EYFS - question

[tiggerandpoohtoo]

Help! My daughter has come home with her scores for her reception year. She has done really well across the board apart from communication - for which she has scored a 4. For the other literacy parts she has 8,9,9. Should I be worried about her communication score and what is that part? Is it her speaking skills? She did lack confidence at the start of the year but will now confidently read to a small group - according to her report.

That seems very odd.. Is she an introverted child?

If it was 6 I wouldn't be surprised as I think teachers like to call out one area for improvement but 4 is below average. I'd ask the teacher about it.

My DD is probably similar to yours, she is an 8,9,9 too, but she is introverted and quiet in reading to groups. However, that only reduced her communication to a 7 - 4 seems particularly low, so perhaps it is something else? Or a mistake?

Look up what the requirement for a '5' is. My guess is there is something random that she happens to have not been observed doing.

IME these scores reflect 'what they have been seen to do' rather that 'what they are capable of'

Thanks for all your replies. She is very quiet at school and has always been timid and not very confident but she has improved. I looked at the requirements and one of them was about role play. I don't think she would do this at school. i know she refused to dress up in tudor outfits last term. We have parents evening next Thursday so i will ask about it then.

anybody else know what might be the problem?

Without knowing which ELG she has achieved it's difficult to know what the problem is these are points 4-8 (she's achieved one of these according to her score). The thing is without scoring on some of these it shouldn't be possible for her to score in other aspects (PSE for example)

Listens with enjoyment to stories, songs, rhymes and poems, sustains attentive listening and responds with relevant comments, questions or actions

Uses language to imagine and recreate roles and experiences

Interacts with others in a variety of contexts, negotiating plans and activities and taking turns in conversation

Uses talk to organise, sequence and clarify thinking, ideas, feelings and events, exploring the meanings and sounds of new words

Speaks clearly with confidence and control, showing awareness of the listener

She scored all 8's on her PSE sections mrz.
Her report for this section reads as follows..
She listens and responds and now initiates communication with others, displaying greater confidence in more informal contexts. Whilst talking in a small group about our visit to the farm, she quietly commented on how she enjoyed seeing the sheep race. She often talks activities through, reflecting on and modifying actions. She was observed making a pirate map with a partner . She negotiated and interacted well. She listens with enjoyment to stories, songs etc and sustains attentive listening. When feeling confident she responds with relevant comments, questions or actions.

Many of the profile points are interlinked and it isn't possible to award one without the other but it seems in your daughter's case her school has

:(

I don't know where to go from here! In her report they say she is very sociable, will read out stories to the class, yet her communication skills are still only 4. She must need help with something, but why haven't they said anything before? When I have asked her teacher, she has always said she is doing brilliantly - obviously not the case!

I'd ask for an appointment with the teacher to discuss it. If there's a specific problem you may be able to work on it over the summer.

A low eyfs in one area does NOT necessarily mean that she us struggling or needs help. It just means that there is something that she has not been observed to do spontaneously in class. If her teacher were concerned then there would be a corresponding comment about this.

Speak to her teacher asap. And please don't stress. :)