Refusing to put dc on next reading level or even assess

[Blueschool]

Dc in in year 2. Has been on same reading level since September.

My dc may not be good at a lot at school, but reading is dc strong point. Not the top of class but quite advanced. Not just my opinion but her previous teachers and helpers.

Her current level is not a challenge anymore. Mentioned this weeks ago. Given a huge list basically telling me why dc is a crap reader in teachers opinion. Very surprised as one area always was praised on reading.

Took it on chin and we worked hard to resolve the issues like "not enough expression".

Dc reading is just fine. I can not find not fault.

My comment I wrote last week was the "book was not a challenge". Teacher took a whole page up in dd reading record to again tell me how crap dc is.

I felt the comments were utterly unfair and do not reflect reality at all. She also told me I could buy books to read at home! Very unfair assumption dc reads for pleasure all the time and has 100+ at home.

She said IF she wants she will assess her after Christmas she will.

My issues are

• I thought parents and teachers were meant to be in partnership with education. How is this a partnership?

• IF dc is genuinely reading badly at school WHY? Why is there such a difference? Why is her educational environment not making her feel confident and supported to show her real abilty?

• Another parent has told me they have had similar issues as the teacher gets herself stressed. Im sorry, but holding a child back because you are stressed is quite something.

What should I do?

I'm not saying don't read anything else at home. Children should be reading whatever they can, whenever.

But I am saying that the teacher has a reason not to move OP's dd, and the OP should accept that. The teacher wants her to make progress as well!

Blueschool you sound pretty bright. I'm sure you can manage to help your daughter in the way she needs. Don't hold her back out of fear of the senior team assessment monitor.

How is reading widely 'holding her back'? Even the teacher suggested reading more widely to help develop her skills.

An obsession with galloping up ORT unnecessarily is more likely to hold her back.

When writing comments could you make sure you counter all the things that the teacher has said your dd has commented on - so eg if she has said she doesn't show much expression you can say she read with fantastic expression, appropriate voices for the characters and so on or if she says that she's not comprehending it properly then say that afterwards you had a great discussion that showed she understood the story, the use of language, etc etc so you at least are getting down in writing what she can do even if teacher is saying she can't.

if you think that there is genuinely a problem with the teacher, could you have a quick word with her old teacher or the head of year or is there somebody who is head of english (or whatever the title is these days!) for the school that you could talk to and get a second opinion from?

When ds1 was in Y1 he was put in the middle set for maths, despite the YR teacher saying that she was recommending him for the g&t maths group. his Y1 teacher really didn't seem to get him - didn't help that he missed the first couple of weeks of school that year as he came down with chickenpox the day before school started. It's not like I took him out of school for a holiday - he was really ill poor kid and when he did eventually start back he was still covered in scars so you could really see that he really had had chickenpox. He missed the vital couple of weeks of transitioning they did from YR to Y1 so came back in to a changed class where he only knew about a third of the children, friendship groups had changed, and it was a very sudden change from the life he loved in YR. I wish I had pushed more to get him changed into top set maths - the homework he was being sent home with never took him more than 2 minutes and it was always perfect. But when I spoke to his teacher she always dismissed my concerns.

When he moved into Y2 - he was finally moved up into the top set. Despite having missed a chunk of the top set had done previously in Y1, he not only caught up quickly but spent most of the year at the top of his top set maths group and ended up getting 29/30 on his level 3 sats, so even if they didn't want to say he was g&t which is absolutely fine, the fact they didn't care about him enough in Y1 to put him in the top set meant he spent a year of being unstretched and getting bored in his class (and then that's a vicious circle because they think he's not listening or talking in class or not working and so on, ignoring the fact that he's finished so is waiting for the next thing to do and can't understand why everybody else is taking so much longer to do it or why they have to keep explaining things over and over when he already understands things).

Sorry, that's a long winded way of saying that whilst in most cases the teacher is often right, there are times when it is worth trying to talk to somebody else in the school who might be able to provide a different viewpoint and make things better for your child.

Alternatively - do you think that it is something practical like they have lots of kids on the next level at the moment and don't have enough books for them all? Might be worth asking to have a purple book and a book from the next level so that you could read it through with her and see how different your dd finds it. or even wander into school and pick one out yourself (or get dd to get one as an extra). If the teacher says you can't have one, asks her why, what harm is it going to do your dd to try a book that is easier than the ones she is reading at home as you can only see benefits and that when she is reading with you she doesn't have any of the problems that the teacher reckons on.

I don't understand why you are so hung up on reading schemes (and why other people are suggesting you should just give her higher level books). She already has lots of books at home which she reads and presumably enjoys. Her teacher has suggested reading different things at home. Why is it so important for her to be able to read school reading books at the next level?? If the book is dull, read it quickly or just read a little bit of it. Then go away and read something she enjoys. Believe me, the gold level books won't be any more interesting ...

ORT has much harder books including all the children's classics but why would anyone buy, beg, borrow or steal reading scheme books for home

Who said anything about an obsession? Why would you use that word? Blueschool wants to advance her child's reading. Why not use a reading scheme as well as "free reading" books?

Being kept on one level for a long time can be quite boring and dispiriting and put children off. Having to answer endless boring questions about the same easy books can be too. I mean, why is he called Biff? Because he hits people. One second. Did anything surprise you ? No, it's a really boring book.

Blueschool sounds bright enough to help her child and read other books outside a reading scheme too.

A reading scheme is useful because it will introduce the right words and letter combinations in the right sequence. That's useful if you're a parent and not a teacher. And children like progression, they like the stories going in order, and moving along a stage, and looking ahead to see the next book they'll be on. I'm really surprised you wouldn't realise that.

Can I just say Im not wanting dd to "gallop" through the levels. She has been on purple level for about 6 months now! (Obviously including the summer holidays).

don't buy the next level up - they are school books and 'fun' books should be at home - even if they don't have specific word sets so you have to be there to help with the hard words. we are currently doing Thomas books with me reading anything i think will be too hard to try. the aim with home reading for me is for us to have fun together, and also for her to reach the point of picking up any book and being willing to give it a go.

i found it really frustrating last year - we slowly read through lots of books she found really easy and crawled up the levels, this year she got bumped up two levels in the first half term as the teacher saw they weren't challenging (and no, we didn't do much in summer hols) - just a different approach, not a sudden change in her.

some teachers like them to consolidate and find everything really easy
some like to keep them challenged

i think your dd has the first kind of teacher.

It sounds to me like your DD is shy to read and discuss with the teacher to the same extent she does at home with you.

The teacher cannot move her up if she doens't show her ability at school.

If I were you I'd discuss this with the teacher but be aware that perhaps nothing you do will make your DD feel as comfortable speaking up and reading out loud at school as she does at home.

All those decrying reading schemes - why do you think reading schemes exist?

Do you think they only work at school, and have a power that fades as soon as a book belongs to a parent and not to a school?

Wtf is the senior leadership team assessment?.If a parent asks for a child to be assessed i would expect exactly that.The child needs to be assessed to see if they are ready for the next level.If they are not then the child/parent needs to be told.In my ds 4's class most of the reading is done by external helpers [i am one] and guided reading with the teaching assistant.The teacher rarely reads with the children.Many parents know their own children much better than the teachers.We are the ones who will ultimately have to fund/help them with their future careers and so we really do have a vested interest in their future.I really will think i have failed as the mother of 4 if i do not push for the very best for them.The teachers don't-its a job!.Albeit for some really good teachers it is more than a job.Those particular individuals really do try and make a difference.

Obsession, and obsessive, because she won't accept what a teacher - and other teachers - have reasonably told her, and is still set on the magical next level.

Brycie, it's clear to me that the kind of skills the teacher would like the OP's dd to develop would be better served by reading more widely and gaining more experience of different types of books.

I didn't distinguish between school books and fun books. School books are supposed to be fun too. So if they're not, if they're boring the child, that's a bad sign. ORT are great fun. A lot of people don't like them, maybe you and your child won't, but if you know them and you know they work for you, it's worth it. The thing is you do have to do the whole "order" thing - randomly buying them doesn' treally work in my opinion.

By purple level they are not introducing new words and letter combinations. My DC's school uses a variety of books from different sources where the children choose freely within a level, so haven't experienced the concept of children looking forward to the next book in the sequence. From the OP's description of the books her DD has had, she's on a similar scheme to my DC's school. Mr Biff the Boxer (the book her DD has currently) is not even a book on an "official" reading scheme. It's a "real" book that has been levelled.

.If a parent asks for a child to be assessed i would expect exactly that.The child needs to be assessed to see if they are ready for the next level.

She has. She isn't.

Why would she accept it - it sounds like the teacher is wrong.

Oh gosh. I think I might get arrested for saying that.

I think you misunderstand Brycie, no one is "decrying" reading schemes (they serve a purpose) only the belief that it's a good idea to "get" the next level for your able reader if the teacher won't give into your request.

Excuse me mrz I misunderstood your mystification at why anyone would buy a reading scheme to be a judgment on reading schemes. Generally if you didn't understand why someone would want something, then you don't think the thing is attractive or desirable.

But it's quite nice to do at home if they are not being motivated at school. It can zizz up motivation and fun.

"A reading scheme is useful because it will introduce the right words and letter combinations in the right sequence. That's useful if you're a parent and not a teacher. And children like progression, they like the stories going in order, and moving along a stage, and looking ahead to see the next book they'll be on. "

That's me quoting myself! Why shouldn't it work at home if it works at school? Why do people think school books are "work"? A lot of them are fun especially when there's a plot running through, and strands, and mysteries.

i don't decry reading schemes, but its a bit like feeding you child only a certain brand of food, they might then only feel confident eating that brand IYSWIM, rather than being adventurous and going for things without that stamp on it.

Well not if you read other books too. Why not do both? Blueschool sounds like she's keen and has time.

It doesn't really sound like this child has been assessed to me.I know mine hasn't.Someone further up said that we don't have the time to be assessing every child who's parent asks.Why not?.The teachers in my ds's class are more concerned with moving the majority up to white even though some children are finding it very difficult to read at this level.The children on the low levels are assessed regularly by the teachers.The children at the higher levels are allowed to coast and become terminally bored.To me this is typical of a state school [i know i'm going to be flamed].

Brycie if my child were a good reader and I was complaining that the books were stale I would not go out and buy more of the same (with more pages as this is the main difference between purple and gold) I'd take them to the book shop and let them choose books that they wanted to read.