Moving to the UK, how far behind will my child be?

[thequeenofconfused]

My son is 5 has had no formal education of any kind as compulsory school doesn't start here for another couple of years.
He can recognizes numbers to about 10 but no letters or words, he knows English as we are a bilingual family but I'm sure his use will be far behind that of his peers.
potty training wise he is in pullups, still using them to poop, but okay for wee, he should be okay at school in underpants, what happens when he has an accident?
What should a 5 year old know to 'fit in' with other children of the same age in the uk?

Thank you

http://www.sounds-write.co.uk/page-82-app-for-ipad.aspx if you have an iPad the first units are free (complete prog is £2.99 would prepare him for Y1)

Thank you, this is all very useful.

Sorry, but it's bollocks that he won't be allowed in school if he's not toilet trained.

My daughter is five and regularly has accidents. She's under the hospital for it and they suspect some underlying medical issues. We're supported at school by the local Continence Service who visit school regularly and agree an action plan with them. I think the school would be in hot water from a discrimination point of view if they refused anyone a place because of a toilet issue.

By all means, try to work on toilet training with him but please don't hold off his education until he's cracked it. The fact he's not tried to do it himself by now may in fact point to an underlying medical/psychological issue. Good luck!

Jolly phonics. It's on YouTube. It's the alphabet turned into song.

All schools should have a continence policy

"Jolly phonics. It's on YouTube. It's the alphabet turned into song" that's not going to prepare he OPs child for Y1. The songs are fun but don't really teach phonics and certainly don't teach reading or spelling

My daughter class have been counting up and down in 2s, 5s and 10s. Most can read at least basic sentences but there will be a few who can't. Quite a lot will read well.

However at that young age the teachers will be used to a wide variety of abilities and I'm sure will catch up well.

Another big thank you for all of this help.

Our school uses actiphons for phonics. Fun songs to help them learn, with letter writing you can get some apps for a tablet that can help him with forming letters in a fun way.

Also have a look on YouTube for "alpha blocks" and "number blocks" - 2 shows from the CBeebies channel. I'm a year one teacher and think they're brilliant!

It would be worth checking with the school which phonics method they use as that might help you with which resources etc to use
We dont use jolly phonics at our school,
But use letters and sounds method (not sure if that's what it's called) but lots of useful stuff on twinkl.com and just start the beginning with phase 1&2 letters and sounds recognizing them, saying the sound, then moving on to trying to blend etc
Good luck x

By this point in the reception year most children will have covered all 44 sounds and the most common way they are spelt. Singing songs isn't going to prepare the OPs child for Y1 in September.

The thing is if your child has continence problems as a result of medical issues that's classified as an additional need and help will be provided as part of a plan put together beforehand but if he's incontinent because you can't be arsed to toilet train him at 5 nearly 6 then the school will not be impressed and he will not be given help to clean himself up if he soils himself. I have known schools contact the parent if this happens to come in and deal with it as they haven't 2 available members of staff to deal with it according to their safe guarding code of conduct. i would also be concerned about teasin if he soiled himself in class.

Schools can't make the judgement regarding the child's continence and calling parents isn't an option unless it's part of an intimate care plan agreed by the parents.

Most schools will try to make reasonable adjustments for him education wise. Extra intervention,separate learnings etc. The fact that he knows English is an advantage. We had a kid that knew no English whatsoever go into y2,and they were doing quite well(not at the same level as everyone else but they were ok,especially maths),more importantly made friends and were happy.

What the school won't do though,is change nappies/pullups or clean him.
You need to develop his self care skills mostly. Eating, with cutlery is school dinners, how to dispose of wrappers not make a massive mess if packed lunch. Go to the toilet,wash hands. Do velcro on shoes. Get changed by himself for PE, put a coat on,get it off .. that kind of stuff.

My country doesn't start school until they are 6/7, and child goes to kindergarten for 2/3 years before, but most of them are potty trained before entering kindergarten.
Academics can pick up quite quickly once he's ready, but toilet training have to be the first priority.

Have a look at these for what they do in reception and yr1.

uk.ixl.com/math/reception
uk.ixl.com/ela/reception

uk.ixl.com/math/year-1
uk.ixl.com/ela/year-1

The school I work in has lots of international students arrive throughout the year and joining in year 1 or 2. Lots don't even speak English. I wanted to comfort you to say that, as long as they don't have a special need, they do catch up. The teachers will hopefully see he doesn't know his sounds for instance and help him. He might even be in a special group for 10 mins a day.

If you have an ipad there is a good app for maths age 4-6 which covers most of what they will have done by the end of year 1. It is just called Maths age 4-6.
In terms of reading, I would have thought it would be helpful to at least try to teach him his letters. You should look on line to find out about phonics, so you know the pronunciation of each letter. Using jigsaws, or lotto type games could make it fun.
As a secondary(age 11 to 18) teacher I would see children join who didn't speak English, and some who had had little formal education in their own language. The majority of them did amazingly well within a term or two.
At 5, your son should be fine(though def try and sort out the toilet thing). Good Luck with the move.

RebelRogue Thank you, most of his self care skills are already in place, he can dress, use a knife and fork, do buttons, zips and socks, but not laces.

He washes his hands after the toilet or a diaper change too.

irvineoneohone thank you i am look now most of the basic maths for Reception he seems able. But with English is far above his ability. I think only knowing book parts.

he's incontinent because you can't be arsed to toilet train him at 5 nearly 6

This is unfair i think, he is a bit behind with bowel movements but it is not because i 'can't be arsed to' there has just been no need to push this side of toileting yet as it's distressing for him.

i believe he is at his normal age range for wee with minimal accidents.

Op sorry but he's very very behind in that respect have you been to the Dr there could be a medical reason

He is behind with his toilet training by UK terms. We would think it very odd to see a 5yo with no SN in pull ups. If definitely no SN it would be considered by school to be a parenting problem. Sounds like maybe there is a cultural difference.

I have attached a simple version of the 'expected' levels for children in the UK in literacy and maths before they enter Y1 (think it is the most recent version). This is what the majority of his peers will already be able to do.

He is very very far behind in literacy it doesn't help that English won't be his first language.
With math he can order, recognize and to simple addition and subtraction numbers from 10, but not 20 yet. I'm more convinced he will catch up fast with maths than literacy as it's an extension of what he already knows. We do work at home with numbers a lot.

I have 2 months to potty train and make him more independent with toileting, which i think is enough time. I will take him to the doctor soon and see if his issue is caused by medical reason.
Although I do think maybe i have been too baby to him and not drilled toileting into him enough as i have not needed to so have relaxed approach.

My ds is 5 (reception) and has been wiping his own bum since age 4. Chances are that when your ds starts school he'll see other children and pick it up faster. Could you up is days at childcare so he's around children more during the day? And tell the childcare providers to take him out of pull ups, they need to work with you to potty train.