Disappointing yr3 report - how can we help in yr4?

[Sometimesitsnowsinapril]

Ds brought home his report yesterday and well, it was quite disappointing really.

His teachers main points were

Lack of concentration
Lack of ability to offer ideas to the class
Negative attitude to new experiences

The negative attitude I can go with - if we say we are going to do something - it is always moaned at but when we get there he has a whale of a time.

He does not like to be the centre of attention and is quite happy in his own company.

Anybody have any ideas on what we can to help him in year 4?

Hi sometimes:

I think the first thing I'd ask is how has he done in his subjects - Reading/ Writing/ Science/ maths/ etc... (above expected level/ at expected level/ below expected level?)

I think a lot of this is about maturity. He's 7/8 right now - that's still really young. In the US they'd just be finishing 2nd grade and there would still be story time at the end of the school day. It's rather hard to expect 7/8 year olds to always behave like little adults. On top of which - he's a boy - and boys are different and frequently just don't want to sit still and be well behaved all day - they want to be out playing, doing & making I find (I just have DDs but have spent a lot of time with nephews - long car journey listening to audio book clearly was their idea of torture - getting to the beach and running about/ exploring pools/ collecting sea shells/ building sand castles - their idea of heaven).

So judge it on two levels. If he's doing well but has these issues see it as a work in progress and trust that time/ maturity/ interest will solve a lot of this.

If the behaviour is coupled with poor results - i.e. he's working behind where he should be in all subjects - it may be linked (although still also can be about maturity) - and in that regard I'd try and use the summer to make up some lost ground.

I will say that we found over time that doing a bit over the summer - keeping the reading and maths ticking over (maybe joining a reading challenge at a local library/ continuing to play maths games on school programmes like Sum Dog or My Maths and going for highest score or improved scores) all helped keep things ticking over and made going back to school less of a shock.

Finally the single thing that will help most for maths in Year 4 is learning those times tables. Using the summer to encourage as much times tables games play as you can (i.e. have him play a game whilst you're making a meal/ cleaning or to kill time before going out) will make a huge difference next year.

HTH

Thanks for the tips PSBD.

I also have a disappointing year3 report on my DD. They gave her all As for effort, but I think her actual levels are lower than they should be. The word "consolidation" appeared in the written description. (The school has been trying lots of new things since OFSTED the previous year, so maybe the changes have worked for some, but not for her.) I'd like to get her back on track.

My DS has always had 'Needs to focus' 'slow to complete work' 'easily disgrace' in every single report since reception.

He has just finished year 4 and this year his report was glowing. I was so proud. His teacher says he has finally realised what he can achieve if he works hard

I have no idea what happened. I think I a lot of it is maturity. Also, we backed off a little last year. For example, I requested lower ability maths homework (although he remained in higher set in class) because I felt it was more important he just did it calmly and happily rather than being stretched.

By being a bit more hands off he is finally grasping that it's his responsibility and no one else's.

It could however just be down to him growing up a lot this year

Thank you for the responses. His general behaviour is very good, always polite, never in trouble in the playground. But he is immature for his age - I would put him around 6/7 instead of 8/9.

His report says that he is working towards the level expected. I know he struggles on a daily basis with the work so gave been trying to do more reading, times tables etc with him and I guess it us just and just starting to click.

Over the summer I think we need to do more of this but not in a regimented way - play shop, summer reading scheme etc. I so want to help him get back to the happy boy he once was.

Are they applying new "age-related" levels? Our school warned that children might not appear to be doing so well, but they should be on target by Y6.

I haven't heard about these, Blue. Can you tell us more about them?