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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

Summer born end of reception report

52 replies

lucyb162 · 29/07/2018 20:20

Hi
My DD is v young in her school year, she turns 5 this week. We got her end of year report and she's missed getting expected in 3 of the areas; maths, understanding and confidence. Having spoken with the teacher, she wasn't concerned at all and said she'd come on since she wrote the report at the start of June and from what she said she might've got expected in the confidence and understanding areas. Maths it seems that DD is still inconsistent with recognition of numbers 11 through to 20, which sounds about right. I also gathered from the conversation that she could do with working on her writing going into year 1 as she's struggling with placing of finger spaces and 'holding the sentence she wants to write in her head whilst writing it. She kindly made up a pack for me and DD to do some activity packs over the summer. DD is potentially also slightly behind on her reading as she's on red band books. She told me recently she finds reading a bit annoying. My question is, I've always thought DD was bright (I know, biased) and I've been surprised that she hasn't picked things up as quickly as I'd have thought. Is what she's achieved typical of a late summer born in reception and she's likely to catch up over the next few years?

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WooYa · 29/07/2018 20:27

She sounds like she's going along at the right rate, especially if her teacher is saying so to. Could you maybe take her to a library? There's tons of books for her to choose and she might be more interested if they books are what she choose, not just 'pick one out of these 10 books.' Encouraging her to make up here own stories will help too, and you could turn them into her own book. Just fold a few pieces of paper over and encourage her to write the story and she can draw the pictures too.

user789653241 · 29/07/2018 20:33

Yes, remember some of her peers are nearly a year older. By end of yr2, there will be less gaps, or she may have taken over some of older ones.

Whynotnowbaby · 29/07/2018 20:33

Dd is summer born too and I found it frustrating to see her judged against children nearly a whole year older. She took off in y1 though and has steamed ahead in all the areas she found harder in reception. Children develop at different rates and there is a quarter of a lifetime of learning and experience to catch up on compared to the oldest children in the reception year. It sounds like the teacher is fantastic so take her advice, keep encouraging your dd to do something ‘schooly’ every day but make sure she has a proper break too.

Original poster

lucyb162 · 29/07/2018 20:44

Thanks all. She devours books we read to her, but getting her to read beyond her assigned school books results in a big fat no. She has recently become more interested in writing, writing her own books, letters to fairies that live in her room etc, but she gets frustrated easily with working out where to put finger spaces, remembering what she wanted to write etc, I really feel for her when that happens.

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Original poster

lucyb162 · 29/07/2018 20:46

To add, she really loves drawing and her teacher remarked on her creativity, she scored highly in that area for her end of year report according to the teacher but was still expected for her 'grading'

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Original poster

lucyb162 · 29/07/2018 20:49

This is an example of her drawing and her writing. The letter was done with help from me, referring her to her phonics sound mat for some of the sounds like air in fairies and helping with the placing of finger spaces

OP posts:

RandomMess · 29/07/2018 20:51

Please back off from your DD! Let her enjoy what she enjoys.

My very academic born end of August teen learnt to read in year 1 by the end of year 1 she was a top reader in her year. Just 5 is too young to be stressing about her being behind when she isn't really because she is summer born!

Just read and read to her let her love books, love drawing and leave her reading and writing until she's back at school.

IceCreamFace · 29/07/2018 21:23

I think that performance in Yr isn't necessarily a good prediction of how a kid will do later. Summer born children are way more likely to be behind, it only becomes a long term problem if it affects their confidence, if the pick up on the fact they can't write or read as well as their peers they can start to see themselves as unacademic and it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

kierenthecommunity · 29/07/2018 23:58

My July born son was also slightly behind in reading at the end of YR. The teacher wasn’t remotely concerned. Like a PP though he’s flown in Y1 and is now slightly ahead

Rebecca36 · 30/07/2018 00:21

Your daughter sounds fine and she probably is bright. She won't be the only child in the class to have such results and to need a bit of help.

I must say, judging from what you say about the teacher, the school sounds like a lovely place.

RoboJesus · 30/07/2018 02:55

If you work on numbers over the summer it sounds like she'll be at expected for everything going in to year 1 so there will be nothing to catch up to.

BubblesBuddy · 30/07/2018 05:26

I think teachers can tell who is really bright in YR, and some may well be summer born. In my DDs year, 4 went to Oxbridge and several others went to medical school. All the Oxbridge bound children were summer born and all were noticeably ahead at 4/5. They were reading well before they went to school and just had an extra something that marked them as intelligent. I could tell they were bright when they came here to play. Their vocabularies were huge, they spoke and had conversations in a mature and thoughtful way and their parents had an aura of satisfaction! I would have put money on them being super bright in YR.

Having said that, there are peaks and troughs to learning and children mature at different rates. YR is early days but it would be helpful if DD could be a bit more enthusiastic. That’s a very helpful trait and a love of learning goes a long way. So don’t push her too much and definitely get early readers from the library and do paired reading so you can enjoy books together. Take her out and enjoy a variety of activities. Do quizzes for children that might be available where you go.

As she has imaginary fairies in her room she sounds a bit immature in some ways. I would try and move on from this and explore the real world a bit more so she has a broader general knowledge and interests.

Movablefeast · 30/07/2018 05:52

Can't believe a poster is seriously picking out Oxbridge candidates in reception. I know a number of kids who went to top unis in the UK and the USA who pulled ahead from their peers later in school (I mean well after 12). Please let's not talk about 5 yr olds and university in the same thread. Madness!

Don't scare away the fairies just yet, 5 yr olds are allowed to be "immature" .

lolalotta · 30/07/2018 05:56

Bubblesbuddy shame on you for suggesting a 5 year is on move on from imaginary fairies!

flissfloss65 · 30/07/2018 06:04

My ds is Summer born and I’m sure was behind in general at the end of Yr R. But he was very curious and interested in things, animals, nature, how things work.

I used this enthusiatham when out on trips to encourage reading in a natural way.

How about the Summer Read at the library? Do a quiz on a nature walk, so it involves fun and doesn’t seem like reading/writing?

He caught up by the end of Yr 2 but really came along at secondary school. Thinking about it I was surprisingly laid back and didn’t push him as he just wasn’t ready in reception.

HoppingPavlova · 30/07/2018 06:05

One of mine was a year behind most in age when they started school. They were noticeably behind the other children. By Yr3 any age advantage the others had seemed to have gone and by the end of Yr3 my child was ahead of most. By senior school in high school mine was streets ahead their older peers academically, although noticeably lacking in maturity. I wouldn't worry about it.

avocadoincident · 30/07/2018 06:11

What an absolute load of crap! I'm a Reception and year 1 teacher. Encourage her creativity and imagination. Talk about everything. Read to her lots without her having to do any reading. Relax yourself. Don't air your worries where she will hear you and take on any anxiety about it.
Let her play without any formal 'catch up' this summer.
Her drawings and letter formation and phonic awareness seem exactly where they should be for her age. You will see her blossom in year 1, she's only a baby now still and Reception should be an introduction to school only just like nursery.

Rockhopper81 · 30/07/2018 06:12

Moving on from fairies at 5?? That’s insane!

Finger spaces will be covered in Y1, so I wouldn’t worry too much about that at all. Same for using the phoneme ‘air’ in her writing - brilliant if she does, not the end of the world if she doesn’t (it’s a trigraph and not uncommon for it to be applied later), i was will come in Y1. Writing will probably also come on more when reading is established, which is usually the case (although not always, but if you know the phonemes to decode, it’s easier to apply them in writing, if that makes sense).

The teen numbers isn’t an unusual area for weakness either - they’re really the hardest double figures to get your head around! Try pointing them out when you’re out and about - bus number, door numbers, numbers on packaging etc. I don’t mean to talk down to you at all - apologies if it comes off that way - just trying to give some suggestions. If it becomes integral to your day, rather than a set activity, it’s more likely to ‘sink in’.

She sounds like she’s where she should be for the end of YR, and yes the age difference has a huge impact at this age. She sounds ready for Y1, so I wouldn’t be concerned. She sounds lovely - love the fairy drawing and letter.

Rockhopper81 · 30/07/2018 06:14

*it will come in Y1

Bezm · 30/07/2018 06:15

Take her to a shop where they sell lots of lovely stationary for her to write on. Buy her a talking tin, it will help with her holding a sentence in her head, set up a writing area with her and play with her in it. Love the letters to fairies ideas!
www.talkingproducts.com/educational-resources/talking-tins-education.html?___store=edu
www.twinkl.co.uk/resource/t-m-337-finger-spacing-hand
If you have access to Twinkl the site has millions of writing ideas and resources that you could print off.
The main thing to remember is to play with her when she's writing. Don't just leave her to it. Model talk for writing so she can see the process of composing a sentence.

crunchtime · 30/07/2018 06:16

Immature????? She's 5 ffs!!!!@ of course she's Immature!

That writing looks fine for reception. My August born boy had writing like in year 2! He's now steaming ahead at gcses and on the oxbridge path at school.
Really please don't worry.

user789653241 · 30/07/2018 06:51

Bubbles, my sister was/is super intelligent, but she was considered behind in kindergarten, because she was always away with fairies and not interested in academics. She had such a great imagination though.

Same for my ds's friends. Some of them, especially the young ones were not at all interested in reading books etc in reception. Now going into yr6, not all the early developers kept their place, and some of the children who were considered behind in reception are the ones doing great.

MelbourneClown03 · 30/07/2018 07:02

Don't sweat it. As a Reception teacher, I've got the knowledge and training to know when someone is struggling because there is a learning difficulty and when it's just a matter of immaturity, due to them being a summer born. You take this in to account when assessing children, as you assess them according to their chronological age in months.

Do the pack that her teacher sent home. The leap from Reception level writing to year 1 expectations is huge, so if her Reception teacher thinks it necessary, then do it for your daughter's own good. Encourage her to keep writing at home, waft books, comics etc, that you think she'll enjoy, under her nose but don't be too insistent (kids also need a rest and sometimes those learning and understanding leaps come when they're given a chance to bed in during the holidays, without more learning being thrown at them). Red book band is a little on the low side for year 1 but it shows that she's mastered the theory of phonic decoding, so she'll catch up.

Just as a side note, as a child I was always a 'slow reader' but all of a sudden my reading level went from a reading age of 9 to 13 years in a school year. Sometimes it's just a case of waiting until a child's brain is ready to catch up.

ReceptionTA · 30/07/2018 07:13

As she has imaginary fairies in her room she sounds a bit immature in some ways

Excuse me while I just howl with laughter at this! The child is still only 4!

ReceptionTA · 30/07/2018 07:20

Seriously @lucyb162 Your DD sounds adorable, I absolutely love her drawings. She's obviously creative and imaginative.

Yes, it would be good for her to recognise numbers to twenty as she goes in to year one. Some children aren't very visual learners and need to see things more times than others before the stick. Make it fun, like having number biscuit cutters and make number biscuits, or foam numbers in the bath etc.

There are many different ways of being "bright"

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