is done in all our local schools).

However, a slow start doesn't mean failure later - they might really push everything in year 2.

Go in to see the teacher and ask her to explain how the curriculum works, what she's planning, what your daughter's target is etc. (Basically, what is she doing with her class!). You might find your fears allayed when all is revealed... or you might have genuine cause for concern and maybe remove her. But get those answers first, so you are clear about why you want to change schools. Also, what's the Ofsted report like? What do parents up the school think?

Your daughter won't have the same teacher for long and other teachers in the school may have a different approach which you'll be much happier with. The Head is also key for setting the tone - hippy-go-lucky with painting every afternoon; or times tables and Shakespeare sonnets every morning.

If your daughter's happy, it's a big plus for staying. Also I agree research other schools you like and chances of getting in.

Think I would go in and vioce your concerns about the pace - find out when thing ramp up a little, reassure yourself.

The school sounds lovely though - your dc is happy - what I'd have given to say the same thing...I won't go into detail but my dc went to a pushy, competitive, overly academic school - which is fine if your child is a genius/academic but many are not ready for that - they need time to develop, to blossom, not to be made to feel like crap for not performing adequately when they are only 5 years old.

Before you consider moving your happy DD you need to meet with the teacher/Head or someone who is able to explain to you the rationale behind the pace at which they're working.

It maybe that the school uses something along the lines of the RML phonics scheme (which might explain the feeling of rehearsing a single sound) or may be that they are using this term of Y1 as a transition from Reception.

Another possibility may be that your DD isn't painting an accurate picture of what she gets up to in school. My own Y1 DD has just told me that she did colouring in and Lego today. That's it apparently. However, as I happen to teach at her school I know that's not true! She's also done phonics, DT, numeracy, French and singing today.

Ask at school about it - you may find many Y1 classes are fairly similar at this time of year but also may have to accept that your DD's take on the school day isn't going to give you the information you want.