Advice on supporting summer born in year 2

[Bugaboom]

Hi. I have an August born DS who recently went into year 2. Youngest in his class.
Emotionally he managed fine, has friends, doesn't mind going, enjoys some of the lessons but would obviously rather be at home playing Lego.
In reception he was expected level at some things and emerging in most. By end of year 1 they said he was expected level for everything except handwriting. Now half a term into year 2 the teacher has pulled me aside to say she is worried about his understanding. He's struggling to keep up and can't do the "quizzes" she sets them twice a week. He tells me the quizzes were things they hadn't covered, they're not allowed to ask questions and have to keep up with the teacher's pace turning the pages. He cried in this quiz the other day.
The teacher has told me that year 2 is much harder and there is no choosing time or golden time to break up the afternoon lessons. They at supposed to have this on a Friday but they are usually "Too busy and too much left to do". They've also dropped the daily mile.
I've noticed that he's seemed to have regressed with his addition and subtraction- using his fingers when he had stopped doing at end of year one. And in spellings he seems have forgotten the basics from last year and they just keep setting new spelling each week despite him getting them all wrong. Today I asked her to set a few easier ones so he doesn't get disheartened.
I have no desire to force more on him at home or get a tutor. I plan to speak to the Head about how they could be a less work focused and break up the day with some learning through play or the daily mile.
Has anyone else experienced this? How did you ensure your child's confidence isn't knocked completely and allow them to develop at their own pace? Feeling saddened and frustrated by our curriculum.

I know it's really sad that young children are under so much pressure.
But I think if your child is struggling, you need to keep helping them at home. You don't need to get a tutor, but just getting into habit of doing little work everyday will pay in the long run.

I do think some children aren't ready for early schooling like in England. But they do get even harder in KS2, and gap can be even bigger. And some flourish naturally in ks2, but some do keep struggling. Do you think he is a late bloomer? If so, relax. But if not, work with school to get him to understand and achieve basics needed for end of ks1.

Thank you Irvine I really appreciate your post. My gut is yes he is a late bloomer academically. He loves to play and is bright in a lot of ways. We do little bits of work daily... He's happy to read and likes doing times tables verbally. He doesn't do well with changes between lessons, so these quizzes which come straight after a different subject are a problem. I'm particularly irritated by these as the teacher pretty much confirmed it's sats practice.

Don't worry about Sats practice. It doesn't affect your dc like KS2 sats.
I think reading daily and bit of verbal maths is good enough.
It's counter productive if the child doesn't enjoy extra work. They will get there in there own time.