I might discuss DS moving up a year with teacher...

[toffeenose]

DS has just gone into Y2 at a very small school. Last year Y1 and Y2 were taught together and DS made lots of friends with children in the year above - his birthday is the very beginning of September and many of them are just weeks older. There are only 8 other pupils in Y2 and many of them are summer born so seem much younger than him. He doesn't really have any friends in his class and has come home very sad, which is not like him at all. The break times are staggered so he doesn't even get to play with his friends till the end of the day.

The school is independent and follows the national curriculum but it is guided by the belief that in the early years, children will come to reading and writing in line with their development, so although they are taught to read, children who are not keen will focus on stories and words but not be pushed to progress with phonics until they are ready. DS is not reading or writing.

I want to talk to his teacher about the possibility of moving him up to Y3 to be with his friends. There are 3 children in the year above who are not yet reading or writing so that is not in itself an impediment to him moving.

Would I be completely mad to put this on the table as an option? The only reason really is that socially in his class he is pretty much on his own as the three children who he was friends with in reception have left. I would be willing to pay for a 1:1 to work with him in class.

I would just be interested to hear people's views.

I think you should discuss it with the school op of for no other reason than to flag up your concerns. This might make his teacher more aware of the need to help him integrate. I'd make that the focus of your discussion rather than moving up a year. He's only just started year 2 and it sounds like he's a sociable chap so I'm sure he will make friends soon.

Have they tried to teach these children to read/write and they can't or have they not even been taught? Other countries don't TEACH reading/writing until 7. It's not a case of children just not being able to. I would be concerned if my child couldn't read or write at all by y2 and by y3 there would be massive interventions going on.

The children who get scholarships - were they unable to read or write in y3 or were they already excelling?

It all sounds a bit odd!

As for the friendships, invite children around to play from his own year group. He's potentially got another 5 years with those children so making a few friends would be a good idea

A child entering Y2 in a state school unable to read would normally have interventions in place. They're almost certainly going to miss end of Key Stage expectations

Children don't start learning to read in Ireland at 6. Here most children are in preschool at 3 and start school (Junior Infants) the September after their 4th birthday although it is not unusual to start at 5 too.

They start phonics when they start school and build on it in their second year(Senior Infants). By the third year in school (First Class) many children are reading. My dd was 6 at the start of her third year in primary and was reading although she was in one of the bottom groups at the beginning of the year she was close to free reading by the end of the school year.

Reading has been so important to me all my life, I don't want it to be a penance.

Why should it be a penance? It's a huge gift. It's a wonderful feeling to see the joy on a child's face when they realise they can read!

They would only be starting to read now in many European countries.

This is simply not true, whilst formal schooling starts later in many countries compared to our own, the vast majority of children in countries where this is the case would already know the basics in reading and or be able to read before entering formal schooling at 6, 7 or beyond.

I would be very concerned at a child who could not read or write by year 2 and certainly wouln't be considering moving them up a year, if anything I would move such a child down to ensure they had longer to cement these crucial skills.

where throughout Europe he would now be learning to read

A number of parents who were educated in other countries have posted that despite school entry being later they learnt to read before school

It's very surprising if they claim to be following the national curriculum with year 3s who can't write. That's not to say they can't catch up later. But they wouldn't have been able to cover a huge amount of the NC content, they'd still be at EYFS stages.

Other countries also have more transparent orthography so there is less to learn.

Teaching children to read is not counterproductive, but not being able to read is a huge barrier to enjoying reading.

Take him out of Steiner and send him to a proper school.

It's not Steiner Bertrand as I said above. I personally don't like Steiner at all and would never have considered it for DS.

It's national curriculum and the school receives early years funding and is inspected by Ofsted and IS.

Children learn best if they are happy at school, and that means being able to make friendships in their peer group. This can be difficult in a very small year group where the other kids are actually, or developmentally, much younger. But in your case, it's complicated by the fact that academically your DS's current class is clearly more appropriate for his needs even if, socially, he'd be better in the class above.

We had this issue with DD in (equivalent) Y1 (we are not in the UK) - small year group, all her friends were 2 years older than her. In the end we chose to move her to another larger school where she could make friends with kids closer to her own age, rather than put her in a class with children much older than her. Is this an option for you?

But as others have said how can a school which you claim follows the NC do so if pupils in year 2 and year 3 cannot read? There is no way they could reasonably access the whole Curriculum without being able to do so...

Normally i would say no because its important for them to stay within their own emotional age, however this is your main reason for moving him. The concern is the not reading bit though as you don't want him to lack confidence when there are more expectation and ability due to the increased ages.

Discuss the possibility with the teacher but be open to their views.

You don't need sit and teach him phonics, you do need to sit and read together. Mix simple books that are at his current reading level, slightly more tricky books where you read and he can look at the words and pictures with you (helping if he feels like it), and some proper cracking yarns which you read while he lies on his bed and disappears into the story.

Newideastoday - your child was reading The Hobbit in yr3? Wow.

You do realise that isn't the norm and they were advanced at reading don't you??

(Joke - of course you do). My kid will prob never read The Hobbit. However they were in the top 3 SATS scores (yr 6) in the year of 90 kids and got into one of the best selective schools in Southern England. Oh, and they have SN. But yeah, they still prefer to read the Beano annuals

The only experience I have of a child being moved up a year was when they were academically ahead and able to cope with the demands of the curriculum year they were moving up to. And there have been children who have been given special permission to move up to reception a year later if they have been struggling (parental request, backed up by the school) so the child is now in yr 3 for example when they should be in y4.

I would not be wanting to move my non reading, non writing child into a year where the demands are greater. I would be thinking that the fact that my child had 'lost' his friends to another class would be a prime opportunity for my child to make new friends in class. And still play with the other friends at playtime.

A number of parents who were educated in other countries have posted that despite school entry being later they learnt to read before school

School in France starts at 6 (equivalent of Y2) here and it is unusual for children to be able to read properly before they start - I would say that a typical Y2 class would contain at most 1 or 2 children already able to read, and many will have none. The difference is that, at least for kids without any learning difficulties, learning to read is a much quicker process than in the UK - the brightest kids go from being non-readers in September to independently reading chapter books by Christmas, and the majority learn to read in a single year rather than spreading it over 3-4 years as in the UK. What this means is that going into Y3 as a non-reader would put a child at a significant disadvantage, so it's pretty similar to the UK in that respect. I gather that Germany is similar, with a slightly later start (closer to 7 than 6).

Worse they can say is no really ask . He could be moved to secondary early but might need to repeat a year as he might be to young to leave im not sure how high English/welsh secondary goes but Dds friend repeated a 6th year as he was just 16 and had been put forward in primary. Your son is very young the term is new he will make new friends but speak to school see what theysay

The school's approach to reading does sound unusual.

The school DS1 goes to starts teaching how to write individual letters and phonics in nursery (they aim to have the children familiar with the 26 letters in the alphabet and their letter sounds by the time they start reception). In reception, they build on that, getting progressively harder. Other schools that friend's DCs go to work along similar lines with literacy.

So a child who couldn't read or write at all by the start of yr 2 would be a cause for concern in all the schools I'm familiar with.

Thank you for all your comments.

Mistigri I am in complete agreement with you. However, it would be difficult to move him now precisely because he is not reading and he would not be able to access the curriculum.

Out of interest, what would happen to a child who is not reading or writing at state primary? It's not as if DS has learning difficulties - he just doesn't want to read.

We read together all the time - we are on HP book 6 and DS understands and discuss the plot with me!

That HP and the half blood prince. He was a late talker. No words at 3. Sarcasm two months later

Strange MisT parents have said their children are taught in Petite Maternelle.

Mrz nope, some phonics now taught in grande section (Y1) but reading is not taught formally until CP. Of course there is some variation between schools, and some kids pick it up anyway - my DD was in a composite maternelle classe (2-5 year olds with one teacher) and she learnt how to read by listening to the older kids doing a bit of phonics. But it remains unusual, and I can guarantee you that the average French parent whose child reads before Y2 will be convinced that they have a future Einstein on their hands