Reading level drop

[IcelandicWarriors]

My DD finished reception on level 4 but is on level 1 since she started year 1. Is this a normal thing or do I did to see the teacher? We read over the holidays.

Not normal but could it be a different scheme or something?

I wouldn't worry, it's the beginning of term. If it's the same in a couple of weeks then speak to the teacher. It's likely that they've not heard everyone read yet.

How long have you been back? Hopefully just a haven't assessed yet.

Same scheme. Been back a week. First day had level 4. Now has red written in her reading book and has what she had at the beginning of reception. And question in diary ignored. Maybe I'll give it another week.

Did the teacher give your DD the level 1 book or did she choose it herself? Why leave it for another week? Go in and ask.

The TA I think. I am concerned because previously we had to speak to them about not changing her book for a couple of weeks in reception.

I imagine if the teacher has written 'red' then it does sound as though they feel that is the right level for now. It might be based on understanding rather than accuracy. To be honest, there are lots of reasons it could be.

Write a brief letter asking for a bit more information rather than writing in the reading record. The teacher may only see that once or twice a week.

Is the reading book a fact rather than fiction? Sometimes they're a lower level.

It is 8 pages long and repeats the same words. It is fiction. She does have a frustrating habit of reading a page then spending large amounts of time discussing pictures and feelings so I don't think it is comprehension. It is along the lines of 'This is red'.

The school buggered up on year one phonics test, very below average, and is going down but does have a new head.

There is an awful lot of emphasis on comprehension now. It is part of the KS1 SATS reading tests. Children are expected to understand vocabulary, be able to tell what is happening in the story, and even inference. A lot of children can read the words well enough, but do not have the understanding. It may be the teacher has put her back to a level where she feels she can do this. It may not be long before she moves back up again.
When you read with her, don't assume she knows what words mean just because she read it..ask her to tell you what words mean, also, why characters are acting like they are, what might happen next etc.

I'll ask tomorrow. The answer no doubt will be simple and not worth belly aching over! She left reception with her strength being reading and imagination (I am science so struggle here any way ). I can understand a drop but from 4 to 1?

I think 3 levels drop is quite big, even taking comprehension into account imo.
I would ask the teacher personally, it must be very demotivating for the child.

Her friend called her a baby and she doesn't understand. But her friend was also on the same level but has dropped too but not as low. I will ask.

And I am also not convinced the teacher sees the record for a few weeks.

I think once a week for the teacher to see the reading record / diary is about right, maybe once a fortnight as long as a TA has seen it in between. In year one, though, a fortnight is a long time. I definitely wouldn't use it as an effective way of communicating with a teacher.

Don't know if it helps but red is 2 not 1 if it's the standard book bands isn't it?

It is 1+ which is the bottom. Just had text from friend. DD friend diary entry was read and was placed on level 5 today. Left on same level.

Cynically to show improvement?

I hope my dd isnt put lower as she was already too low

Colours normally go 1+ pink, 2 red, 3 yellow, 4 blue etc. Maybe it's the older ORT books where they reassigned books to different colour bands? 2 still not ideal if she's confident with 4 though. Hopefully they'll read your diary entry too and either check again or explain what you need to work on.

Is she secure with her phonics? Was she reading lv4 books confidently, not guessing or from memory?
Is she shy? Is she confident with her new teacher/TA?
When my ds started school, he was very reluctant to answer any question to the teacher, and she said she had to dig really deep to get something out of him. It totally changed as he got confident with teacher. Maybe she is similar, and is it possible teacher can't assess her to her right level of ability?

Are you in England? If so the teacher/school should be matching books to current phonic ability not blindly following an obsolete banding system as stated in the National Curriculum.

Could shyness be a factor? Possibly she was shy/nervous and stumbled a lot or wouldn't read properly when the teacher assessed her, so she got put down?
The school will probably have done a benchmarking assessment which is one standard book for each level. So if the child is at level 4 the teacher pulls out this standard book and asks them to read it with no prompts. Teacher/ta tick a matching sheet each time they read a word correctly. The final score needs to be between 90-95 % of the words read correctly and without help. Above 95% correct and they read the next level up, below 90% and they read the level down. They keep going until they read a book with 90-95% accuracy.

But if your dd was nervous or flustered she could have performed worse than she was capable of.

My DD is shy and it is a mix of Ginn 360 and Oxford reading tree. DD tends to whole word recognise because this is what they were taught in first half of reception.

It sounds like the teaching of reading is a bit of a mess at your DD’s school, unfortunately.

You say last year’s Y1s had poor results in the phonics check, and that the teaching in the early part of Reception was whole word recognition. Maybe the school have reacted to their poor results and are (finally) trying to sort out the phonics teaching, and therefore the Y1 teacher has allocated books based on phonics knowledge.

You’ve said that your daughter is still trying to read by recognising whole words. Perhaps the reason her classmate has stayed at the higher level is because he/she is more secure with phonics?

The only thing you can do is ask, but I’d ask in the next day or two if you can.

I think what Gin says makes sense. If they had poor phonics results, I would expect school to change quite drastically the way they teach phonics.
Some children do pick up phonics anyway, and some don't with poor teaching.
If she is relying on whole word recognition, it maybe why she was put back to lower level, especially if you think her comprehension isn't a problem.
Anyways, it's a good thing to happen at early stage in primary. I think it's far worse to realise that your child hasn't grasped phonics in KS2.
But you wouldn't know if you don't ask. If she hasn't got phonics yet, you, and school/teacher still have plenty of time to help her.