Parents evening - to ask or not to ask?

[soph252]

I have parents evening coming up & have a few concerns, but think I might be being picky and don't want to ask questions if I am being unreasonable or would like to ask them in the correct way, so was hoping some of you might be-able to give me some perspective and advice?

The situation is this -
My DS is meeting expectations and exceeding them in some areas which makes me wonder if I should therefore just leave the teachers to do their job and shelve my slight concerns.

He has just been moved to the top group for reading, but hasn't read with anyone at school for 4, nearly 5 weeks - in the old group he used to read twice a week.
My concern is that although he reads at home, surely just because he has reached a certain level, they should still be spending time at school to work on his targets etc. It feels like perhaps they are concentrating on getting all the children to a set level and they spend the time working with the children who aren't there yet? What would you do? Mention this or not and in what way.

I saw his target book for reading a couple of weeks ago and he had only made one sub-level of progress so far this year - they tick off their own targets and the teacher then verifies and signs to say they are achieved - is this normal, both the progress made and the way they check their own targets? It concerns me that if he is reading with a teacher so infrequently that he won't have the opportunity to have his targets ticked off, so that he makes adequate progress this year.

It is the same across the board really, but don't want to bore you with an overload of information.

I guess I just would like some help with whether I should just ask if his teacher thinks he will make the 3 sub-levels of progress? Let them know I am concerned about the not reading for so long? Or just let her tell me how he is doing and trust that all will be ok. I don't want to be pushy or annoy the teacher, but also don't want to get to the end of the year and feel like he has been let down iyswim.

Thanks guys!

I could be wrong but I don't think they are expected to make 3 sublevels progress in a year. If they are expected to get L2 at end of Yr2 and L4 at end of Yr6 that is 2full levels/6 sublevels over 4 years.

In terms of achieving targets there does seem to be at least some emphasis in DSs school that they are able to work out if they are achieving targets themselves (certainly in the juniors, don't know about infants).

I think it would be fair to ask how often the teacher hears them read, rather than go in all guns blazing that it isn't enough.

2 sublevels is the norm.
As to the reading - depends how old he is. If he's in infants, I'd ask how often the teacher/TA should be hearing him read. Over a month seems a bit much for that age. If he's older - do the top group read with each other? Are they really at the 'independent reader' stage?

Hi LittleMissGreen, thanks for your reply. I have been led to believe that in KS1 they should be making 3 sub-levels each year - could be wrong there though. I just want to feel he is being given a fair chance to achieve that.

It's good to know that your sch also place emphasis on the pupils being involved in determining whether they are achieving targets, at least I know it isn't just ours and I can see the benefits, as long as the teachers keep a close eye on it too.

I would never go in all guns blazing - his teacher is fab and very approachable - I have great respect for her, which is why I am reluctant to bring up my concerns as I don't want her to feel I am questioning her. I am leaning towards just asking her if he is on target for the expected progress or what his end of year targets are and leaving it there, as I think that will set my mind at rest or let me know if I should be concerned.

Hi LittleMissGreen, thanks for your reply. I have been led to believe that in KS1 they should be making 3 sub-levels each year - could be wrong there though. I just want to feel he is being given a fair chance to achieve that.

It's good to know that your sch also place emphasis on the pupils being involved in determining whether they are achieving targets, at least I know it isn't just ours and I can see the benefits, as long as the teachers keep a close eye on it too.

I would never go in all guns blazing - his teacher is fab and very approachable - I have great respect for her, which is why I am reluctant to bring up my concerns as I don't want her to feel I am questioning her. I am leaning towards just asking her if he is on target for the expected progress or what his end of year targets are and leaving it there, as I think that will set my mind at rest or let me know if I should be concerned.

Ooops sorry posted twice!

He is year 2. He has not done individual reading or group reading for 4 weeks. The reading sessions is where they take their target books and focus on working on these.

To be fair though, one of those weeks was half term and with the move of groups he could have moved just before his old group read and just after the new one iyswim, so perhaps waiting to see what happens for a few more weeks might be worth while.

I think 3 sublevels is expected in KS1 (2 in KS2). However my observation with my own DC is that the school (teacher) went in fits and starts of recording progress/checking targets. So your DS might actually be working at a higher level, just the formal assessment bit hasn't been done. As he's Y2 it will "have" to be done around May/June time. I would concentrate on asking his teacher about whether he is making progress or if there are particular areas he needs to work on.

The other thing to note is that children themselves go in fits and starts. My DS made a huge amount of progress in his reading at the end of Y1/start of Y2 and then he did seem to slightly stagnate, so it may be that your DS has hit a similar sort of plateau.

Agree also asking about how often he is read with (again, could it be done but not be rcorded/mentioned)? It also might be that they are focusing on gaining reading skills through another method.

With DS1s (Year 5) new teacher (new to the school too) I did ask at his parents evening he was making the correct amount of progress, as it seemed to me that as he had been above average in yr2 SATS that if he was now doing averagely for year 5 that he wouldn't have progressed as expected. She seemed quite happy to be asked, and as she didn't know said she would get back to me.
I had been summoning up the courage to ask for a couple of years, so glad I actually got around to it!

Hi Soph252:

Several things occur to me.

2 sub-levels on SAT levels per year is fairly standard (i.e. 2c to 2b and then 2b to 2a) . So either the school has high aims (fabulous if they regularly achieve 3 sub-levels) or you may have misheard. But 2 is normal in most LEAs.

Your DS is in top group for reading now in Y2. In many cases top group gets less time with the teacher, because they're doing fine. This isn't to say that their work isn't organised by the teacher and differentiated - but the reading time might be with a parent volunteer or a TA, rather than the teacher. This is because often top group just get on with it. Don't doubt the learning is going on - it's just not always closely monitored by the teacher. She can entrust them to a TA and focus her attention on say bottom group who are still struggling with pronounciations.

Why? Well there are a number of reasons - but the main reasons are these.

1. pressure to get all children in Y2 to Level 2 on SATs. Although KS1 SAT results don't affect the school league tables directly - indirectly these scores play into the value added score. For example if a child scores L3 in reading at KS1 SATs the school will be required to get them to L5 in Y6. Every school is different - but some schools play clever. Get the children to L2 and then let them park there, because attaining L5 in Y6 off a L2 in Y2 will look better on the league table than from a L3 in Y2.

2. individual assessments for KS1 SATs from this point forward may mean that the teacher has less time for the usual for in class reading. SATs in Y2 have changed and Y2 teacher assessments on pupils also impact on any tests taken (which will be occasional and sometimes not even noticeable to the children - it is unlikely for example all pupils will sit an exam together - it is more likely that a small group of pupils might take a comprehension test together). A teacher can now over-ride the SAT scores if they feel that the performance is below that regularly observed for a pupil. So teachers are spending more time gathering the evidence to document L2 work (or whatever level) for all pupils in Y2.

Should you be concerned? Well on one level you'd like to see reading progress for your son - that's perfectly understandable. However, the school is under enormous pressure to get all Y2 pupils reading at L2 on SATs. That may mean that the teacher has to spend more time with struggling pupils to help raise their attainment.

In an ideal world - everyone would be working at roughly the same level - but that isn't always the case.

Do talk with the teacher - but I suspect this is what is going on in class. It doesn't mean that learning/ teaching is stopping for your son, but it may mean that now that he's attained a secure L2b or higher and is sure to pass SAT components in reading/ literacy - the teacher may be less focused about working directly with him and other members of the top reading group.

If you want more to be happening - 1) ask the teacher if there is anything you could be working on at home (it may be that he needs more work on comprehension or understanding adjectives, for example). 2) if you want to encourage L3 work in reading - ask the teacher to give you some information on what needs to be understood to achieve the jump from level 2a to level 3c (or whatever is appropriate for your DS).

HTH

Children are expected to make two full levels progress over a Key stage as there are only two years in KS1 this equates to a full level progress per year (or 3 sub levels)

A teacher can now over-ride the SAT scores if they feel that the performance is below that regularly observed for a pupil.

That way of putting it is a little misleading. Teachers in Y2 gather lots of evidence, of which the test is a small part. It's not really a case of over-riding anything, more of seeing which level most of the evidence exists at.