"Emerging" in expressive arts and design - should i be concerned.

[Flumplet]

So my 4yo ds has come home today with his first school report. It's not very detailed and says at the bottoms he is "emerging" in expressive arts and design - 'exploring and using media and materials' and 'being imaginative'. He's about as imaginative as any other. 4yo boy I know, and the report doesn't go in to any more detail about it, nor have the teachers or TAs ever mentioned it to us at parents evenings or when I drop him off and swap books, so I just feel a bit 'disappointed' I guess that it's now cropped up in his report with no warning nor explanation. He's "exceeding" in reading which is obvs great, and we knew that, and he is "meeting" everything else, but not 'not yet reaching expected levels' at arts and design. He's not naturally all that interested in painting or colouring and can usually be found with little characters doing imaginative play, or with his nose in a book. Should I be concerned or is this normalish for a child not 5 until the last day of term? Any advice much appreciated.

No you don't need to be concerned.

Not all children will reach the ELGs at the end of reception as not all children develop at the same pace.

I would assume you're ds doesn't show much imagination yet, doesn't sync and dance of his own accord, or make things with junk modeling and print and draw. It doesn't actually matter though.

I meant sing and dance

I always have a few boys in my class who just aren't that creative or imaginative, but love reading and writing and learning about animals and the world.

It didn't actually matter.

I would not raise it with parents if a child was emerging in EAD, only if they were emerging in the prime areas or literacy or maths.

Erm, he sings a bit - wakes up in the morning singing cute little songs - just normal rhymes and kids songs and can dance better than I can. He's not keen on making/crafting or drawing but will do it and can do it if persuaded.

You really need to not worry.

Google the actual statement of what children need you achieve to get an expected level in EAD, it might help reassure you.

Okeydoke - many thanks for your help.

Just because your child didn't recieve some arbitrary goal set by the government doesn't mean there is anything wrong with him

We can't all be creative artistic types.

I guess not - first child, first report and didn't really know what to make of it. I just didn't think they had any concerns so was a bit surprised/disappointed that's all.

We had our first report today too. I agree it's a bit underwhelming. My ds got meeting expectations for everything. So decidedly average then. That was worth the wait and a bit depressing! (Also my first born and in reality can't disagree with any of it but it's a bit "oh")

The teacher won't have any concerns though, he just didn't meet the target for the end of reception.

Don't over think it. Really!

And if he's still four then he's a summer born, it's very normal for them to get emerging in some areas, due to their age. Some of their peers will be ten months older then them!

But that is good Chapstick, they are at an expected level for their age!

It's quite hard to get exceeding, most children are just average!

Why did you find it depressing?

If he is still 4, he must be one of the youngest ones.
The difference is quite big at that age, think about it, some of children are nearly 5!
He hasn't shown his true abilities yet. Don't worry.

Honestly, don't give it a second thought. If he's happy and involved at school then he'll do well.

No, I mean nearly 6.

They can only mark him off from what they observe. Reception is still working on the Early Years Foundation stage (which we work on at pre-school too) so he will be learning through play, if he doesn't choose those kinds of activities then they can't observe him. What parents see at home can be very different to what teachers see at school. Does he have lots of opportunities at school to do these things? Reception classes should provide them but maybe they're not that 'appealing' at your school for your son for whatever reason?! At pre-school we plan for each child so if one child is not showing interest in this area we plan activities to make it more appealing to them e.g if they like superheroes we link it to this theme. I'm not sure if they are able to do this in reception as they have their own themes to work on. I really wouldn't worry, he sounds like he is doing great, you know what he is like at home. Perhaps have a little informal word on Monday and see what the teacher says, I'm sure they will reassure you.

Will do - thanks all for the advice.

Good point about them only being able to assess on what they can see.

A bit disturbed about comments that child is clearly not creative or artistic - how can you possibly say such a thing about a four year old?

I'm curious about this too. My dd did very well in her report and got exceeding in most things but expected in arts and design. I would say she is imaginative and artistic, she loves to draw, paint and stick and comes up with orginal pictures. She writes original stories too...I'm not too fussed but just mildly curious as it doesnt seem consistent with everything

Vickster99 If they don't have the evidence, because she doesn't show it in class, perhaps because in a free-flowing sort of reception setting there are things she'd rather do instead, then the teacher can only go on what they see.

DD got expected for the moving and handling one, DD does almost nothing in PE at school, she finds it totally dull and isn't interested. Outside of school, she does loads, looking at the sort of examples www.gov.uk/government/publications/eyfs-profile-exemplication-materials I can see how she'd meet it trivially and likely be exceeding - not as an expert judge of course so maybe I'm wrong.

Equally though, I can see how she is not the personality to give the demonstrations of that in the class during very unchallenging PE. Sure the lack of PE opportunities are one of the few things I'm not really happy with in the school, but I'm not bothered that she was "marked down" in the report on it.

So I'd look and see what the things are that are being looked for, and if DD really had the opportunity and interest to really do them at a level beyond expected.

And also tbh, I'd rather the teachers focused their time helping the areas and kids who aren't yet at the expected levels get on. DD is not being held back in anything by not showing off everything she knows simply to improve a school report.