(Un)Reasonable Expectations?

[flashbunny73]

Our eldest child, DD, started reception last september. We live in the sticks in a small town / village, most people are farmers and she is settled and very happy at the village school which is reckoned to be one of the best in the area.
DD is reasonably bright and very chatty. However she often describes school as 'very easy' and any 'homework' she gets is very easy for her. We have had 2 parents evening. Her teacher is a nice lady and clearly been in the job a long time so I guess she knows what she is doing. However when we look at her school book her writing is huge between 2 lines the width of a 30cm ruler. We were a bit shocked, when she writes at home it is much smaller and neater. Also the teacher had her reading very easy books for a long time and 'ticked' me off for moving her to the next reading level saying she would have to re-read the same books in Year 1...
Are we being annoying pushy-parents? Should we leave the school to it? Or do they not really know what she can do? There are only 16 children in the class...
I just feel a bit underwhelmed. We could afford to have her educated privately but this would involve a considerable car / bus journey (35-60mins each way depending on the school). So I am reluctant to move her til she is older.
Anyone had a similar dilemma and found a solution?

Why shouldn't children be reading before school?
What a strange statement!

I also disagree that level 3 is upper average.

Why is counting to 20 pointless? Have you tried counting out 18 objects without being able to recite the number names in order? It isn't easy.

Op your attitude towards farmer's children is a little odd. All of the children of farmers children I know have degrees. Some from Oxbridge. You seem very eager to distance yourself as somehow being different to them.

DD's school performs about averagely in terms of SATS etc, slightly worse than usual in this bit of London (leafy etc though this school has a more mixed catchment than other schools here). In her class, there were really only a v few children reading at level 1 or 1+ still at this point in Reception, all of whom have gone on to have additional needs identified. Level 3 was the lower end of average in DD's class. Most of the more academically inclined kids were on higher than level 4 or 5, with a significant (more than 10%) minority above this level. It's not a pushy school or one with a particularly sharp-elbowed parental body.

It is quite a good school, though, and they certainly weren't allocating books by year. I'd definitely be having words about that.

I said 'shouldn't' as in not necessary. People can do what they want. I do things necessary should concentrate on phase 1 though. It isn't pointless but I have been shocked by the number of parents who seem to think that is maths. I was beeing nice about level 3. It is average for the end of the year but we still have a term to go. Moat will be average 3/4 and some of course above. Some below, in 5 years it will matter little. In some schools 3 is amazing. We must remember we are not always comparing like for like.

Exactly poppy70. That is why brighter children should have learning tailored to their needs. As,indeed should the less bright ones. YR is not all about play if the child does not need this. Luckily some schools do reccognise this and build on previous knowledge and attainment. There is so much progress and attainment checking done now, it is not acceptable for chidren not to move forward if they are ready and able. Assuming they should all learn by play in reception just does not work for everyone. The best state schools do this and are definitely on par with ay private school.

I have just discovered in my LA, children are having to be taught not to try and read the "wrong" non words in the phonics test. By the time they take the test they can read well above their chronological age so have a go at the non words. Some very good readers are failing the test so schools are now having to teach them to not attempt the non words. Have you ever heard of anything so ridiculous? They can read books and understand them but fail the phonics test. Just been told about this by a top advisor and Ofsted inspector.

Good readers don't misread the non-words though. The sfa release of the phonics check and ks1 results in September blew that myth out of the water. The top readers at ks1 ( nc level 3) almost all passed the screening check in year 1. Of those that didn't most passed in year 2 after intervention. The number of children that achieved level 3 and still hadn't passed the check at the end of year 2 is, I think, less than 0.5% of the total number of children achieving level 3. The numbers for 2a show a similar pattern.

Unfortunately I'm no longer surprised that the solution to children failing the check seems to be to teach non-words.

You seem to be confusing counting to twenty with reciting numbers to twenty. Neither skill is pointless. Being able to accurately count up to twenty objects or actions is a life skill as it being able to correctly order numbers.

Phase 1 is what Rose described as a language rich environment which is every child's right and not confined to nursery.
Nursery staff (like all teachers) should be looking at the child's learning needs and planning from there and blanket statements of "shouldn't" don't take individual children's starting points into account.

At age 6 any word that isn't in the child's vocabulary is a "non" word (unfamiliar and meaningless to child) unfortunately children who assume they know every word so "make them into familiar words" are going to struggle as they begin to read books with increasingly more complex vocabulary.

The myth is a great excuse for some teachers.

Go with your instincts op.I have been in a very similar situation.There are huge difference in aspirations rurally ( live in a small market town) and say London or Manchester.My Ds 4 hated reception and said it was boring and would have been kept on low book bands apart from me being a pain and hassling the teacher to move him up all the time.He is now year 4 and considered very bright.Some kids just don't suit Infants for various reasons.
There are however huge advantages to having friends locally when you're very young and my kids have had an idyllic childhood in our beautiful town.Read your own books at home,carrying on doing work yourself if your child enjoys it.Start playing a musical instrument,join ballet classes,brownies and sports classes!Its very important to have well balanced and socialised children these days.There will be lots more bright children in the school and these will come to the fore in later years.

It's not clear what you expect from a school at this point.

My DDs were/are at a "pushy London private schools". In Reception there was a wide range of reading awareness/ability. In DD2's class this ranges from ORT1 to ORT10. Most right now would be on ORT1-3.

Suggesting that nurseries should somehow "prepare" children for the academic side of school - i.e. to teach letters and math - is just strange. Why would anyone want to put 3yo's through that. It's bad enough they have to start at 4...

If you think your child is not extended enough - you can work with the school, as well as do so many things herself. We all do it, with kids in private AND state. You can't rely only on the school.

Finally - your recurrent comments about school being focused on the "farming children" strike me as odd for a number of reasons. First - YOU chose that community to live and raise a child in. Second - do you really know any of those people and their aspirations for their kids?

(DH grew up in a farming family. There was never a shortage of aspirations for him)