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Primary education

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Original poster

Parent's evening and comment re struggling

32 replies

Blankscreen · 28/06/2017 07:23

We had dd's parents evening tonight.

Her teacher told us tonight that she really struggles with comprehension and that its a really weak area. Apparently she often gets upset and frustrated in lessons.

Its the first we knew of it!!!! Not a single.comment has been made all year nor was it mentioned in her report which we received on Friday. Not once has a single worksheet or anything been sent home to practise or work on with her.

I.am.beyond pissed off that nothing has been said until they are breaking up - next Friday.

I would just like some perspective really would you except the School to have said something before now??
The teacher has suggested we work on it over the summer.
Thank you

OP posts:
user789653241 · 28/06/2017 08:02

Comprehension as in reading comprehension?
If so, these sites are great.

readtheory.org/

www.readworks.org/

MrsHathaway · 28/06/2017 08:12

Yes, I don't think there should be any big surprises at Parents Evening. I can see why you're annoyed!

Cagliostro · 28/06/2017 08:19

I'd be annoyed too. We had similar where DD was getting help in a remedial class and nobody told us for ages, and said all was fine when we asked if her maths was behind!

Thanks for the links, DD struggles with comprehension too

Original poster
Blankscreen · 28/06/2017 09:41

Its written comprehension exercises. I feel like she's been really let down.

I feel.like were are going to have to get a tutor now over the summer to get her up to speed.

Thats what i thought - there shouldn't be any big surprises.

OP posts:
shouldwestayorshouldwego · 28/06/2017 15:56

How old is she? If yr 4/5 then yes I would be cross it hadn't arisen before. If yr R/1 then the emphasis will have been more on phonics and less on understanding, plus the early books require less inference than older books, so the gaps might not have been so apparent before. When she reads to you and you ask questions does she seem to understand the stories and inferences she needs to make when reading?

BubblesBuddy · 28/06/2017 16:58

Obviously if you are breaking up next week you are not in the UK or your are private. If you are paying for this, I would question how good school communication is and evaluate what you are paying for. Is she struggling in comparison to her peers, or making no progress? There is a difference. If you are private, never assume all schools are good. Some are poor at parent/teacher liaison because they think parents leave everything up to the school and they do not need to communicate concerns. They clearly expect you to do the catch-up work over summer. I would ask them what you should do and what they are going to do, as this is what you are paying for. What does their expertise suggest in this situation? Pretty poor I think.

hambo · 28/06/2017 17:00

Bubbles Scotland break up this week and next week

BubblesBuddy · 28/06/2017 18:01

Gosh! That is weeks earlier than down South!! Apologies!

Original poster
Blankscreen · 28/06/2017 18:48

Thanks for your replies veryone. She is six nearly 7 and coming to the end of year 2.

Yes its a private School and we have paid £12k for the privilege.she definitely understands what she has read and can retell the story etc.

We have a meeting wth the head on Friday.

I am now seriously questioning whether i want to send her back in September!!!!

OP posts:
Chunkamatic · 28/06/2017 18:55

We have had similar problems with our eldest DS throughout school, despite us asking the school numerous times to be better at raising concerns.
However, he is at a typical resource stretched state primary. I would be even more livid if I was paying them private fees!
Worth noting though that comprehension seems to be a sticking point for lots of kids. About a 3rd of my DS's class has to have extra sessions. I don't know if it's a problem with how it's taught, Or a developmental thing. I definitely don't remember there being such a focus when I was at school.
I think you need to find out how concerned the school are about it before you start fretting about tutors.

BackforGood · 28/06/2017 19:10

Meeting with the head?
Not sending her back in September?
Employing a tutor for the holidays?

.... all seems a bit extreme a response to a teacher letting you know that your dd has an area that might need a little more work. She's still quite little, it might be something that was within normal range but she's not been progressing as quickly as some of her peers. Why not talk to the teacher about how long this has been going on, what they have been doing to help, and how you can give her some further support at home over the extended holidays ?

sn1ce · 28/06/2017 19:17

Buy one of these and do a bit of practise over the holidays:
cgp book

junebirthdaygirl · 28/06/2017 19:21

In lreland dc start at 5 and by 6 would not be expected to be writing answers to comprehension questions. Read plenty over the summer and have lots of discussions about the story. As said above there is no need to panic. Comprehension is a skill that improves with reading fluency.

user789653241 · 28/06/2017 19:22

If she is in yr2, and depend on what book level she is on, I think it's quite difficult for teachers to spot the discrepancy on comprehension skills.
My ds was able to retell the stories and can find the answers from text on easy leveled books, but totally lacked the inference skill.
He went through ks1 in old NC, so he was able to get LV3(above average back then) quite easily without more advanced comprehension skills like inference, since answer is in the text. He didn't need to read between the lines, etc.

You say she is struggling with "written" comprehension, if that's the only problem, she just need to learn to answer in written format properly, like answering in complete sentence.
If writing itself is the problem, she can work on that during summer. (But sound like it isn't the problem from your post.)
If she totally lacks more advanced comprehension skills like inference and deduction, etc., she may need a lot of work.
Tutor might be a good idea, but you can help her as well. More practice you do, she would get better, ime.

LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett · 28/06/2017 19:27

I think you are right to be annoyed that it wasn't mentioned - as pps have said, there shouldn't be any surprises at parents' night. But withdrawing her from the school seems a little extreme. Have the meeting, find out where she's weak and do more reading with her over the holidays to work on where she needs to improve.

MrsHathaway · 28/06/2017 19:29

Are you more worried about her skills, or the school?

If you're more worried about the school's communication and teaching then that's completely separate from worries about her levels. A tutor can't and shouldn't make up for a poor school - especially at twelve grand a year.

Out2pasture · 29/06/2017 05:52

was the teacher speaking about the right child?

user789653241 · 29/06/2017 06:21

If the teacher was speaking about different child, it definitely not worth paying 12K....

Pickerel · 29/06/2017 06:30

Agree with previous poster. YANBU to be a bit annoyed, but withdrawing her or paying a tutor seems like an extreme reaction - unless you're unhappy with the school in other ways?

YellowPrimula · 29/06/2017 06:37

Surprised at people saying their shouldn't be surprises at parents evening.Parents evening is where they give you feed back and that is what they are giving you , if she is 6 they may only have started this work quite recently and they are telling you the truth. They are not saying she will never be able to do it but they are saying it's a weak area, if it's the end of year parents evening then they are letting you know that this will be referred on to next years teacher.

My children are at independent schools , this is the sort of feedback they give you at parents evening , if it was catastrophic they would have told you before , but it's not , it's just an area that she weak on and which she probably needs practice over the summer so that she doesn't get further stressed about it .

You sound a bit irrational talking about not going back etc .

MaisyPops · 29/06/2017 06:46

The no surprises thing is something I sigh up to as a teacher.

If an issue is big enough to raise at parents evening then it's big enough to raise earlier.

Only things I would raise as extras would be if the child is doing well but their attitude/engagement isn't what it should be because they are doing OK but could do even better / generally ok but I've noticed they have moments where they don't organise themselves as well as thry could

YellowPrimula · 29/06/2017 06:50

Maybe it depends on how many parents evenings there are. Ours are once a term so there's not much time for things to develop and you get at least 10 minutes sometimes longer .

soimpressed · 29/06/2017 06:56

For some children the issues with comprehension can sometimes take a while to surface. In Year 1 and the beginning of Year 2 the children are busy with decoding and developing fluency. The comprehension is often retrieval questions or retelling. Later in Year 2 there is an expectation that children answer inference and deduction based question and it can be these types of questions that the children find difficult.

Do you listen to your child read for at least 10 minutes every night? Is she able to answer inference questions and find the part in the text that tells her the answer?

Ktown · 29/06/2017 07:01

I would focus on helping your child rather than the school. Perhaps she was previously on target and now at the end of year 2 she is slipping.
You have all summer to help her. It is good that the school and you are aware now.
Hopefully it has been caught early enough to make a difference.

FannyUmbongo · 29/06/2017 07:04

In the kindest way...you're overreacting.

I'm sure the head will tell you that too.