Oxford Reading Tree - help needed!

[backofthewardrobe]

Could someone please explain this reading scheme to me and why some parents are so obsessed with the various coloured levels.

I keep hearing “He’s reading pink books he should be on red books he’ll never get to gold books!” in the playground and I realise that the books get “harder” but the children have been on be same level that started at all year, when do they change?

Are there different levels within the coloured bands? Does it actually matter as long as your child is reading?

TIA

In the grand scheme this is nonsense. Is your child reading regularly af home? Do they have access to a lot of books? Are they read to regularly? These are all way more important than ORT levels.
But if you mean that a child hasn’t progressed from one ORT level to another all academic year that’s concerning.

PotolBabu 90% of the children in the class have not progressed from one level to another since September.

The ones that have, the parents went in and complained. Should I be complaining?

My child has access to a lot of books but doesn’t read everyday at school, the class is too big to get round them all. We make sure they read every day at home though.

90% of the children in the class have not progressed from one level to another since September.

That’s rubbish. They should be progressing, not at the same pace but they shouldn’t pretty much all be on the same level.

I'd definitely go in and ask the teacher to explain. Every school has their own system and it's not always clear. I would say that children in EY should be on a huge range of book bands by now so strange that they are 90% the same.

I would say the parents are right. The ones who complained. On average a child should go through four book bands in Reception.

LittleBearPad They are not all on the same level. They were tested and started off on different levels (don’t know which because it was all very secretive for some reason) but the children have stayed on the levels they started with except for the three (that I know of) whose parents complained.

This is why I’m not sure how it works 🧐

Have a look at this

This one explains it better. Many schools have ORT but as a small part of a wider set of reading books, I haven't seen it as the only reading books in schools for about 10 years now.

Not possible that 90% of children haven't moved up levels since September. You've got the wrong end of the stick here or in your child is in the worst school in the whole entire world.

I wouldn't want to be in that teacher's shoes if it was true

This is true unless the parents are lying. But why would they be when there are so many complaining? My child has stayed on the same level. They can read them easily but it’s only a small part of the reading as they only do one or two books a week. We do read a lot at home.

floraloctopus Why? It is a multiracial area, would that make a difference. Some of the spoken English is not good.

Reading them easily is a small part of reading, it's all about the comprehension.

floraloctopus Why? It is a multiracial area, would that make a difference. Some of the spoken English is not good.

Because teachers are held to account massively for failure to make progress.

I don’t know if or how they test comprehension.

Thanks for the links FloralOctopus. My child seems to be reading above their age level but has never changed levels.

They almost certainly do and if they don't then they should be.
They do have increasingly difficult books within the levels but I'd still expect a child to move levels between September and June if they are understanding what they are reading. That said, moving them when they are not ready does more harm than good. Maybe ask about their reading next time it is parents evening?

Yes, will ask, thanks.

Multi racial area makes no difference. I'd be making an appointment to see the headteacher ASAP. Make sure your facts are straight though. It all sounds highly unlikely.

If I went to the head it would be about my child only, I only know what other parents have told me, that their children haven’t moved levels since they started school. But unless this is indicative of poor teaching, I have no complaint about their children!

"They do have increasingly difficult books within the levels " the whole purpose of book bands was to group books that meet the same criteria/level of difficulty. Reading books should be matched to the child's phonics ability (skills and knowledge) if the school is in England.

Reading books should be matched to the child's phonics ability (skills and knowledge) if the school is in England.

Some are harder than others though - there are ones in each band that I wouldn't give to a child who has just moved up to that level.

No they aren't ...book bands are banded so that all the books in that colour band have the same level of difficulty.
"These are carefully graded by reading levels known as book bands.
This means that when you know your child’s book band, you will be able to select books from different reading schemes with confidence, knowing that they are the right level for your child."

Personally I wouldn't use book bands/levels at all as they're based on whole language expectations, I'd follow the National curriculum requirements to match books to the child's phonic stage.

No they aren't ...book bands are banded so that all the books in that colour band have the same level of difficulty.

DIfferent experiences then, that's fine