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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Do children progress more quickly in reading in Year 1?

20 replies

Missstickinthemud · 17/10/2017 11:50

Hi, thanks for reading,

I've recently been told by DS's school that they want all the children to be on turquoise level in reading by the end of Year 1.

I'm a bit concerned by this as DS has only just moved up onto yellow level, which means he has to get through three more levels and then onto turquoise.

I know that we still have most of the year, but last year he only went up two, from pink to red.

So is it normal in year one to go through more levels? Is this achievable for him or is he going to be behind?

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2014newme · 17/10/2017 11:55

Yes very achievable for most children. Most of the children in our class were on white level by end year 1.However the minimum target for end reception is yellow so it sounds like your son may not have achieved that. He may suddenly get it in year 1 some kids just take longer to get started.

TeaandHobnobs · 17/10/2017 12:00

A huge number of Y1 children in my mumsnet antenatal group are on yellow level at the moment (they were talking about it just this morning, in fact).
I think the children just get to a point where it clicks for them, and then I imagine they may then move through a few levels a bit quicker.
I don't think you need to worry at the moment though.
What feedback do you get from his teacher about his reading? Does the school give you any guidance on how to help at home?

Original poster

Missstickinthemud · 17/10/2017 12:01

You seem to be right about the levels thing in reception, which was a bit of a surprise as I don't recall them mentioning him being behind on reading in his end of year report.

Thank you for the reassurance that it's achievable for him. Fortunately he really likes reading so I'm hoping he will do it, and I've noticed increased fluency in his reading over the last few weeks. It's just that turquoise seems a very long way away! I feel that we are already doing everything we can as a family to support him with reading, so I don't feel that I have anything left in my arsenal to tackle this that I'm not already using.

OP posts:

2014newme · 17/10/2017 12:03

The problem is they don't say behind they say, 'working towards expected level' which can be misleading

Original poster

Missstickinthemud · 17/10/2017 12:05

Sorry, last message at 12:01:46 was for 2014newme.

Teaandhobnobs We had an open evening at school that was sort of focused on helping them with reading, although it was mostly on phonics. They've given us lots of resources we can fall back on, online and offline. He has the opportunity to get a new book everyday, which he takes and we always read it every evening, plus we do additional reading with him at home. So I think they've been fairly good at supporting us so far.

Thanks for the reassurance that we are not alone!

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Original poster

Missstickinthemud · 17/10/2017 12:06

"The problem is they don't say behind they say, 'working towards expected level' which can be misleading" 2014newme

I didn't realise that. I might have to dig that report out and look at it again, as that sheds new light on it.

OP posts:

Sirzy · 17/10/2017 12:10

Ds went into year 1 hardly able to read. Middle of year 1 it just clicked and he flew through the levels. He is in year 3 now and is a fluent reader.

I wouldn’t get too worried about levels at this point, read with him regularly and encourage a love of reading and see how he goes for the rest of the year.

eyebrowsonfleek · 17/10/2017 12:33

In my experience, 1 level a term is achievable with regular practice but my personal experience is that my sons (March and August born) were not developmentally ready for reading and writing until year 2 and it was a fantastic year for both of them in terms of reading and writing progress. The March born in particular made about 3 years of progress in 1 year (6 sublevels in old grades if anyone is wondering)

HarryPottersBroomstick · 17/10/2017 13:25

I would second what sirzy said. DC is August born and struggled in reception and the start of yr 1 with everything really.

Now he is a completely fluent (Harry Potter reading ) reader and definitely amongst the top levels in his class.

Some children just take longer than others to get it.

Lairymilk · 17/10/2017 14:11

DD went through 3 levels in reception and 6 during year 1 so in our experience yes the advancement was quicker.

GetTheGoodLookingGuy · 18/10/2017 07:33

I think Year 1 is the point at which it usually clicks for most children. We finished last year with eight of the class (high SEN, high EAL, low levels of parental involvement) reading at Turquoise and above. All of them had come up to Y1 Yellow or below. Of the rest, only three were still on Yellow (all SEN/EAL), and one on red (new EAL arrival five weeks before the end of term). Most of the class were on Blue/Green/Orange.

Original poster

Missstickinthemud · 18/10/2017 11:10

Thanks for the reassurance everybody, I really appreciate all of your messages and advice.

OP posts:

Lindy2 · 18/10/2017 14:13

I don't think most children being on white at the end of year 1 is the norm at all. The abilities will vary greatly from just getting the hang of it through to free reader.
I think the target is 3 bands per year ie 1 per term (white is year 3 on that basis not year 1) but it will vary a lot.
One of my children struggled with reading and entered year 2 on yellow. They then flew through loads of bands, approx 1 a month so they ended year 2 perfectly on target.

Greenleave · 18/10/2017 14:35

Mine couldnt read when she started reception and was mid-level when beg of Yr1 and suddenly from 2nd term of yr 1 she just reads, none stopped(I turned the conservatory room into a library and just pump it up with books, I even set a must spend budget for books). By end of yr2, we found out that she was short sighted and I thought her short sight was due to her books obsession then I nearly stopped her from reading in yr3 and 1/2 yr4 which I deeply regret now. I did many things to distract her from being very very bookish(read everywhere, any chance even at play time) including introducing her to music, to arts, chess, lots of swimming, play out door always. She eventually is still a bookish at heart. Now (yr5)she is back and free to read whenever she likes, can (again) however its getting so busy with so little time to read. My point is, yes, a child can pick up and read well at yr1 when they didnt read too well in reception( in my case we are bilingual and we dont speak to each other in English and she didnt go to pre-school nursery which I know could teach young children to read early).

MrsKCastle · 18/10/2017 21:11

Missstick what sort of books are the school sending home? Only the old book bands don't fit with the way reading is now being taught. Books which are colour banded tend to be the old look and say rather than appropriate phonics books and this can really affect reading confidence.

Aside from that though, I agree with others that reading very often 'click's around Y1, so you may find that your DS suddenly becomes more fluent and confident. If it doesn't seem to be happening for your son, ask what the school are doing to help, it is in their best interests to ensure that he succeeds.

My DD2 is in Y2. At the start of Y1, she took a step back in her reading - reluctant to read, said it was too hard etc. I went right back to early phonics readers with her, built up her confidence a little, got her interested in Rainbow Fairies (bleurgh, hate them but it worked for her!)
She is now very fluent and confident, reading Secret Seven type chapter books independently, good understanding. So it does happen.

bangingmyheadoffabrickwall · 18/10/2017 22:23

DS is in Y1. I am confused with his school's banding system of books. He was reading Dandelion Launchers and Readers (CCVCC words - several sentences/lines per page) comfortably. Then he was moved to 'red book band books' that had a yellow sticker on them . Words are back to Letters and Sounds Phase 3 (ch, sh, th, ng) and a comment saying he has 'jumped a few books to more phonic based ones' - despite Dandelion Launchers and Readers BEING phonic based books. He was bringing home 2 books a night (ORT phonics) and reading both within 5-10 minutes - no errors. Now he is bringing home ORT trunk stories (red band with a yellow sticker), not phonic based AT ALL but still he manages the books just fine. No other book at school as I am led to believe.

BUT ... I'm a Y1 teacher myself. My school follow the 'book band system' and we have several schemes all 'book banded'. I bring home 'yellow band book' and recently a 'blue band book' (ORT Floppy's Phonics - Crunch) which my DS manages okay with and uses his phonic skills to decode when reading blue. My own assessment of his reading puts him 'firmly' in yellow and beginning to manage a few 'blue books'. Yet the school don't seem to be stretching him.

My experience of Y1 in my area (high deprivation, above average looked after children etc) has most children enter Y1 reading 'red level' books. But by the end of the year, most are reading 'green level' and 'orange level'. This year we have 2 children reading 'orange books' already and last year I had 3 children who were on 'purple or turquoise level' at the end of Y1.

Turquoise level at the end of Y1 is unheard of (in my neck of the woods) and though you may have a child who can decode at that level, their understanding may simply be 'average' or slightly 'above average'.

BubblesBuddy · 18/10/2017 22:55

Any decent school must know that not all children at the end of Y1 will be at the same minimum but fairly challenging level. Children plateaux and some children just struggle. That's such an odd statement to make - its boasting really. I would love to know how many children don't make it! Even with phonics, not every child makes fantastic progress. Even in this school, some may encounter problems and never be good readers.

wendz86 · 19/10/2017 16:28

My daughter went from red level to turquoise during year 1. She seemed to suddenly get it a lot more and skipped a level sometimes.

Bluebird23 · 22/10/2017 14:58

Hi
I would say that is perfectly doable but also not to worry if he doesn't quite get there.
My son started Y1 on yellow level and ended the year orange so he made good progress but wasn't a fluent reader.
During Y2 we had a lovely month when reading just clicked for him and he ended the year as a fluent reader on Grey book band (skipping some levels completely).
Hope your son enjoys Y1 x

user789653241 · 22/10/2017 15:34

There's so much difference in book levels in ks1. Nobody is interested in book levels in ks2.
What I mean is, most of children would click during yr1 or yr2.
If still struggling in yr3, there maybe a bit of worry. But most of children come to grasp it by end of yr2.
Just make sure you keep reading together.

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