Pre-school end of year report - mortified

[craxmum]

DD is 2.7 and I just received her end of year report today. She's been attending since September. It's a disaster.
She scores "emerging" for her age band or even in the age band below in pretty much all areas apart from "numbers", "shape, space and measure" and "technology" where she has scored "confident".

She also has the lowest possible score for "creating and thinking critically" (1 out of 5).

For "making relationships" and "people and communities" she is not even assessed to be at the level of 16 months! Some children don't even walk at this age :(

I don't know what to think. To me, she is quite a bright child for her age - knows numbers up to 20, can do basic sums up to 10, knows all the letters, can write a few too, can draw some recognisable shapes (faces, cars, dogs), playing some elaborate pretend games.

Can I ask for a second opinion from another professional? They state that this report will be shared with her future school, is there any way I can gently challenge it?

I feel really guilty, I am a single mother and have to work full time, and her older brother has SEN and takes almost all of my free time (and finances) - I feel now like I failed her. Can I find a teacher to tutor her over the holidays to bring her up to speed (I am not sure how it works in the UK - should I ask if someone in the nursery is tutoring privately or is there is anyone they can recommend)?

Please don't have the poor child tutored!!! She is so young and has a lifetime of school ahead of her. I remember a meeting at my eldest daughter's school (maternelle in France) when she was almost 4. One parent asked the teacher to recommend a work book for the holiday/weekends. The teacher looked round at us all squarely in the eye and said 'Your children do not need to do any extra work at this age. They need to play. If you are worried, try and do creative activities where they use scissors/glue/stickers to help their motricity but I recommend just letting them PLAY'.

In a previous life I used to be an educational psychologist. From the little you've said, your dd sounds absolutely fine (and even quite advanced in some areas) and the staff possibly need a little more training in how to asses kids. That doesn't mean that it's not a good nursery in terms of the care they give her.

For what it's worth, two of my dcs aged two were absolutely not interested at all in joining in group activities when they were 2 (e.g. group singing, listening to stories). They just liked doing what they were doing. They've sort of carried on like this into childhood - they're just not kids who like group activities. They like doing things one on one or by themselves. Provided you can get your dd to sometimes engage in shared activities with you or another adult relatively easily (not always - no toddler wants to do what an adult wants all the time!), there is no reason to worry at all.

Like others, I'd stick the report in the back of a drawer and totally forget about it.

When DD's nursery was worried about a particular aspect of her progress, they took us aside personally and discussed possible next steps, including seeing specialists (turned out not to be necessary).

We also used to get regular feedback through an online portal about what she was doing, and how well she matched to a 'typical' child (30-50 months, 40-60 months). I found that the assessed age correlated very well with which member of staff did the observation, and poorly with anything else.

In your position, I'd talk to the nursery, but not be too worried about the written report.

This is absolutely crazy, poor kids being put under this pressure.

We don't have any of this bullshit in Ireland. When kids start school at 4 or 5, all they need to really know is colours, numbers 1-10 and their abcs. They actually focus more on social skills than academic skills when they're so young here.

Whilst not disregarding the report entirely, I'd also question the qualifications of the person making this assessment.

Often, nursery workers are quite young girls with few formal qualifications themselves. These tests sound very subjective to me and dependent upon the child being observed. If your child is fairly quiet maybe they don't observe her doing things as much as her more outgoing and noisier peers.

I really wouldn't worry about this at the moment at all.

OP I would interpret this report to mean that the nursery staff don't know how to do the EY framework. It says nothing about your child.

It would make me question the nursery though.

Are they otherwise good? I believe a nursery can be fantastic even if they don't get the paperwork right.

What would make me question the nursery even further though is their response to you. Firstly, it confirms that they don't know how to use the EY framework. But secondly, it sort of implies that their reaction to scoring a child well below their chronological age is 'not every child is clever'. It implies that they actually use it as 'assessment' to judge if a child is 'behind'.
When their reaction ought to be 'what is going on here, what exactly are the child's 'weaknesses', how can we support the child/draw them out of their shell/engage them better, can we do what needs doing or do we need external specialist help'.

If that is indeed their approach - and it seems they made that impression on you at least - I would be moving my child ASAP.

Thank you for all your responses. It really helps to read positive stories of children shining later in life after being scored low in the nursery :)
The situation got weirder as I just got an email from the nursery manager inviting me for an in-depth review meeting next week, and informing me that she has discovered that several scores in my dd report might be based on the previous term observation set and they would like to revise it and provide an update. How oh how could she have discovered it within an hour of my meeting if the observation log is supposedly stored in a locked safe in the chain's head office miles and miles away :)

@brilliotic
Yes, I did not pick a very positive vibe from the key person (I met her only once before). She is very young (not that it is a bad thing as such), and did not seem confident in what she was explaining at all. I did not think that she meant the comment about clever / not clever children as patronising, rather that she was trying to comfort me in such a weird way. She also said that she failed all her school tests herself, and still is doing just fine.
I probably came across as a little bit demanding/pushy to her.

I think the assessment is really unfair, especially given that she can count to ten and knows her letters etc. She sounds like a clever little girl and it’s ridiculous that children can be assessed like this.

craxmum I do find it confusing with all the different names various childcare setting give themselves. I suppose anything before actual school is Pre School but it sounds so much more 'education' than calling it Nursery or Daycare. No wonder parents are so confused. What I meant is a 2 and a half she doesn't need to be in such an education based setting - just childcare. They may call it 'pre school' but at that age it should be about care and play. If she likes the place she is at and you like it then keep her there until she actually starts school properly (ie September after she is 3 in a primary school Nursery Class or a year later into Reception) but ignore that 'report'. I hope you don't think I was having a go at you. Apologises if it came out that way.

Wow. I'm not in the UK and I'm horrified that children of that age are being assessed in such an academic way. There's something very wrong with that.

In our country the children start school (I say school but it's not a very academic environment) at two-three, and I have just received my four year old's end of year report. It's excellent, yet I'm pretty sure she's not as capable as your two year old in some areas that you report. My daughter is also bi-lingual, like many children where we live. Their teachers are used to bi-lingual children and accept it as absolutely normal that there will be some developmental differences with the other children.

Getting her any kind of tutor is an awful idea at her age. I didn't do at all well all through primary school but ended up very well educated, and in between primary and university level my marks varied hugely depending upon my relationship with individual teachers rather than the subjects involved. Please don't get too hung up on such a redundant reporting system. In the wider scheme of things, it means nothing.

Also, at the risk of insulting early years workers, I have a number of family and close friends who work in nurseries/pre-schools. They have all been trained to do so (they love pointing this out) and are all very impressed with themselves. They're not very bright... I don't mean to cast aspersions upon all nursery workers, but my own experience means I would put very little faith in that report. Bin it.

Seriously, bin it. I just looked at my DD's file - full of impenetrable acronyms and terms that don't relate to her as a person. And photos that show her being a bit wary.
She's an awesome 11 year old now who needed time to warm up to the whole going to school thing.

Wow. I'm not in the UK and I'm horrified that children of that age are being assessed in such an academic way. There's something very wrong with that

I'm horrified that so few people are horrified. I can't believe that people in the UK are accepting this for their children.

Find another pre school

I was going to say get a meeting with the head person there, but looks like you got it. If they got the report wrong, it is just shocking that the key person did not realise on the spot and just tried to uphold it on you.

In your meeting, even if they correct the scores, ask them what are THEY doing about the areas she needs to develop on and how they are addressing any issues. Also enquire very politely about a change in the key person. Ask how she rates her relationship with your child. Tell her you want that relationship to be the best and very trusting, given her areas of development. Be very friendly and understanding with the manager, if you have a good meeting he/she will try to help you.

On a separate matter it sound like my younger daughter that age - bright but a bit lacking on the social side. Now let's be honest children that are 2.5 YO and can sit and listen during story time - in the minority IME! My daugther is now 3.5 and has been developing nicely, children change SO much and you should trust your instincts too.

I thought parallel play at 2.7 was normal.

I would bin it. I have no experience or knowledge of these things but some years ago DD went to the nursery of a private school.

The head of the nursery was very unapproachable and 'stiff', wore a business suit, DD never warmed to her. She approached me one day and asked if I would do extra work at home with DD, who was four because she didn't know her letters.

I laughed at her and said absolutely not, she was four years old, I wanted her to come home and make mud pies and play with fairies, she was there from 8 until 5.

We left the school in Year 2 and DD did struggle with maths in particular for a few years (late summer born at 29 weeks gestation).

Anyway, she got into a top state grammar school without tuition for secondary and appears to be flying high there - lots of top of form marks in the end of year exams.

You need to summon up the strength to ignore it. Everything is measured, judged and labelled in 2018, just trust yourself and bin it.

OP I have never heard anything so ridiculous. How bloody awful for these apparently clueless people to be scoring your toddler out of 5 for this stuff. Utterly ridiculous. I have a son the same age as your daughter and an almost 4 yr old both at same pre school and that scoring wouldn't happen there in a million years. I think after this experience I'd move her somewhere less batshit.

At that age my DD was ‘behind’ in mark making. When I questioned what they were actually expecting I was told that the scribbles she drew were normal but they’d marked her down because she didn’t describe them as being a cat or house..... Funnily enough she was fine when learning to write when she started school 3 years later!

There are going to be some children where it helps to flag up problems but most of it can be taken with a large pinch of salt.

I'm not having a go at you OP honestly, but she's two ffs.
I'd take it all with a pinch of salt tbh.
I've known plenty of dc who have never been to pre school, hence never had a report at that age and they all started school fine, went through school fine, and continued to uni fine
I don't understand why a child of 2.7 is considered as pre school and not nursery anyway.
Surely pre school is the year before they attend school.

It doesn't mean anything at that age!
At year 3 my DD was labelled by school as subpar and given an educational assessment to demonstrate to us that she wasn't "Independent School material". It backfired, she was found to be a genius with a very unique profile and now a straight A student at Uni. Other DC were also rated as slow/behind the curve until year 8 then all bloomed and have done exceedingly well. YOU KNOW YOUR CHILD BEST, BELIEVE IN WHAT YOU KNOW!

Newer staff/staff in training need coaching and supervision but time is always tight in nurseries. Sounds like this junior staff member needs a bit more support in making assessments.
Dealing with parents can also be very intimidating for an 18 or 20 year old so not surprising they sometimes say the wrong thing.

gilly - my sons started preschool at 2.1 and 2.7.

Mindchilder

I presumed toddler until pre school at 3-4 the year before they start school.
Bloody hell, I couldn't put up with all this pressure on their development, they are still babies.

She’s 2. Don’t worry about it x

I'm ex Ofsted so I'm the person who would come and check up on the nursery and see if they knew what they were doing with regard to the EYFS.

They don't.
And if they did they would have mentioned this disparity to you before.
Making hugely broad and sweeping generalisations many nurses staff are young, under paid and only basically qualified. The key worker system can work well if it is consistent and the key workers known their job and their child.

You could look into using a childminder for childcare. They follow the same EYFS but have a more personal relationship with the child.

Burn the report