How will a child who can read, count but not write at all get on in reception?

[Piffle]

Seriously thinking of keeping dd out until at least yr 1
She is in a great pre school where she can stay still age 6
She was 4 in oct.
She has some hand eye issues due to poor sight, she would be statemented but if she were to stay at her pre school she would need no support as the environment is perfect for her and she is settled
To me it seems like a no brainer
And when I say she cannot write I truly mean it's a long way off- she cannot do even barest intentional scribbles but she is above average in other areas.
I want her to be happy and under no pressure.
Arrghhh

oh, and I do understand your concerns about small stature and physical issues - I was petrified that dd2 would get pushed over all the time or fall down the steps every playtime, she was (still is) a tiny tiddler and probably the size of a 2 year old when starting reception, and she also has a lot of problems with balance.
She was fine! The staff take good care of her, as do the older children at school - people just seem to naturally look out for her, I think reception aged children are extremely accepting and compassionate - you have a window of opportunity there which closes when the other children get to 6 or 7, and IMHO it would be a real shame to miss the reception year for social reasons alone.

Lots of kids start Reception with very vague pencil skills and many can only produce a few deciperable characters by the end. They do lots of creative type "work" to hone these. Agree with the others that to miss Reception and then start in year 1 , perhaps still lacking those skills, would be very hard indeed. With classroom support to work on these for a year , which she may find academically easy, and the benefit of socialisation with her peer group think to start sooner rather than later would be the better option.

Food for thought indeed
Thanks

I haven't read all the posts here so sorry if I repeat a lot. In my experience there is a big difference between reception and year 1, the pace really goes up a beat. A lot of DD's year found year 1 a very tough year.

The social aspect of reception is hugely important I think and they learn to fit in with the rest of the school, the assembly thing etc.DD's headteacher in her talk when they joined reception said they learn more in reception than any other year, not the academic stuff but all the rest. DD has dyspraxia which was dx in reception, and has struggled with her handwriting. There have been all sorts of things in place for her, she gets one on one help, writing board, special pencils, the classroom assistant has acted as a scribe so she can get the things she thinks down.

Reception was also important for her as it established her as part of the class, where the other children were aware right from the very beginning that she needed extra help and that is just the way it is, and although she has gone through phases of struggling a bit socially (the girl playground thing etc) they are generally very supportive of her and she really does feel part of a community.

Speaking to the Ed Psych for an honest opinion is a great thing. DD is pretty tiny and has a tendency to act younger as a bit of a coping mechanism I think, but I have seen her grow in confidence from a supportive environment where her needs are met. Now Middle school is a different matter and I am terrified of the idea but know I need to deal with it !

canonot thank you all enough for your replies
Really opened my eyes
Will organise visit to the school before ed psych appt...

I knwo that this is "off thread" but I really don't understand the logic of the English system, where if a child is not ready for school and you (leagally) hold them back until they are ready, then all that happens is that they skip the early stage. It just doesn't make sense.

In Scotland, if a child who isn't 5 when term starts is kept back to the following year, then they start as they should do in Primary 1. There isn't a direct equivalent to Reception, but Primary 1 is the first year of schooling in Scotland.

The worst that can happen is that if you have a Spetember-December child and hold them back, then the council might not pay your 12.5 hours nursery fees, as you could have chosen to send the child to school. Apparently the January/Febraury kids do get their 12.5hours without problem. It is a March-Febrarry intake, so kids vary between 4.5 and 5.5 -or even nearly 6 if they've been kept back, when they start at the end of August (there is only one intake for school).

But is P1 the equivalent of reception or year 1? I mean in work they do. The philosophy of reception is the same as the early years (of which its a part) ie learning through play. What actually goes on in P1? Year 1 work or lots of play?

It's a bit of a mix, as some kids won't have gone to nursery or pre-school. They do recognise that they are having to introduce kids a more strucutre learning method - but do so gradually.

But the poitn is is still - what is the point of having a part of schooling that has its own curriculum - and that if you're not ready for it, you just miss?

Or that you think your child is not socially ready for school or is at the young end of the year, then you pitch them into the same group of kids - who by now have established friends a year later.

P1 I beleive is closer to Reception - Scottish kids have seven years are Primary, before going to Secondary, where they have a further 4 years if they leave as soon as they can, ie 11 years of compulsory schooling, or 6 years if they stay the full course (ie 13 years at school)

Oh you wouldn't miss it though as the curriculum in nursery is the same as the curriculum in reception. It's only in Yr1 that you move onto a separate "school" curriculum.

You would miss out on learning the school rules- all the queing etc- which I think would be a BIG thing to miss. You'd also have a huge jump in expectations.

I'm quite interested in this (from a nosey point of view) as ds3 will start school at the same time as his Scottish cousin. If they were both in England his cousin would start either a year, or 2 terms before him (depdning on the area).

Dd2 has just been working in small groups doing handwriting .She was 5 in Sept but took until Dec to get her writing (then she sat and wrote 50 Xmas card )

That is part of my concenr too JijJams2: if they're not ready socially and you hold them back, what is the point of then throwing them in at the deep end a year later. A "young" child is still the same age relative to the other kids, and will now have the added disadvantage of not being used to the school environment - instead of being a more confident child at the older end of the age range amongst the follwoing year's intake.

When I tell friends about the English system, they refuse to beleive me!

It will be interesting to see how your ds' Scottish cousin does compared to your ds3.

but I think in the case of SEN the LEA would consider holding back a year for social and/or academic reasons. However it doesn't sound as if that would be necessarily relevant in Piffle's dd's case since she is already attending nursery, reading and doing basic maths so the Reception "curriculum" is within her capabilities.

Like others have said - for one thing it's 9 months away and she could come on a lot in that time. Also, I don't think they are all expected to be able to read adn write by the time they start in reception are they?

I'm having similar worries already about ds3 because his birthday is right at the end of August so will be literally just 4 when he goes into reception. It's 18 months away but I'm thinking there is no way he'll be anywhere near writing anything by then. Even in school nursery, ds2 now has to 'sign in' a book when he arrives. I can't see ds3 being able to do that this time next year when he's not even 3.5.

dd being able to read and count and stuff it just an aside
I pulled her out of a funded nursery as they started the official pre school curriculum and the expectations for dd with the writing were just way too high and that was aged 3!
she has made 0 progress and this is simply down to her eyesight so it is something she will need an awful lot of support with when the time comes.
She knows what she is meant to do IYSWIM, she feels bad because her body just won't allow her to do it they way she knows it "should" be done
Therefore I resist exposing her to it at any level for now.
Ds had such an awful reception year, that I'm afraid this colours my view somewhat, although I am really interested int he social aspects, routine/friendships as much as anythign else.

I think an understanding Reception year/teacher, especially if your DD will have a statement, could be really beneficial. As others have said, if she doesn't start until Y1, the gap writing-wise will probably still be there because of her vision problems, but she will have missed out on all other stuff that makes Reception such a good start to school (for most children.....)

DS2 (who was just 4 at the start of Reception) has no specific motor-skills issues - they're just not good. He could barely write his name when he started; it was just spidery squiggle. He is now 5 and in Y1, and still not keen on writing, even though he is a fab reader and speller - it is still all too much trouble for him physically. But he has improved enormously since he was your DD's age.

For lots of children there can be a huge lag between physical writing skills and understanding - which is frustrating (and sometimes upsetting) if you're the parent.

NO the LEA won't hold back for a year for SN. At least our LEA won't. It messes up their funding issues.

DS1 was allowed to continue to access reception when in year 1- but not officially. The head said if he'd still been in the school at year 2 it would have been much harder (as it was he left mainstream anyway, so we didn't terst it out). THe LEA insisted that he had to be counted as year 1 no matter where he spent his time.

If there are no learning difficulties or social disability and the problem is vision I don't think staying in reception would be any help anyway- it could be quite frustrating to see peers progressing.

I'm not sure they'll be directly comparable though PB as ds3's is such a nutter and thinks he's 5 already (thinks he can do anythinghis brothers do). His cousin is a first child, much more cautious. I'll be interested to compare the systems though.

Why do they do that jimjams? 2yo DD insists that she can do everything that nearly 6yo DS can do. She wants me to make her be able to write. DS wrote a birthday card and she wanted to write her name on it. So in the end I held her hand and wrote her name, but she really resented me holding her hand.

Well ed psych is doing observation on dd at pre school today.
DD is also a very cautious child, down to her sight issues as much as anything, but she does tend to shun activities she cannot do well.
Like saying stinky instead as smelly as she cannot say the "sm"
She is pretty good at adapting to her limitations though.

I'm still in 2 minds, I guess I'm in 2 minds about whether I'll ever send her to school I'll see some schools, talk to some people and listen to some as well (new one on me that listening lark) and I'll do what's best for dd in the end.

JJ will be keen to hear about the differences as well...

FWIW, DD1's Reception teacher described writing as the hardest thing they learn at school - so I would assume that plenty of children will be nowhere near doing it in the Reception year.

In terms of avoiding putting her under pressure, I would be very nervous of going straight into year 1. DD1 has changed a lot during just her first term in Reception. She's learned a lot about fitting into the school environment, dealing with school lunch, getting changed for PE, making friends ... all the practical stuff that they will probably take as read once they are in Yr 1.