Parents' evening (Reception) - how to ask for evidence of progression

[Ginmummy1]

My daughter is in Reception (turned 5 end November). We had a parents' evening in October, which mainly covered how she was settling, attitude to learning etc. We received a written report at Christmas, plotting her progress against each of the 17 Early Learning Goals as emerging, developing or secure.

The next parents' evening is in a fortnight's time, and we'd really like to come away from it with an understanding of how she is doing, both against government expectations, and also in terms of her own personal progress since her baseline assessment (the results of which have not been revealed to us to date). What specific information can we expect the teacher to provide, and how best should we ask for it?

A bit of background about DD: when she started at school she was already reading quite confidently, was slightly ahead with maths, and probably age-appropriate with writing. Her language, communication, reading and comprehension are her 'best things'. No problems with any social or self-care aspects.

The school have been accommodating with her reading - she chooses two books per week at an appropriate level for her (just moved up to lime). However, she never brings any maths or handwriting work home, so we don't really know what she's doing at school. We'd like to know that they have some sort of end-of-year goal for her, and that we can support what the school is doing to help her to reach or exceed their expectations.

Is it reasonable to ask for baseline data? All we know is that she was given 'secure' in 8 of the 17 early learning goals in December, but as this is for 40-60 months and she was already 61 months this doesn't feel terribly meaningful. What could/should we ask for?

She's 5.

I'd purposely choose a school that doesn't have homework in infants.

Learning through play is good.

Children are not data units to be plotted on a graph every 3 months.

You can see your child and if they are bright and happy and interested in the world and life.

You can easily put a child off reading/learning with enforced reading and workbooks at such a young age. Play the long game and encourage the zest for life. Does it really really matter what their score is on whatever the current gvt arbitrary level is at 5 years old.....

I do agree that the most important thing is that she is happy and settled. This is why we’ve not really been thinking about progress until now. She is happy and settled at school. We are not putting pressure on her. I’m not worried that she’s going to achieve the EYFS learning goals.

My question is more about the school. Is she coasting in some areas because she’s off their radar a bit? How do we find out?

We’re in the system we’re in. This is not Finland. I happen to be ok with this right now, because my daughter happens to be one of the older ones in her year, and is clearly ready for a bit more structured learning.

Once you’re in the school system, you might as well work with it. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect a certain amount of progress through a school year, and to want to know how it is being achieved and to be given guidance by the school on how to support the learning. This would be true regardless of a child’s starting point.

I think it got harder for parents to know children's progress when new NC came in. When my ds was in reception, there was still old curriculum levels, so even though NC level didn't apply to reception, DS's teacher was able to tell us unofficially what his level was. Now in YR3, I haven't got any clue about his progress at all, so it's not just in reception.

tbh, rather than asking the teacher you would be better off noting what she can / can't do at home.

e.g. Does she ever write anything at home? cards, letters to granny, shopping lists, progressing to stories. You will be able to see progression in handwriting, language, spelling and punctuation.

Similarly maths. Can she count simple objects? Can she count objects in twos? Can she do one more, one less? Can she count and subtract over a 10s boundary? What shapes does she know? What concepts does she have of volume. If you make a cake in ounces can she find the right weights to make 5oz.

Gently playing and doing activities with her will increase her knowledge and help you see where she is progressing.

Thanks, everyone. We'll carry on doing what we're doing, and ask some questions about maths and handwriting at parents' evening, just to reassure us and help us to help her.

There's me worrying about nothing much as usual, but with the best of intentions, I assure you!

MY daughter had her 2nd and last parents evening for reception last night
She is 5.5 nearly.. started reception being ahead at maths but knew only stage 1 phonics and could write and knew most letters

she is on stage 5 (green) and will be assessed again aroud Easter
She has met the EYFS for Maths and Reading (marked as exceeding) and is almost exceeding for Literacy

We found the feedback on DD in reception quite underwhelming. We did get the 17 EYFS things but other than that it was all woolly platitudes like 'has settled in well', 'enjoys playing with the other children'. We had expected more. Don't hold your breath. DD was bored for about half of reception, not because she was 'ahead' but half of the class seemed to be 'behind' (some of them seemed to have not done very much nursery and so struggled with social skills, counting etc).

Children start reception with a massive range of abilities and the poor reception teacher has to try to get them all to some kind of baseline. If its any consolation so far Yr1 seems more interesting and challenging and the feedback is more meaningful. Good luck!

We didn't see any homework requested bar reading until after Christmas in Year 1. This was in an Outstanding independent school.

Ask to see samples of your child's work. In my limited experience, there is a marked difference between what is produced at school versus a tired child in the evenings.

She's five ffs. Let her enjoy school and she'll grow and develop just fine.

Thanks to all who provided useful and constructive comments. We've had a letter from the school today, which says they get a report a few days before the parents' evening, so that should help us and the teacher at the meeting.

I think it is important not to get too hung up on attainment, or progress, at this stage. Obviously it's a concern if the school can't tell you anything useful about how your daughter's getting on, but I do think you need to be realistic in that a twice or thrice yearly report setting out how all 30 children were doing against all 17 development goals, and what progress they had made in all these areas, would be quite onerous for a teacher and not necessarily in the child's best interest.... in the sense that valuable class time would be taken away from assessment and spent on setting/ marking work instead.

Comparing with other parents is utterly futile and really I do think that any school that sends home regular homework in YR and Y1 needs its head looking at (literally, pun intended). The evidence for homework (aside from being read to and reading in the home) at infant school is exceptionally weak and I think schools often give out homework to mollify parents rather than because they think it's worthwhile.

'valuable class time would be taken for assessment/ setting/ marking', that should have read.

I know you have the best of intentions but as a teacher (secondary maths not primary) and a mother of a 4 year old, this just really depresses me. 4/5 is too young for homework! This obsession with progression and data is what turns kids off school as it is so restrictive for teachers. We get Y7's who arrive in secondary knowing their level but with no joy in the subject. Reception should be about play, there is loads of research to show this is the best way for them to learn at this stage. Primary should be about giving kids a passion for learning. None of it should be about 'have I met this target' 'am I doing better that joe bloggs?' Not that I'm blaming you OP, it's just the system seems to have generated this competitiveness that means parents become obsessed with data and you spend more time assessing than teaching!

Totally agree Fleck

Fleck, I agree with you, but teachers normally says that each children develop at different pace, so isn't it possible that some children have already passed play based stage earlier than reception? And genuinely enjoy learning academic stuff as well as running around and getting covered in mud etc.?

Reception parents' evening really isn't about academic progress (unless you believe there are Unidentified/unsupported issues). It's about things like; are they happy, have they got friends, can they deal with the endless minor conflicts in that age group (sharing etc), can they manage toileting and putting coat/shoes on ok, oh, and are they happy. Really, this is what matters at this age.

I'm a secondary school teacher and have had 2 through primary school. For me the most important aspect of what used to be called Infants is that kids get used to school, see it as a fun, rewarding place to come to, and want to keep coming and keep trying. If they get these basics right young, the rest tends to follow.

Yes I do see that each child is different, my daughter also really enjoys reading and sums and often asks to do them at home. I am not saying there should be no element of the day that is more academic. It's just that the evidence shows how very important play is at this age, for developing social and academic skills. Some people just seem a bit obsessed with their child being more 'advanced'. Can a 4/5 year old really get bored with play? In fact a little boredom can breed creativity as they have to come up with new ideas for what to do.

In reception the "Prime" areas of development are Social and Emotional, Communication and Language and Physical (this would include letter formation) the academic areas are secondary. Having said that you will receive a report at the end of the year detailing your child's achievement against all 17 ELGs and the teacher should inform you if there are concerns at any point in the year.

irvine101 Thu 10-Mar-16 06:59:18 I agree with you, but teachers normally says that each children develop at different pace, so isn't it possible that some children have already passed play based stage earlier than reception?

Highly unlikely. What do you think the point of playing is? Do you really think there are any 5 year olds who have outgrown playing?

And genuinely enjoy learning academic stuff as well as running around and getting covered in mud etc.?

One point to make on this - how does a parent know that the child is doing the academic work due to pure enjoyment rather than wanting to gain attendion and/or please their parents?

One example of this is a DC in my DDs class who had told me on a number of occassions, with her mother present, that she loved reading. She came to my house for a play date and told my DD that she was really lucky as she didn't have to do two hours of reading and an hour of maths every day after school. I have a bit of suspicion that the DC doesn't love all the extra work she is doing quite as much as her mother thinks she does and would much rather be playing.

I think in reception worrying about progress is only important when it might be highlighting a problem. I'm more than onboard with how wrong it is to ignore the needs of able dc, however with reception being play based I don't think it's an issue. Unless of course the dc is complaining of boredom, which is unlikely given there is little formal learning.

Surely theres more scope for an able child to use their imagination and develop interests in a play based environment than a formal one.

At my DD's (also reception) most recent parents evening we got told where she is and what her target for the end of the year is, though not down to the level of 17 statements, just the 3 overarching ones. We were also told her next steps and these are displayed for her in her classroom too.

She doesn't get homework other than reading and the school generally doesn't do much homework as the evidence suggests that it isn't particularly beneficial.

We get told what she will be doing each week in a weekly newsletter and I often talk with her about it and play around with the maths bits with her as I like maths. I just hope we get something similar next year as it really helps me to talk to her about school.

Pico2 I think that's really good you get a weekly overview. I have asked but we only get a list of what they will do this year(!) and then at parents evening we were told what she had been struggling with! A bit frustrating as we could have helped her if we had known!!

uhoh1973 Thu 10-Mar-16 13:22:51 at parents evening we were told what she had been struggling with! A bit frustrating as we could have helped her if we had known!!

Did you get the impression that the teacher has no plans to help your DD with the areas she stuggles with and expects you to teach it to her?

MumTryingHerBest, no I'm not suggesting that but if we had known at the time we could have helped her.