Help!! I think my child’s teacher is being unfair!

[Tia1112]

Hi I am new to this so I am not sure how it works. What I would like to get advice on is my duaghter and see what other children at her age are achieving.

My duaghter is 6 years old and is year 1, recently I spoke to my duaghters teacher very briefly and she gave me very shocking news about her. She told me that she is been put in a support group for her maths and is struggling with her reading and writing. Now my duaghter started this school in December due to moving houses.
In her previous school she was getting certificates left right centre for various subjects.
She was even marked as ‘expected’. Now her teacher mentioned to me that she was marked as expected in her previous school but that won’t be the case in this school. She has been put on yellow band level 3 for reading which she was saying is terriable and in a support group for maths.

I don’t understand from being a top student in her previous school she has fallen so badly in this school in matter of months.

My duaghter has private tuitions once a week for an hour and her private tutor has moved her on to phase 4 is saying she is doing very well. I am a ex nursery teacher now a child minder so I also conduct lesson with my duaghter on the weekend and during school days.

Now when she began school I wrote a letter to my duagters teacher asking if she can be moved up from the yellow band books to blue band. Then also when she had spellings given to learn over the course of a year I wrote in saying I retested my duaghter most of the spellings you marked wrong was actually correct. I tend to look over my duaghters spellings and correct the teacher markings on many occasion.

The private tutor who is a year 6 teacher really good said that it doesn’t matter even if I was to go and get a degree for my duaghter the teachers will take no notice until you don’t pass they initial assesments they have set out.

I would just like to know what is expected from a 6 year old in year 1 as I recall back to that time and we was still colouring and painting at that age we had no clue of numbers etc. Yet my duaghter at that age knows how to count to 100, count in 10’s, count in 5’s, basic addition and subtraction, tell the time (half past and o clocks), knows fractions, know place value 10’s and units. Spelling wise she is able to spell most four to five letter words. So I just like to know what other children her age are doing? Thankyou any advice will be helpful and lots of love and care for all you mothers who are trying hard with your children. 😘

I was an ex teacher, grandparents teachers- we never done anything like that at home

[shocked] Wow. Just wow.

Aye right.

Comparing her level at one school to another is like comparing cm of rainfall in a glass and a swimming pool.

Chill out and let the teachers do their job.
They know exactly where she sits in terms of expectations and there is absolutely no shame in being put into booster groups.
I'm sure she's just fine.

Look up uk national curriculum for maths and English

This will give you their expectations on what they are learning

Stop the tutor - do fun things cooking forest walks beach combing and build stuff into that - some schools are more academic than others so schools lie -

I sort of suspected from opening post, that OP may be foreign, like me.
If so, all the harsh criticism may not help either OP or her dd.

What I had sensed is that OP has good intentions. I don't know if OP would come back and verify that or not, but can we all remember, that all the people on MN isn't familiar with British education systems, and they are just desperate to help their dcs?

It does appear that English is not your first language OP so maybe your daughter, as an EAL student, does need extra support. I have to admit that the idea of a tutor at age 6 shocks me but I am also surprised at how low your year one expectations seem to be.

I was in what is now called year 1 well over 40 years ago (before the pressures of national curriculum, targets and attainment levels) and we definitely weren’t just painting and drawing and had lots of literary and numeracy knowledge.

What were her end of Reception results like?

I think a lot can change quickly as they move onto new topics/skills. As they are marked against the curriculum. Eg ds met maths in yr r, then managed to be not met by end yr 1. And i have no idea for yr 2. Also they are not necessarily accurately assessed. Or helped to achieve their potential.

We have moved schools twice and twice the teachers have brought the reading band right back. Not just a couple of bands but quite extreme eg from orange right back to blue in year 2. I think this is something teachers do when they do not know the child well, and they appear advanced. They don't want to make a mistake? My DS is 8 now, never had any trouble with reading, and despite being moved back to blue in year 2 he is now a free reader in year 3.
I think your teacher is being cautious and just wants to do things her way. Maybe give her some time? As for having a tutor, was this for the first term only? Might come across to her that your DS needs extra help?

I think things can change rapidly as they learn new topics/skills that they may be good/worse at.
Ds met for maths in yr r, then not met yr 1, then who knows for yr 2.
A lot depends on the teachers and certainly for ds he could have achieved more, with writing too with more work/help from the teacher.
It doesnt help that we only see their books at parents evenings so have no idea how they are doing and there is no writing homework. Also schools interpret the levels differently. As some schools all kids will be free readers by year 2.
Another limitations is that if your kid is good at one thing say maths/reading ideally they would spend more time on a weaker area say handwriting but in a classroom that often wouldnt happen.

How exactly is it unfair that your DD is being given the extra support she needs, and that you are being kept informed of the situation?

Unfair would be if she was being denied the support she needs.

Bloody hell, back the hell off your poor kid!

They do not need a ruddy tutor!! Etc her enjoy school, the rest will all come with time.

As an aside, my five year old in year 1 does the same as yours and more, without one iota of extra help other than me putting homework in front of her and reading (she's on white band, whatever that means, I give no shits as long as they read daily!) and she's expected/exceeding for her year.

Let the poor kid settle in. She will come good in her own time.

*I was an ex teacher, grandparents teachers- we never done anything like that at home

[shocked] Wow. Just wow.*

I had that exact same response. Hopefully, the poster was typing quickly on a phone. Otherwise, that is some horrendous grammar for a teacher (and one from 'teaching stock' too)!

Thankyou for the replies, i really appreciate it all the information given to me.

Yes English isn’t our first language And I didnt know how the school marks children.

I never wrote that I am grandparents teacher etc if you had read my post correctly you will realise.
Spellings daughter incorrectly was an error but Thankyou for correcting me, I don’t mind.

For all the people wondering did I have tuitions for my child whilst she attended her previously school yes I did.

People need to understand that picking up a second language is very difficult and we do not judge anyone if they can’t speak a language correctly so please if you could show the same respect to non speaking English people that would be grateful. If you couldn’t speak Spanish properly but made the attempt I wouldn’t criticise you on it but instead be proud that you are trying.

Thankyou for the info given I will take on board I don’t really have any friends that I could discuss these things with but thought this would be a good avenue to get information.

I wish all the best of luck with your children and hope you do same. Thankyou 😘😘😘

Try not to worry. I think given your English isn't perfect it is understandable that your daughter will be behind children who have only ever been exposed to English. She will catch up in her own time and it's good her teacher is alert to any misunderstandings your daughter has so these can be addressed.
Is your daughter bilingual?

Those of you worrying about "we never done" from a teacher. Many teachers don't speak or write in standard English. It's a nice idea to have us all speaking in RP and writing without grammatical errors but sadly unrealistic. I'm a teacher but my English skills are not perfect. Why would they be? The only English language qualification teachers are required to have is GCSE English grade c. Not exactly demanding!

If the OP is Spanish, as she suggests, posters might bear in mind that the primary education system is very different in Spain, almost day and night.

My children have been in both systems and I can see that what looks like normal parental support to the OP looks over the top to British posters.

My children had tutors at primary there because of the second language issue and because of the way the system works there.

They don't here.

On a side note, I have arranged for two of the kids Spanish teachers to visit their Welsh school for a week. I think their jaws will be hitting the floor, simply because the systems are so different that they will struggle to understand the approach in my kids' current school.

A child in Year 1 does not need a tutor and if they do, they are not working at a high level if with extra input they are only reaching expected.

Having extra support if she needs it is good, they have identified areas in which she is struggling and are working on that. If you are indeed a teacher (although your spelling and grammar suggests this is not true), then you would be pleased that she's in a school that have identified this, not all schools do. I have no idea why you see this interventiins as negative, but tutoring as positive - it's the same thing just with a different name.

Abilities of different cohorts are all different. She might have been seen as "top" as you describe it in her previous school, but in this new school the cohort could all be brighter/higher achievers so your daughter is seen to be at a much lower level.

Also, if you were a teacher you'd know that it really doesn't matter where she us compared to her classmates, it's about what progress she is making and if and where she needs help, which the school have clearly identified.