What do teachers need too see before moving child up a reading level?

[FluffyCubs]

Hi, my son finished reception on level 1 and red banded books. We worked throughout the holidays and he is now comfortably reading level three, might stumble over the odd unrecognized word but he's much more confident and able than in July.

He was in the bottom reading group because he was struggling (we arrived mid school year straight from nursery in Scotland so he had a lot of catching up to do).

But the teacher is still sending him home with red banded books.....I know he should be moved up. He understands punctuation marks although he still reads in a monotone. What do they need to see to move him up? Should I be speaking to them?

It's early in the year how many times has he read to the teacher?

It's not just the mechanics of reading. I would look for reading with expression, including using punctuation when reading. Also, being able to answer questions about text and engaging with the stories e.g. talking about what might happen next or who their favourite characters are. Word-finding, such as finding rhyming words/words with same initial sound etc. I've come across pupils so often who have been thoroughly drilled with reading sight words, or have memorised the book, but can't answer questions about it/read it out of order/identify rhyming words etc. Parents often push for them to be moved onto harder books because 'they can read all the words', but they're just not ready in all the other aspects. It's commonly known as 'barking at print' - the mechanics are there, but nothing much else.

They may not have assessed him properly yet. I'd ask the teacher to review him as you think he's improved a lot. Most teachers don't mind you asking in a polite way.