Are primary schools victorian or is it me?

[liquoriceandtomatoes]

My ds has just started reception in Sept, having gone to a small nursery which was all about nature walks, painting and play with lots of hometime for friends play and museums. He is a different child since Sept, much less likey to be creative, moody, sullen and often angry post-school etc

He doesn't seem to do much active stuff at school, yes, there's playtime but nothing directed seems to be physical. It's all about sitting on the same spot doing repetative writing. They are set for maths and phonics in reception, which may affect self-esteem.

My questions are: I thought it's well known now that there are different learner styles and some kids learn in a visual/physical sense, why are schools not thinking about this?
Why the obsession for reception class to learn instead of play/move/be creative/learn agency etc?
Why are heads not reading the literature on development and just wanting kids to pass tests and read at 4?
Is it his school or is this the national curr and everywhere?

My ds would love to be put into teams and problem solve, then do some sports, then some art, not to mention learn some music. None of this is happening!!!!!!!! Why aren't 4/5 yr olds doing sport anymore?????????

Is this it?

I work in a reception class and it is nothing like you describe. Under the EYFS framework they should be doing 2 sessions of PE a week and 1 session of drama/music. Although in the free play sessions there is always some sport set up in the outside like bikes/scooters or tennis rackets and there is usually some acting and singing (usually from the girls!!) in the home corner or princess workshop. Are you going on what your son has told you or have you seen how the class works??

Nothing like Dd1's report of her reception class. With the exception of carpet time for registration followed by small groups for phonics (set - I.e children at the same level together - but she doesn't realise it's set) & then carpet time at the end ofcthe day, It's all about independent learning time which is all play based - themed - puppet shows, dressing up, painting, drawing, making books, being outside with sand or Guinea pigs - Plenty for choice everyone.
I would look at alternative schools if teacher confirms what your dc is telling you.

Have you just had or are you about to have parent's evening? Did you raise this then it could you?

In our school the new curriculum seems to have caused a certain victorianisation. Move away from lovely story books to ORT in reception, a lot of the action packed performing arts swapped for rote learning, weekly tests of all sorts. Spellings earlier than before etc.

Why is what is happening in this reception class anything to do with the new curriculum?

DDs reception was free flow apart from 10 mins literacy in the morning and 10 mins numeracy in the afternoon, they did PE twice a week the rest of the time they were working indoors or sharing the outdoor space with nursery. They had access to paints, play doh, water table etc all the time.

I didn't say that, mrz, I clearly stated "In our school the new curriculum seems to have caused a certain victorianisation." And it has, so it is possible this school is the same since that curriculum is national.

And my question is why has the new curriculum had any effect on a year group that has its own statutory curriculum?

Well, if the school are going to be judged on it come year 1 and 2 I can see why they start as soon as they get their hands on the kids to get as many passes as they can.

makes me feel sad op. can you volunteer for maybe reading , or library or-- so you can spy on them and see what is what?

And if the school is judged on how well it delivers the statutory EYFS curriculum as it would be if Ofsted called?

I wonder that, too, mrz, I suppose they'll get the playdoh out for that day.

Which is why Ofsted now interview pupils rather than conduct long classroom observations

Still, at age 4 mine would have reported "we always do playdoh" or whatever on day 2 or 3 of the playdoh regime.

DD is in reception. She does 10 minutes of phonics in a small group each day and is read with individually once a week.
They come together for carpet time which involves singing, stories, show and tell but the majority of the day is play based and whilst it seems undirected to the untrained eye, I think there's a lot more planning and thought that goes into the activities than is immediately apparent.

DD has pretty much free flow access to an outdoor area which has lots to climb on, sandpit, wooden wendy house, water, plants, mud kitchen. Free access to a role play room all set up with costumes gives plenty of drama opportunities. They also visit an adjoining copse in groups and have break times on the main school field where there are swings and outdoor gym equipment.

This is our local primary

OP ... You might be surprised to know that many children are acting exactly like yours as a result of Transition and changes to their routine. Ask the school for their weekly plans (or look on the class wall for it when you will be invited to visit your child's class) if you have such worries. Even the new NC includes PE lessons twice a week. You are making assumptions based on one day trip observation which I think doesn't reflect a true 'picture'. Obviously a class teacher will be stressed during an outing as there are many things which can go wrong especially near a road... children tend to get very excited and do very little listening during trips. I'm sure they are doing many interesting and fun things at school but young children have very 'short memories' and when asked by us what have they done at school?... their answer : "I can't remember" or "Nothing"
Please make sure you attend all of the Workshops or Meetings organised by the school as the teachers have a duty to explain very plain and simple how & what is taught on core subject and how learning through play is still part of the Curriculum in the Early Years. This is the case in Surrey UK anyway.

Well I hope to God they don't interview mine. The stuff they come out with is totally partial and quite random. The day the police helicopter came to visit all ds2 would talk about was somebody who'd been sick in the lunch queue. Hundreds of excited children burst out of school clutching pictures and models of helicopters and I get an exciting update on sick.

I help out in Reception at DD's school (she's Yr 2) and it sounds nothing like that. They have circle time where they do 'work' which last week involved a teacher bringing in a whole collection of shoes from her house and laughing and talking with the children about how to put them in size order and then giving the children loads of different objects to compare lengths of. All fun but constructive learning.

Then the children did dressing up, played with various toys outside in the garden (yes the YR class have their own garden ) and rode around on the wheelie toys (trikes/tractors etc).

I would move your DCs OP...

Reception children in my daughter's school are still using outdoor areas for their learning throughout the day. The school had a not very good Ofsted report for their reception year last year (since the new curriculum) and had to make changes. But the curriculum clearly still allows for outdoor learning, learning through play, etc, etc.

It is a little hard as many children come home grumpy after a day at school and you may not get to hear what has actually happened all day. Sometimes my daughter still forgets about things and denies that they happened and she's in Year 4. We find out about them in the weekly newsletter which includes and update from each class - sometimes it can be a visit which seems to have passed her by or a whole topic that she doesn't mention at all.

These are things I would raise in the first instance with the teacher during a parents evening if you have one coming up.
And on a school trip there will be lots of 'no don't do that', as there will in the classroom. 'No, don't sit on top of another child, don't fiddle with your hair, don't pick your nose, don't push another child, don't take away their pencil', etc, etc.

My friend who is a reception teacher says that at this time of year they are mad because they are still learning the very basics of how to behave at school. It gets better as the year goes on.

They asked a Barbarianmum they asked one four year old in my class what he was doing and he replied "Nowt! Honest!" ... We had to explain why he wasn't going to implicate himself in any way to men in suits so denial best reply!

Letustryagain I don't see anything in the OPs post that suggests similar experiences aren't happening in her child's school.

OP, you say My ds has just started reception in Sept so I'm a bit confused.

I thought reception was a class for 4 year olds, in England? As far as I know, children still start school in Primary 1, aged 5, in Scotland.

And the term starts in August, surely?

Mine are long past that stage, though I do have dgc here in Scotland - but perhaps there are variations throughout the country? Having said that, your school sounds incredibly old-fashioned and quite unlike any I've known over the past few years.

mrz. 'Now children, let's all say together - "who wants to know?"'

I would really carefully check the facts though, when mine was 4 we had a nightly ritual: what did you do today at school: nothing. Who did you play with? Nobody. What did you eat: can't remember.

I am governor at a primary school and what you are getting is not the norm; and is not what should be happening. The national curriculum is pretty proscriptive but should not stop the school from teaching in an imaginative way.

Our school has: reception and class one working with free-flow between indoors and outdoors; forest school for all; wet weather playtimes spent outside in wet weather gear and wellies and lots of splashing and fun ; an outdoor theatre and outdoor musical instruments; every child plays an instrument every day and learns to read music (ocarina for little fingers and recorders for the bigger pupils); imaginative learning (mock election with hustings, a visit from a buddhist llama, sessions at a foundry)....I could go on - and on.

The children meet all their required targets, but do so in a way that fosters their imaginations and recognises their need to be on the move.

And they have a friends bench in the playground - if a child is on their own at playtime and do not want to be, they go and sit on the bench and the rule is that someone must go and ask them if they want to play.

It's like a big family.