Y2 progress report - below age expectation

[AngelsWithSilverWings]

I am becoming increasingly concerned about my DDs progress at school and wondered if anyone can either reassure me or advise me.

DD was born dependant on drugs as her birth mother was a heroin addict. We were told by the medical advisor that she may show signs of having learning difficulties as she gets older ( she was a baby when we adopted her)

Anyway , her latest progress report for Y2 shows that she is working below age expectation in reading ( turquoise level) , writing, spelling, and numeracy. For every other category she is working at the expected level.

Her current teacher is adamant that she can see no signs of learning difficulties and as she is a very experienced teacher I was reassured.

However I am really noticing,as I am trying to help DD learn her spellings and 2 times tables,that she just can't retain or recall information. Even after practising her spellings morning and evening everyday for a week she will still get half of them wrong. Numeracy is particularly difficult for her.

I am wondering if I should push to have her assessed by an education psychologist so that other methods of teaching her could be be explored but I wanted some advice before I approach the school about this.

As a primary senco I would be concerned given your daughter's birth history. fetal alcohol syndrome can cause learning difficulties and memory problems. However it is hard to get a diagnosis of this. I would request to see the school Senco or inclusion manager to discuss referral to the educational psychologist. Obviously it may be fine but I think you should explore her difficulties in case there is a cause.

My 2 ds were both behind at yr2. I pushed for an assessment and it was the best thing that has happened to their education. One of the comments I had was it was a dyslexia friendly school so it wouldn't make much difference. It made a massive difference.

They are both dyslexic, although it presents differently in both. The assessment highlighted how they learnt and what teaching strategies to use.
Since then they have really caught up with their peers.

My regret is that they weren't assessed sooner as i think it would have saved them being behind as much as they were.

Thank you both for your replies. I think I will ask for a meeting with the deputy head to discuss how her pupil premium plus might be used to get her some more help and ask about the possibility of an assessment at the same time.

I'll give you a couple of items that may help a bit:

ONE - An inexpensive and easy to use book, that can encourage children with reading, spelling and writing, and really help them to understand Phonics, is reviewed in the MN Book Reviews section. Just search ‘Phonics’.

TWO - ? Practical things are best for grasping number concepts - bricks, Lego, beads, counters, money, shapes, weights, measuring, cooking.

Do adding, taking away, multiplication (repeated addition), division (sharing), using REAL OBJECTS as just 'numbers' can be too abstract for some children.

Number Bonds of Ten forms the basis of much maths, so try to learn them. Using Lego or something similar, use a LOT of bricks (of just TWO colours, if you have enough) lay them out so the pattern can be seen of one colour INCREASING while the other colour DECREASES. Lay them down, or build up like steps.

So:

ten of one colour none of other
nine of one colour one of other
eight of one colour two of other
seven of one colour three of other

etc,

then of course, the sides are equal at 5 and 5; after which the colours 'swap over' as to increasing/decreasing.

To learn TABLES, do them in groups that have a relationship, thus:

x2, x4, x8

x3, x6, x12

5 and 10 are easy

7 and 9 are rather harder.

Starting with TWO times TABLE, I always say: "Imagine the class is lining up in pairs; each child will have a partner, if there is an EVEN number in the class. If one child is left without a partner, then the number is ODD, because an odd one is left out."

Use Lego bricks again, lay them out in a column of 2 wide to learn 2x table. Go half way down the column, and move half the bricks up, so that now the column is 4 bricks wide. That gives the start of 4x table.

Then do similar things with 3x and 6x.

With 5x, try and count in 'fives', and notice the relationship with 'ten' - they will alternate, ending in 5 then 10.

It is important to try and UNDERSTAND the relationships between numbers, and not just learn them 'by rote'.

An inexpensive solar powered calculator (no battery to run out!) can help learn tables by 'repeated addition'. So: enter 2+2 and press = to give 4. KEEP PRESSING = and it should add on 2 each time, giving 2 times table.

There are good web sites, which can be fun to use :

www.ictgames.com/

www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/page/default.asp?title=Woodlands%20Junior%20School&pid=1

Ferguson thank you so much for taking the time to post all of these ideas and tips. I really appreciate it and will give these things a go. The calculator idea is just brilliant.

Angels, isn't turquoise level 9 ORT? My DS1, 6 (year 2) is on level 9 and this is not behind, probably about average for year 2. And they are only just learning their timetables now. His spelling is good, I am told, but still variable and some days he spells high frequency words wrong. He still good an excellent report at parents' evening last night. Am I missing something here?

Dodo I don't know how the different book bands relate to each other. She has only just gone up to turquoise. My DS is at the complete opposite end of the spectrum and flew through all the book bands before the end of Y1 so I struggle to remember what level they are expected to be on at the different stages. I know there are reception children on the same level as her. ( I know this because when DD gets her book out to read while we are watching DS swim I've had some bright spark say oh are you only on that? I was on that in reception!)

I know she passed her y1 phonics test without problem which really surprised me considering she has always been assessed by the school as being below expectation.

It's a very high achieving school with a reputation for being very pushy academically. They start teaching phonics almost from day one of reception year. When DS left Y2 he and 50% of the year group got level 3s in the SATs ( there were three kids on level 4) Maybe she's ok and it's just the school's expectations that are set too high?

Also for the first time in the school's recent history they decided to stop streaming for maths in Y2 . I was looking forward to her being in the bottom set so that she could learn without feeling like she was so far behind all the bright kids. There have been instances of DD being laughed at for getting answers wrong so her confidence is on the floor. The school does provide additional support for her but I get the feeling it's a bit hit and miss due to staff shortages.

She is a July baby and always seemed much younger than her age so was always going to be a bit behind anyway without all the other problems.

Have they given you any idea how far 'below' age related expectation she is?

With the triple whammy of

• medical background
• adopted
• July

It is not at all surprising she is below.

You could try asking, if she was in y1 where would she be?

Is she just running behind, but making progress, or is the gap widening over time?

I hate to say this on mumsnet of all places, but not all children are average or above average, and as adopters we often have to accept that our children may have to work very hard to achieve what comes easily to many others.

My instinct is to hold off pushing for formal assessment for a little while, the more picture you can get of how she learns, what she can/can't do the more clear you can be on what needs to be assessed. (NB We paid for an ed psych assessment of ADD1 in y6 which was helpful, but missed the dyspraxia which became more and more obvious in secondary, finally formally recognised y11).

On the other hand, so push the school to make good use of their PPP money. ADD2 (y5) has been getting spelling, maths and OT support. ADD2 really didn't 'get' spelling at all until end y4 earliest, but has improved a lot this year. Her reading is averagish, but this has come with us listening to her pretty much every day yR-y4 including holidays.

School also need to be working on self confidence. NO WAY should they be accepting others laughing at her for struggling.

(And words of hope. My DD1 placed y3, was way behind in maths. Now about to GCSEs the school think she could on a good day reach an A. Education is a marathon not a sprint, she may need extra help, but with your support you can help her reach her potential).

Final thought, a pushy, academic school may not be the best place for your DD. Do not be afraid to move her to a 'worse' school if that school will cater to her individual needs better.

Thank you tween. Some really good things for me to ask the school about.

I have thought about moving schools but it's such a hard decision. It is the "best" school in the area by miles and serves a very tight little community so moving her will cause her to be socially excluded ( not great for an adopted child :-( ) I've declined my DMs offer to pay for her to transfer to a private school ( to get smaller class sizes) for the same reason.

We have been told by the local post adoption support team that they actively advise adoptive parents not to consider this school because of its pushy academic reputation.

As far as PPP is concerned - it's an absolute joke! I have zero say in how it should be spent and have been given no feedback on how they are using it even though I have asked many times.

DS's school did pay for some counselling sessions ( which I had to push and push for ) but that's all.

We chose the local 'satisfactory' school over 3 other good / outstanding ones, because of its size, nurturing ethos, and its experience of children from 'difficult' backgrounds.
It didn't stretch high achievers, but we didn't care about that.
It didn't have loads of after school clubs, but so what.
It does have fantastic ELSA support, experience of ASD/ADHD/single parent families/unsupportive parents/etc.

Does your DD have good friends at the school? If they are high achieving kids with pushy parents, your DD may find they stretch away from her socially too. (Or you may not).

If you are having to push so much now for support, can you keep that up for another 4 years, or would a more understanding/inclusive/less pushy school serve you all better?

(I would be very tempted to look at what else there might be available for y3, just in case. But I appreciate it would be a massive decision.)

Angels, from what you have said, I would check that she is genuinely behind. Have the school actually said she is? DS1's school is a similar sort of school, very pushy academically, outstanding Ofsted, was on that ridiculous Tatler list, loads of high achievers but even in that environment, level 9 is still average to good and they are still not expected to spell perfectly. The school's attitude and expectations sound a bit odd to me.