How much communication would you expect from your Y2 child's teacher?

[RTchoke]

DD is in Y2. This year her teacher's job share. It is a large school and non of the parents know the teachers.

The school policy is to drop off in the playground so you never see the teachers in the morning. In the afternoon you pick them up from outside their classroom door. It is day 8 of term and so far the (unfriendly) TA has always been on the door to let them out so no chance to say hello to the teachers.

We have not had one note home from either teacher introducing themselves, or explaining what they expect of the year or even what the class will be doing this term. Last year the lovely Y1 teacher wrote a note on day 1 introducing herself and explaining she wanted us to read for 15 mins each night and discussing the curriculum.

Yesterday DD bought home a reading book (first sign of homework of any kind) and a new reading log. She read the book to herself so I wrote in the log asking if it was OK for her to read to herself or whether I should still listen to her. Tonight the log came back initialed but with no answer - the teacher clearly did not read it but automatically initialed every log that had writing in. This seems a very bad sign to me.

Is this level of non-communication as shockingly bad as I feel it is or am I overreacting?

dd started P5 (roughly same as Y4) in the middle of August and I dont know what her teacher looks like and we havent had any info home. She has had a mix of homework and a home reader book - I just get her to read it to herself. I probably still listened to her read at your dd's age.

ds started P2 (Y1 age) in August too and he has had homework/reading book, etc. He has had a couple of letters home saying what is getting covered e.g. they are learning about island life with Katie Morag. We also have a 'meet the teacher' session next week where she will go over what they will be learning in P2.

I think that is quite poor.

DD is in Year 2. So far we have had:

• reading books since Day 2 with updated reading targets in them

(3 a week, we are on our second set as it is week two)

• a curriculum summary for the year
• a homework timetable for the year (i.e. maths on Friday, English on Wednesday)
• English homework book with which pages to do each week for rest of year, first lot handed in Wednesday
• Maths homework book with which pages to do each week for rest of year, first lot handed in today
• a detailed curriculum guide for this half term
• a letter giving all their names and emails, etc plus details of when they will have PE, what to do with water bottles, etc
• spelling tests and words started this week
• a note saying they will be cooking rocky road next week, to check for allergies
• this weekend's comprehension homework
• school trip dates for the academic year

I know they did most of their planning in the summer term, so they could hit the ground running.

Its not that I expect a daily chat or anything near it but I do think infant schools should put some thought into the benefits of good communication with parents.

Just pop in at the end of the day and ask the question. Early morning is never good but there is time at the end of the day.

I think that is quite poor too tbh.

DS has just gone into yr3 but last yr we could speak to the teacher if we had any concerns at pick up time, in the morning the TA was there with a notebook to write any major concerns down.

This yr is slightly different as they now have to line up and go in when the bell goes so no chance to speak to anyone if there are major concerns ( ie DS was bullied massively in yr2 and it only came out in the evening so I appreciated being able to speak to someone in the morning about it).

We've had poor communication in year 2 so far too. I've just started working full-time and so haven't been to the school this term... Yesterday we got their first homework for the term (learn how to read and write numbers one to ten) and on Thursday they brought home a reading diary for us to fill in and their first reading book (one week after start of term). There have been a couple of letters from the school about sport, trips etc but nothing directly from the teacher herself. I think its quite disappointing as I think a teacher who is motivated, aspirational, dynamic and had a clear sense of desired outcomes (or any one of the above) would want to engage parents and communicate with them so they could help to achieve those outcomes.

Ha - you have a log? Lucky you! I have nothing from ds's school, except 2 reading books from widely differing bands and no explanation. Am appalled - no idea how I am supposed to communicate with the woman, and vastly different from my experience as a previous Y2 teacher and a present Literacy coordinator.

What the OP describes does not sound ideal, but give it a little time. We have the first couple of weeks as an induction period. We need to get to know the children thoroughly before we can set targets and fully plan the curriculum. It gives us time to spend extended time reading, assessing and talking one-to-one with the children before the hectic whirl of planning, marking, target setting, pupil progress meetings (Harvest, Parents Evenings, visits, afterschool clubs, subject leadership action plans, Christmas rehearsals etc.) starts. Some children have lost learning over the summer and need targets support to regain it. Others have made huge progress and have jumped levels.

Now I feel I know my children as people, not just the data and notes passed from the previous teacher, I can plan my timetable and curriculum for them. Even things like homework days and amounts can vary depending on the cohort to ensure they get the best from it. If I had dived straight into formal timetable (and sent the newsletter explaining all this) I wouldn?t have felt so confident about each child?s strengths and areas for development. These will now be shared with parents in their personal targets in the next week or so, and when I have any meetings or phone calls to discuss them I will actually know the child I am discussing with the parent.

I am one of those people who really love to be well organised and prepared in advanced but this statement worries me a little ?I know they did most of their planning in the summer term, so they could hit the ground running.? So much changes over the long summer holiday. How can you guarantee the work planned in July matches the needs of each and every child two months later?

Would you run a Y2 class with no kind of reading diary/record, Abigail? Out of interest, like.

Although I do agree with your comments regarding getting to know the children.

It is still very early. I would wait a bit more.

In the meantime, I would listen to her read even if she is in year 2. Hopefully, she will read at home by herself anyway, but reading out loud involves different skills.

No Feenie. Reading books, with a record book, went home on very first day. I wrote a sticker saying "Welcome to Year 2. We hope you enjoy your time in X class. We have sent home the book from the level they were reading in Year 1. As we hear each child read over the next week we will assess and check we are sending the correct level of book home. Please do pop in after school on Thursday or Friday or phone to make an appointment if you have any questions or concerns". I could then stick it in the record book quickly on the first day of term.

?I know they did most of their planning in the summer term, so they could hit the ground running.? - that was me. I am fully confident, as this is my second child through the school, that they will adjust the plans as they get to know the children.

I used to help in Year 2 and they would have, for example, five levelled comprehension homework tasks ready and prepared for the start of the year. They would have an idea of who would get which task, but they might adjust this as they got to know them better over the two weeks.

You can't of course guarantee it will be a perfect fit straight away but it will be a good fit for most of them, and if you have open communication with the parents (which they do) and observe and mark the initial work carefully, it will soon be feeding into their assessment of the children.

Abigail, if we had even a sticker like you describe I would feel much happier. We have had NOTHING. DD is a free reader, has been for a year, they don't need to assess her band so my question about whether to listen to her reading out loud can't have been that hard to answer. My biggest concern I'd they didn't even read my question, just initialles the reading log to make it look like they are checking.

So is the general consensus that it is too early to complain?

Sorry for the typos. For "I'd" read "is" and for "initailles" read "initialled".

Why don't you go in and ask?

That doesn't sound good.

A week before school started the DCs got a postcard from their teacher welcoming them to whatever year it was (for up to age 8ish) and then on the first day they brought home a letter for parents welcoming them and describing the aims for the year, with a brief description of class policies and homework expectations.

My DCs' primary school held a back to school night after the first week of school. The teachers stood in their classrooms for an entire evening and presented three rounds of info sessions for the parents, with time for parents to introduce themselves and look around the classroom in between. They explained the reading scheme, the maths, and other areas the children would be studying. They explained the homework policies and the expectations they had of classroom behaviour and the consequences for infractions. IIRC, they went through the day their child normally experienced, the morning routine, what the children could do at break time, what they could do at free reading time, how they proceeded to lunch, how much by way of self care and classroom chores was required of the children, etc.

For general communication, they all had school email addresses and a voicemail via the school switchboard where parents could leave a message. Any email or message left was guaranteed to be answered within 24 hours. The children were ushered into school by class in the mornings and there was normally no way to tackle any issue at that time, and in the afternoon you were not guaranteed to see them either but the email and phone contact was great and worked very well. If something came up that a teacher felt was urgent, the teacher would contact you by phone or email.

Every day the assignment notebook was brought home by the child and had to be signed by the parent. There was a space for parents to fill in a comment if needed, and the teacher signed the assignment book daily when it was returned.

Every week the week's schoolwork and homework was sent home in a special folder with a comment (good, satisfactory or needs improvement) on a form, and an indication whether all homework was handed in or if there was work missing. In those early years their work tended to be done on individual sheets and not in copies or notebooks. There was also a behaviour section with boxes checked for lack of materials, poor timeliness, distraction in class. Parents signed the bottom half of this sheet and returned it. The work was kept. Child got a sticker on a sheet taped to the inside cover of the folder each week if the parent signed and sent the page back.

And every Wednesday the Wednesday folder came home with the oldest or only child with the school news roundup, notices about various classes in the community, reminders about safe crossing and uniform policy, permission forms for various activities like scouting or choir or band.