Falling further behind, what should I be expecting school to do?

[PeasandCucumbers]

DS is 7, just finished Yr2. Had report at weekend which states his reading is 'just below national expectations'. He has been bringing home purple book bands and a couple of gold so I know this is not that far behind. My main concern is that according to the reading age on his report (6.11) he is 8mths behind his actual age whereas last year he was 7mths behind. This obviously means the gap is now wider than it was this time last year and although part of me thinks 'it's only a month' another part of me thinks 'if he carries on like this he will keep falling further behind'.
I will speak to his teacher to clarify how they actually assess the reading age but also wonder what, if anything, school could / should do to help him. He has already been having his phonics lessons in a small group (6 children I think) every day. We have also just started Apples & Pears at home, only done a couple of days so far.
I realise that I may be being a bit neurotic!!

They should be identifying his specific areas of weakness and sharing them with you. Extra phonics is a start, will he be getting support in Y3?
What is he struggling with?

Averages mean some are above and some are below.. at this age I'm afraid it is mostly boys who are below... and he is only just below...

I would be looking at what you can do to increase his interest in reading - most boys seem to have no motivation to read at this age, don't know why - there seems to be a switch which says I want to be active, I don't want to sit and read...

Comics, character and film based books are good at his age and may just trigger the reading bug. Lots and lots of different books - some kids get really bored with the reading schemes and a lack of interest can easily be mistaken for a lack of ability.

Some boys (especially) prefer factual books to fiction - books about cars and fire engines and rockets etc.... Factual books can also bring on a child's reading ability very quickly due to the all the different words they come across.

I don't think you are being neurotic at all, reading is vital... but do think you should not look to school for all the answers.

Thanks for the responses. We have loads of books at home plus we regularly go to the library. He is very interested in books & reading & gets a bit frustrated that he can't read chapter books indendently like his younger sister does, so despite also being very active he does enjoy stories too. I don't want to put him off learning by making him do loads at home but on the flip side I don't want him to get behind. It's just finding that right balance

Reading age tests are not all that precise or scientific, so a month's difference really doesn't mean very much, though the test does show he is making progress. Speak to the school for more specific information and I would also second ByTheWay's advice.