Reception report shock bad grades

[Cons]

My DS1 brought home his first graded school report, mainly 5's or 6's. I thought this was fine until I compared it to his friend's reports, mainly 8's some 9's, I was horrified. My husband and I are very academically minded, we both have masters degrees and believe wholeheartedly in the importance of education. What are we doing wrong? We are devastated by this report as it is the first time he has been 'graded' At home it is hard to get him to do his homework, he is not interested at all in reading, writing, maths etc. He would rather be playing. I thought this was the normal behaviour of a 5 year old boy but thought he was doing OK at school, which he obviously isn't. Should we get a tutor? It seems a bit ridiculous when he is so young but I don't want him to get even further behind next year. Are our expectations too high??

However the report card you linked to does include Fontas & Pinnell levels mathanxiety ...

to OP, i totally understand your concern, of course you are hoping (expecting) your child to be brilliant, and why shouldnt you?!!! You are well educated and intelligent.
My child was graded mostly 9s some 8s and I was pleased but didn't expect anything less from him.

Maybe abit early for a tutor, wait and see how year 1 goes before doing that. you could integrate more learning opportunities at home - books from library, baking with weights, electronic kits, complicate lego etc.

To other posters, I just can't believe how sarcastic and mean you can be. It is not being pushy to expect your child to receive 9s and 8s in Reception. Why not be a high flier from the off?

I do agree not to discuss marks with other parents, just upsetting really for someone or other, but how to reply if someone asks outright and your child is doing brilliantly?

I feel glad that no one has asked me what DD got tbh. She did get all 9s but she is (a) a girl (b) born in September (c) has a brother in year 2 who she tries to emulate. I still feel I would be uncomfortable at telling anyone else about it though so would probably just say that she was "fine" or some similar phrase.

Sukima, 'You are well educated and intelligent.
My child was graded mostly 9s some 8s and I was pleased but didn't expect anything less from him.'

The fact that the OP and you (and I guess other parents like you) 'expect' a child to excel because you the parent (believe) you are educated and intelligent, makes obvious that you cannot understand other 'mean' comments expressed here.

To consider 'schok bad grades' some numbers in a report stating that your child is normal and performing at expected level, makes me very sad for the child.

Believe it or not:

1. people who think they are more intelligent than the average human being are normally wrong;
2. intelligent people can have children performing at average level.
3. to 'expect' excellence from your child is a problem for your child.

Am a little concerned my post sounds like boasting by stealth. Really isn't.

Other thing i meant to say was that I could read when I was 3 and do fact amounts of arithmetic before I went to school. Was (and still am ) useless socially. Went to all right university and got all right degree.

My sister was considered slow at school until she was in about year 5. She is the one who went to Cambridge. I imagine my mum and dad might have felt similar to th OP but I never saw it (am 7 years older than her so might have noticed) and she did absolutely fine.

expect the best of course, and accept whatever happens, surely...

The chinese approach would have parent quizzing student/school why all 9s weren't attained!!!

Look, I have totally let my child be this year, no hot-housing, no hassling atall and they have achieved 9s. I expected high scores because I could see they were a bright spark and because teacher kept telling me through the year.

I agree that average grades at Reception level are absolutely not cause for concern, but cmon, lets be frank, who wants to be labelled 'average'?

There was clear meanness on this thread from other parents making fun of the OP for her reasonable concerns for her child's development, maybe because they are happy being average themselves, or because they think it outrageous that a parent is worried about grades in Reception already.

Where is kindness here? to other parent's ideas? She is obviously a caring person. Just why to write mean comments? It makes Mumsnet no better than News of the World level trash.

A child can get all 9's and still be very unhappy you know.
I agree that average grades at Reception level are absolutely not cause for concern, but cmon, lets be frank, who wants to be labelled 'average'?

I would very much like for my ds to be average. Average is great and average means, by its very nature, that that is the level that most people are.

I hate children of this age to be reduced to a number.

This year for the first time my ds's report had effort grades. I was much more focused on these and whether he was doing his best and making the most of the education he is getting.

Reception?

Grades?

Sukima, I do not think you understand 'average' in the context of school report. There are plenty of very useful posts kindly written by many MN members that help understand this very well (some of them in this thread). Your child is not 'labelled average' if he/she achieves expected targets for his/her age. At least, this is not what is intended to mean, although obviously some parents are understanding this.

And for your question, I would like my extraordinary/special/mega intelligent and mega creative/blah blah kids not to be 'labelled' in general, but if it has to happen I believe 'average' is possibly the least dangerous label to carry around as a child.

I repeat Ormirian post

Reception?

Grades?

:(

They aren't grades or levels but because some schools and teachers are giving out numbers they are seen as such.

I was genuinely confused. I am sure when even my youngest was in reception (he's 8) there was no such thing as 'grades'. Or they were so poor the teacher took pity on me...

DD was similar to DS1 and DS2 in reception. Couldn't read or write apart from her name. Recognised perhaps 3 letters. Could count to 10. So probably grade 0! She is now in Year 7 - on grades 6 and 7 for all her subjects, subject star for science and geog and an all-round clever clogs (and bloody nice with it). So I personally wouldn't give a flying fuck about grades at that age.

The system has been around since 1999

Ormirian, to use your most sophisticated turn of phrase, I am very sure you would give a flying f* if your child was graded 3 or 4 out of a possible 9 where the average is 6!!!!

Cmon.....be real

sukima you don't sound very sympathetic to the implications of getting a 3 or 4. If these 'low' scores are maintained, it could mean years of struggle to see appropriate 'experts', and may take many years for parents to get specific support.

Getting 9s in YR does not show the brilliance of the parents, or the uber-genius of the child. It is a measure of development, and, at this early stage, is influenced by home environment, age, parental support, etc. FWIW EYFS scores are often the source of the KS1 leaders nightmares, as they try to move the children 2 levels by the end of year 2. I work in a school with a transient population and we regularly receive over-assessed children on the EY profile.

You also have to understand that the EY profile is a real load of waffle and is very difficult to quantify. We have had to add quantifiable accountable criteria to some points, as the scores coming from YR were so ridiculous (although these had been monitored by the LEA). As an example, even this year, our EYFS scores extrapolate to 80%+ L3 in Y2 in maths. With the best will in the world, this isn't going to happen - but the LEA moderator said these scores 'looked a little low'.

This is not an exam sukima. It is a check on development, and should be recognised as such.

The points are developmental and have no correlation with future national curriculum levels in primary school.

Nope. I still wouldn't give a flying fuck (there's a 'u' and a 'c' in there you now) Being squeamish about language does not make you sophisticated.

What matters is where they are when they leave their education! And most children develop and change massively in that time frame. I think it's far too early to start worrying.

For the OP. Please please stop worrying. Unless you think there is some gross developmental problem he will be OK. Is he one of the younger ones in the year perhaps? Is he struggling with the whole aspect of 'school'. No two children develop at exactly the same rate. If you are educated and involved, he will be fine - that is one of the best starts he could have. Don't write him off because of some numbers at the end of his first year in school. And BTW it is normal for him to want to play and not do hw. That is what little ones do.

Come to think of it I remember a chart of numbers when all of mine left their nursery - we ignored them I think and just read the comments that their carers made about them - how happy they were, how sociable they were. The rest of it seems so much pointless flummery.

How long has he been in school?

It isn't reasonable to expect a child who has attended one or two terms to be at the same point as those who have had a full year in school.

sukima - I think you are missing the point, as others have said - different children progress at different rates. And the birthdate of a child can make a huge, HUGE difference in reception. It could well be that the OP's son (who is July born as I understand it from her earlier posts, so only just turned 5) will accelerate in terms of his development as he moves through Y1/Y2 etc. Equally, those 9-across-the-board superstars may well not maintain their glowingly fantastic start!

OP, for what it's worth, my own July born DS ended reception at below expected levels (not sure what his actual levels were but am guessing they were 5 or below) and he has just ended Y2 well above expected levels. He simply wasn't ready for school in reception and, like your little boy, preferred to play. His development took off just that little bit later.

What worries me most about your posts is the disappointment you seem to feel in your child - please, please try not to act as if he has let you down, because he really hasn't.

oh and DH and I are both exceptionally well educated and intelligent (DH is an Oxbridge graduate, we're both educated to post grad level) but we still managed to produce a 'below expected levels in Reception' child

sukima Fri 22-Jul-11 19:11:12
"Ormirian, to use your most sophisticated turn of phrase, I am very sure you would give a flying f* if your child was graded 3 or 4 out of a possible 9 where the average is 6!!!!"

So what are you suggesting I should do, as a highly educated academic, with my ds who scores below average in all tests because he genuinely struggles with his learning?

Make him stay up all night to do more homework?

Ban him from playing so he can spend more time doing maths problems?

Keep telling him it's simply not good enough and that I have a right to have only high-performing children because I'm so clever myself?

He has had extra support at school for several years and has made great progress for him, but he is still below average.

Should I see about handing him back? Because it's just not Good Enough, is it?

It is a good question cory. I must admit I'd like to know the answer too. It might help with my educationally unsatisfactory 8yr old.

Well my answer was to tell him I am proud of him because his SATS results show that he has put in a lot of work.

Same here cory. DS2 is doing so well for him. But behind all his peers. I am so proud of him.

But I suspect his grades would be quite unsatisfactory considering the both DH and I are educated and intelligent