Not happy with school

[YummyHoneyMummy]

Hello all,

Our 6 year old goes to a 'good' primary school with excellent Ofsted reports and figures

BUT

There doesn't seem to be lot of teaching or learning in her new class.

For weeks and weeks every day there has been practising for a class assembly, which lasted 20 minutes in total. Yesterday, the class played Eye Spy and Bingo !!!!!!! I understand Bingo is about numbers but surely adding, subtracting, counting, sums would be more beneficial? After half term there is going to be full concentration on practising for the nativity!!!!!!

Am I being picky or should I be concerned?

Once upon a time yes, we really did nothing, but practice of our play for weeks on end, but now it's simply not like that.

Nativity, bingo, assembly practice may be all she's talked about, because they are what either interested or bored her, but they are exceptionally unlikely to be all she's done.

DD2 often had days with registration, assembly and break and no learning at all, clearly this was rubbish!

Where are you getting this information from? If it's your six year old, then I would imagine there is an awful lot more going on that the things they tell you!

Eye spy and bingo are great for numeracy, speed, literacy etc - they won't have played them all day, they will have done lots of other things you don't necessarily know about (even if your DC insist they played them for "HOURS"!) They will be doing adding etc as well!

It's perfectly possible to spend some time each day practicing an assembly and also do plenty of other work.

At this age you will be getting a very skewed version of what goes on all day at school. Perhaps ask the teacher if its possible to have an overview of what they will be covering this term? Our school sends a weekly email with that week's topics and learnings on it which is very helpful.

I suppose it depends what you expect from your school.

If you think about it rehearsing an assembly/nativity can be very good at teaching an all round education.

They may have to write their own parts/story for the play. They possibly had to design and label pictures before making the item using appropriate materials cut into the correct lengths and shapes. So this covers writing,art,design,science,maths etc

Learning about the nativity is RE they may cover the fact that being a Christian celebration its different from being a Pagan or Sikh.

Playing eye-spy is recognising the relationship between letters and sounds and also using thier eyes to look around them and take notice of things. Bingo as you mentioned is numbers.

In year 1 the children learn mainly through play and in year 2 it can be difficult for the children to adjust into a more disciplined way of learning. I know my DS finds it very difficult as all he wants to do is carry on the same as before. If your child is learning things albeit in a non conventional way then I dont see you need to be worried. If after Christmas there is little sign of any work being produced then maybe you could have a chat with his teacher just to see what really happens in her classes. I know my DS can barely remember what he did in the last hour let alone what he did in class at 10 am.

I'm a teacher. Parents like this drive me up the wall. Just because your 6 year old says they have been doing those things doesn't mean that's all they have done. These days every bloody minute has to have a learning intention so trust me, they aren't just sitting around playing I-spy/hangman/with dirt all day.

I think the skills they learn when preparing for an assembly are also valuable:

• standing up in front of an audience
• learning lines
• learning songs
• learning about the acual assembly topic All great stuff imo.

I have used bingo in a million different ways for learning with my classes, number bonds, multiplication, number recognition, learning words, phonics (all depending on the stage the children are at), you name it bingo can be used as a way of making it fun!
And just because they may have had a practise everyday doesn't mean it was all day, everyday. A lot of work does go into these things on both the teachers and children's side and it's all part of what makes their school experience.

Hi YummyHoneyMummy:

I agree with some who have posted that you might not be able to fully trust your 6 year old (or indeed even an 8 year old - hmm, hmm - my DD2) to reliably describe their day

however

I do believe that parents will know whether the school is doing enough almost instinctively.

Some useful reality checks:

New national curriculum from 2014 draft documents - now this is yet to be finalised - but it gives you a rough idea of where things are headed: www.education.gov.uk/schools/teachingandlearning/curriculum/a00210036/sosletter - just select area of curriculum from blue box on far right.

Now you can read this in two ways - what will be taught in that year or (if you're a bit of a stickler) - you can read this as what your child should have mastered by end of that particular school year.

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Campaign for real education also sets out their notional ideal curriculum for primary school by year here: www.cre.org.uk/primary_contents.html - just select area of curriculum you're concerned about and read on.

Now with Campaign for Real Education - this is 'ideal world' stuff and may not necessarily be what your school is working to - however, it is useful to understand what is deemed achievable if all is going to plan.

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What you can do:

Well I'm sure you've read various things people (myself as well I fear) have posted on how to help in English/ Reading/ Maths/ etc....

Some very useful websites:

BBC Bitesize KS1: www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/ - so for years 1/2 - bearing in mind really designed for pupils preparing for KS1 SATs at end Year 2. You can select difficulty level.

Ditto for BBC Bitesize KS2 (but set up for Y6 pupils at end Y6 for KS2 SATs): www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/

Woodlands Junior School Resources: resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/ - all sorts of information/ links to games/ etc... for wide range of curriculum areas - highly recommend both maths and literacy zones.

St Ambrose Spelling page: www.saintambrosebarlow.wigan.sch.uk/spellingpage.htm - on-line spelling rule work - not all function totally - but useful practice

Ambleside primary brilliant student-designed table trees: www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/tabletrees.html - for early work on multiplication table facts (very gentle site).

Ambleside Primary learning zone - also has brilliant links to support English/ Maths/ Science: www.amblesideprimaryschool.co.uk/Learning-Zone.html

If your school offers cheap subscriptions to things like Education city - don't underestimate value of playing learning games for practice/ bedding down skills - especially in maths.

Maths champs is free - banded by age so you may have to hunt about a bit for all times tables (for example): www.mathschamps.co.uk/#home

READ - join a library or book club, swap books with friends, etc... - but really ensure that your DC is reading and regularly. Doesn't matter what really - just that they are exercising that reading muscle.

If you are running out of ideas on what to buy/ check out - have a look at Guardian newspaper's building a classic children's library: www.theguardian.com/books/2000/mar/24/childrens.library

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If you're really worried there are on-line tutorials (especially for maths) and you can also start researching things to support learning in areas of weakness (try joining TES (Times Education Supplement) or Guardian Professional - for access to some great resources).

Other resources that have been useful (for crazy things like Roman numerals) are:

Primary Resources: www.primaryresources.co.uk/ - use subjects at left or use search engine.

Math drills: www.math-drills.com/

Handwriting worksheets (for learning 'joined up' or cursive writing): www.handwritingworksheets.com/ - really useful to use with spelling word practice (type in spelling list and they can practice their handwriting & their spellings by writing the words out neatly - two birds with one stone!).

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I have DD1 in Y6 and DD2 in Y4 at a very mediocre school - they mean well but just don't get the results. Lack of organisation & consistency just means there are lost opportunities (e.g. DD2 just got her first library book 10 days ago - up till then she had no homework & no reading whatsoever - whereas other schools in area had this kind of thing in place week 1 or week 2 of term). This kind of thing (slow start with homework/ library books at start of each half-term) has been going on for years at our school.

Lost opportunity and wasted time really ebb away at learning - so if you can make up this kind of thing at home (e.g. do a bit more reading than expected, help with adding numbers to 20 or beyond, help with learning times tables etc...) it does make a huge difference.

A long time ago a Dad posting on MN made the radical suggestion that you do not just have to do what the school sets out. If you're tired of reading the guided reading book, write a note in the reading log that your DC is getting a bit bored with X, so you've decided to read Y. He advised that as long as you're reading with your child/ encouraging reading at home - the school really can't complain.

HTH

Thank you for all your replies

I play bingo in maths a lot. Children love it! But I have different bingo cards for the skills we are rehearsing. e.g. children have multiples of five as the numbers, I call out 3 X 5 and if the have 15 they mark it. Same goes for the number before / after, doubles, number bonds, rapid mental addition, shape names or properties, time and money.

If my DD tells me something about school that seems extremely unlikely, I tend to take it with a pinch of salt until I know more. Honestly, OP you presumably read the papers about how much schools and teachers are under pressure to deliver results. How likely is it that your DD's school are going to spend every moment after half term solely focused on the nativity?

At least you're doing well compared to our infants school: according to ds, they did nothing all day at school, they ate nothing and he never spoke to anyone

If I ask my DD (yr1) what she has done at school she first tells me what she had for lunch, then who she played with and then all about assembly (which teacher did it etc).

Obviously some learning is going on but she rarely tells me about it. But this does not mean she is not learning. I would not take the word of a 6 yr old about what goes on in the classroom.