DCs starting a new school after half term...what do I take? Should I mention G&T?

[FishfingersAreOK]

Due to a move my DC (YR & Y2) are starting at a new primary school on Monday. When we left their old school on Friday I was given all of their work/folders/old reading records etc.

Not so worried about YR stuff but should I take Y2 literacy/numeracy/handwriting stuff in with us for the first day for the new school. Or would that look...er....I don't know...unnecessary? Would it be useful or just a pain?

Also, Y2 is on the Gifted and Talented register for her reading. Not sure how this has actually benefitted her tbh. She doesn't know she is on the register. We are not that bothered in many ways. We were happy she was being stretched at her old school - and she was happy and thriving. So again, is there any need to mention it? The new school is bigger, and one of the appeals of it is there will be more peers for DD (Y2) of a similar academic ability - rather than her being pulled into Y3/Y4 classes. If I don't mention it will it seem odd? If I do will I seem pushy? Does the G&T transfer to a new school IYSWIM or will it just be dependent on the others in her year.

These are probably all questions I should have asked the school(s) last week but we only found out they had places on Thursday and everyone agreed beginning of the half term was the sensible time to start....but has left me with very little time to get my head around it!

Not sure if posting in correct area....Oh....blasted half term

Well, if resources ever become an issue in the new school, teachers are more likely to think, OK, there's a girl here who's noted as being an advanced reader for her age, we'd better factor her in, if you tell them, than they are if you don't, unless they're really on the ball and sort these things out for themselves. (I'm not holding my breath, I don't know about you.) If it was me I would tell them, not because I expected them to do anything about it, but because when they did nothing and I boycotted their reading system I could point to the six month old notification and say, remember this? I told you so. And they'd understand. (Well, they might understand.)

I'm a teacher... In this situation i would find it helpful to have a couple of examples of work to look through so i'd say yes take them in. I wouldn't mention G&T because (a) it's not statutory to have a register any more (it should be high quality teaching for all), (b) thinking of my own kids this wouldn't for me be the most important thing i'd want the new teacher to know and i wouldn't want to seem pushy and (c) it's a less usual time of year to move, sats are done so i'd view this half term as time for kids to get used to new school and make friends. If you come from a school using ORT you could mention what band they are on, i'd approach it as 'dd was on x band at prev school but i'm happy to go with your judgement when you've heard her read'... Every teacher likes to feel trusted!

Thank you. DD has been a free reader since first term of Y1 (not very stealthy stealth-boast ) so no band to take to new school IYSWIM, except that.

Think I may not mention the G&T - we always thought it a little odd. A very advanced reader from 2 parents who are utter bookworms....(OK, OK her 4yo brother is the opposite, but hey). And a child very keen to learn suddenly blossoms from YR to Y1. Quite normal I would say. Not necessarily G&T. And wrt reading the new school take a very pragmatic non-banding approach to reading and do not do a one size fits all. Will wait and see what happens but am quite comfortable her love of reading/comprehension/ability can speak for themselves. And hope a more flexible approach fires DS up!

So, examples of work would be useful - cool will sort some stuff for Y2 DD and maybe see if I can scrabble together a few bits for YR....though not holding my breath...and not sure a painting of a penguin of huge benefit?

Thank you.

BTW any other tips for an easy start. Apart from drop and leave? Have really fired them up that it is good/exciting/lots more friends etc. And even told DS (YR) that his new school will be where he will learn to read as his old teacher was shackled into a method even she admitted was not working, poor lady so he is very excited about that!

Wanting your children to be able to read well is not pushy; it's just life. A pushy parent is someone who wants their tone deaf baby to play First Fiddle at the London Symphony's Spring Rachmaninov concert in Hyde Park. Teachers who talk about pushy parents for wanting them to do their jobs should not be teaching. Spring has sprung. There are good opportunities in the grocery business.

Schools are well aware of their responsibilities learnandsay and despite your misgivings are very interested in helping children reach their potential! Every parent and teacher i have ever met has wanted their children to read properly. Op as you say your dd will show this herself, what a relief to find a non-banded school! I wouldn't worry about sending yr work, they are observed so much at this stage anyway. Having previous school's info and observations would help as we are writing end of year reports at the moment and it will be tough to do that - the school should sort this out though. As you say drop and leave (playing down how big a deal it is!) if you know any kids in new school or get to know them a couple of play dates before summer break would help. And chat to mums on the playground to see e.g. if other girls in the class do ballet, brownies etc that yours may want to join?

I'm sorry, but being aware of one's responsibilities and fulfilling them are two different things. That's why there is an offence of misconduct in public office. It doesn't extend to teachers, but I'd like to extend it.

We get loads of new children in. It is helpful for the teacher to see :

• all work books that the child has from the beginning of the year. This gives a pretty good idea of progress and achievement over the year; how much effort they make; the levels they're working at, etc
• the reports - Y1 and Y2 preferably. It's useful to read both.
• book band, as it gives the assessor a good idea where to start!

Your ds's old school will be reporting his end of year assessments. If you have the levels, the school assessment manager may want to take note of them.

Oh - and any child specific stuff:

• inhalers
• any medical info
• any family info that could affect the child
• IEPs or provision maps, if appropriate
• reminders of dietary requirements

These things may be written on a form somewhere, but they're important and are worth a little mention. If there are family or medical issues, I'd make an appointment to have a word with the teacher after school ASAP.

learnandsay my conscience is clear, I do both. And we are accountable, you may have heard of ofsted? They're keen to end the career of teachers who are truly failing. I'm starting to think you are Gove in disguise.

ipadquietly i once had to write a report for a child i'd had for 4 weeks as the previous school refused. It was very short! Agreed the previous school ought to do it though.

I'd arrange to meet the teacher and show her previous work, reports, etc. sometime during the first week or two, whenever it suits both the teacher and you. Not on the first day, though, as it might add to the stress. The first day should be for settling in.

It is very important for the teacher to be given previous work etc. on the first day. That means a pretty good assessment can be made from the books. No meeting is needed. Where's the stress?

Any experienced teacher can level work fairly accurately by looking at books, and the child can be assimilated into the class within a day - with the teacher having a good idea what to expect academically.

Previous school are writing reports. And no medical stuff needed. Thank you all.

And Learnandsay I think I will approach the school with a positive mentality. It is a good school, I am sure I will find little niggles at some point about it/an individual/the placing of the bikeshed wall or somesuch but overall I am trusting them with a good third of their term time life. I trust them to do their best I trust them to care.

If my trust turns out misplaced - then I will do something about it.

I will take in Y2 work. And let YR choose a picture to take in.

Thank you all.

Work is really useful- focus on English and Maths. And an example of a book that you know she can read confidently or is currently reading at home without your continual support as her 'reading book' for the first day. Ensure that current levels - NC / EYFS - make their way from the previous schooll ASAP (although be prepared for the fact that the new school may not always entirely agree with them ... very, very difficult when that happens, sometimes - we had a large group of children transfer from another local school that was drifting into difficulties and had to revise pretty much all levels down, often up to a whole NC level lower)

I wouldn't go for the G&T thing, because it is cohort-dependent. If the new school has a different type of cohort, then she may no longer he in that top couple of percent. DS was on the SEN register for being 'so unusually able that he required SENCo input to determine his individual curriculum' in his first school, but was merely 'top group' in his second.

Any teacher worth their salt will make a rapid assessment of a child, making allowances for their 'newness', and ensure that they are able to make progress from whatever starting point they arrive at.

When my Dc have chanded schools the teachers have found it very useful to have their old reading diary.
WRT the G&T thing I think it is irrelevant because the new cohort may be of a different ability to the last.

When my child changed school part way through reception the new school requested some kind of computerised record from the old school and that's all they need. Same LA so maybe that's why that worked. New teacher asked for reading diary but only so dd didn't repeat any books.

Yes, caffeinated, state schools will request computerised transfer files from each other for pupils moving schools. These will hold data on assessment, attendance, SEN (including G&T if recorded), together with contact and medical information. Reports and workbooks can be useful too, but teachers will spend some time getting to know the child. Unless there are any very specific issues, I'd give it a week or two for your child to settle in and then request a meeting with the teacher.

In our case it took nearly a year for our DDs records to be sent along though

DS changed schools part way through yr2. It never occurred to me to tell them what levels he was on or provide some old work. I just assumed the teacher would want to assess him herself and school didn't ask for any.

Take everything you have the teacher will be very grateful.
G&T can be meaningless if it is a matter of the school placing the top 10% of each class on the register

iseenodust,

Although of course a teacher WILL assess a child themselves (usually unobtruisively and very informally in the course of normal lessons) it is still useful to see work from a previous school - to see, for example, what typical day-to-day work looks like (free of initial nerves) or ability in different areas of maths that are not taught every day (e.g. shape or measure).

It is especially useful when the schools have very diferent standards - e.g. when a child moved into my class after 'doing very well' at a local tiny private. A quick observation in class plus a look through her books to reassure me that it wasn't a one-off, and she was on the SEN register by the end of the first week. It would have taken longer without previous evidence of her difficulties, despite the optimistic assessment of her previous teacher.

Yes, it's very important to log children's levels asap on the data tracker, particularly if they differ substantially from the old school's assessment.

Your dc will go on to the national data base with levels/ELG awarded at the old school. These may need to changed at the new school, so that excuses can be made about progress at a later date! (Not saying that will be necessary !)

We had a child enter Y2, coincidentally in the same week as a writing moderation meeting. His reported level from his old school was a 2c. I took a sample of his writing along to the meeting, and we levelled it at 1b (quite a difference). Turned out he was from a school that had free-flow in Y2 () and said child preferred lego to writing! Ex-governor mum was very cross with the old school, particularly as friends had moved into Y6 in another part of the country and were having the same experience. We were also a bit miffed that schools can get away with this and get a good/outstanding Ofsted grading.

I can't see how G&T can ever be irrelevant regardless of how inadequate the old cohort was and how amazingly bright the new one is. Presumably G&T reading always involves reading something more difficult than almost all of the mindless books we've been given so far. Well, that's a start!!

At least with the discussion in hand you're on to books which haven't been written by taking all of the simplest words anyone can think of and stringing them together in barely meaningful sentences and calling the exercise writing a story! The plain fact is that's not how stories are written. How far would Aesop and Hans Andersen have got if either of them had published Boff & Kopper books?

G&T can be totally irrelevant if it a top 10% thing as they may not be in the top 10 or 5% (whatever a school uses) in their new school.

My DC school identify a child if they are G&T depending on the individual child so some years may not have any G&T kids, others have more iyswim ie it's not a % of the year group.

L&S, your post shows a misunderstanding of how the term 'G&T' is used in some schools.

In some cases, it simply means 'is in the top 10% [or sometimes 5%] of the class'. Now, a child may be in the top 10% of one class, but be near the middle or even near the bottom of another. It is a relative rather than an absoute term.

There ARE definitions of giftedness that are 'absolute' - IQ of 140 or 145+ is one, but these defintions are more rarely used in schools. The reasoning behind this government guideline [possibly now superceded, but without any new guidance - very common at the moment] was that in any class, the most able IN THAT CLASS may need some special provision that is different to others IN THAT CLASS. However, it does not give any 'absolte level of performance' that could be of use when moving schools.

By the way, didn't Dr Seuss write using exactly the approach you describe? Wasn't Green Eggs and Ham written in response to the challenge of writing a book using only 50 common words?

Oh, and L&S - just give your daughter other books to read. But make certain that she can really read them, and that she uses sensible strategies to attack unknown words.