Worried about my dd's school- advice needed

[MsMeowington]

I need some advice from any primary teachers that may be lurking on here. I’m sorry but this is long.

My dd is 6 years old and currently in Year 2. She is a bright girl and up until recently I’ve had no issues with her school. She’s had fantastic teachers so far and she’s grown from a timid girl into a confident one.

This school year started well and her Year 2 teacher was brilliant. However, she left for a new job at another school at Christmas. During much of November and December this teacher was barely in school due to illness and during this time (4 weeks) the class was covered by a mishmash of TAs some days and supply teachers other days. The class have had one supply teacher since January but we’ve just been told she will only be here until Easter so there will be someone else for the summer term. The school appear to be losing teachers left, right and centre at the moment but they can’t seem to find replacements (4 staff have left so far this year, another is going in April, only one has been replaced). So in my mind we may find ourselves in a similar situation again in the coming years .

My dd is very able and is in the top sets for maths and literacy. She is also a competent reader and has a reading age 2.5 years ahead of what she is. At the recent parent consultation evening I was told that she is exceeding expectations in all areas and there’s nothing that she needs to work on (really?!?) or anything she struggles with. During the last week or so since the consultation a number of things have come up with my dd which I am concerned about:

1.	She has no idea what number bonds are. When I explained what they were she looked at me vaguely as if it was brand new information. I then asked her to give me examples of number bonds to 10 and she took ages thinking of them all, and made some mistakes as well. I’m baffled how a child who is supposed to be exceeding expectations is unable to quickly and accurately recall number bonds to 10. Its basic stuff. 

2. She has not been taught a single written method for addition or subtraction yet. I’ve seen her maths books and there were no written methods. When I asked her current teacher about it I was told that they don’t do written methods in their books, only on whiteboards. When I asked my dd she said they are not allowed to write anything but the answer in their books and the only way she’s been taught to work out answers is to use a pre-printed number line or cubes. Is this normal for a year 2 child?

3. She was trying to add 20 to 24 earlier and had no idea how to work it out. We went through it together and she didn’t realise that the ones stay the same and it’s just the tens that change. Again, surely for a Year 2 child who is exceeding expectations she should surely have grasped this by now.

4. She’s been on the same reading level since before October half term despite having been heard to read in school on a fortnightly basis. My dd flies through these books, reads with complete fluency, rarely comes across a difficult word, speaks with expression and has a complete understanding of what she’s read. I ask her inference based questions and she understands at this level as well. Her teacher writes in her book each week that my dd has brilliant expression and understanding of what she’s read, yet when I asked her what she needed to do to move to a more challenging reading level I was told she needed to read with more expression and improve her understanding of what she’s read. When I queried this based on her comments the teacher said she’d listen to my dd read the next day and reassess her. She did and then wrote another comment about her great expression and understanding again but kept her on the same level! My dd is bored with these books and has started refusing to read them to me so I’ve told her we’re just going to read our own level appropriate books at home and not bother with the school books. But my dd really cares about what reading level she’s on (like many new readers do) so now she’s feeling down-hearted and keeps saying that her teacher doesn’t think she’s a good reader. She keeps saying she’s rubbish at everything which is upsetting because we’ve always tried to big my dd up and make her confident in her own abilities.

These are just a few examples of things I’ve picked up on recently. I know I sound like a pushy parent but I’m not at all. I’ve virtually never spoken to any of her teachers about anything at drop off/pick up, and have never once spoken to a teacher about my dd’s progress unless it was at a parent consultation meeting. I’ve always had complete faith in the school but I’m starting to lose this faith given the lack of a consistent teacher and the gaps in my dd’s knowledge. The school has recently been downgraded by Ofsted which may also be affecting my feelings. I wasn’t bothered when it first happened because I was happy with the school and my dd’s progress but now I’m starting to see problems it’s playing on my mind. One of the reasons the school was downgraded was due to the poor progress in writing and maths, although this was related mainly to KS2.

My dd has always adored school and likes all the adults in the school, but even she’s started coming home upset about school. She keeps saying her teacher won’t help her when she gets stuck on a piece of work. Her TA (who is also leaving) spoke to me on the last day before half term to tell me that my dd has been in tears on and off all day and was she ok. I asked my dd what had upset her and she said that the teacher had told her off for not finishing her work (and kept her in at break time). She explained that she’d got stuck and didn’t understand what to do and when she asked for help her teacher said she didn’t need any help. The TA agreed this had happened but couldn’t explain why my dd had been left to struggle with her work on her own. The teacher was not available for me to speak to.

My dd has been upset about her teacher on and off during the entire half term holiday and keeps telling me about things she’s done that have upset her or her friends. Some of the things are silly little non-situations, but other things are genuinely unfair.

I don’t know where to go from here as I feel there are a number of different issues in play here. The supply teacher isn’t great but she isn’t to blame for the upheaval this school year or for the gaps in my dd’s maths knowledge. I don’t want to remove her from this school when I’ve always been so happy with it, and she loves the staff and her friends. But at the same time, I’m seeing these gaps in her knowledge, and the constant upheaval this year, and I’m very concerned that she’s not really getting what she needs. Or maybe my expectations of my dd's ability are too high and it's perfectly normal for her not to be remotely secure in these areas.

Any advice would really help as I feel like I can't see the wood for the trees at the moment.

Russell, thank you so much for the tips. I'm just so cross at the moment, but like you say, at least I've realised now what's going on. I need to tackle the whole thing now. She's a fast learner so she'll catch up quickly but it's more the upset and inconvenience of having to change schools, she's going to be upset leaving her friends, not to mention her having to do extra work each evening to get her caught back up.

If I were you, I'd be worried. DD is in Y2. At a recent parents evening, we discussed that she was struggling slightly with subtraction, e.g. 62-29 (where you have to 'carry' or something similar). Her teacher explained three techniques they'd been taught at school. None of them involved a number line, or drawing 62 lines (like the paper you showed). DD is definitely expected to show her working. This is just to give you an idea of what a 'good' school would be doing.

I am sorry if it was me that worried you. You have a strategy for looking at other schools. So just get started. It’s better to start in y2 at a new school than y5 if you discover the teaching hasn’t been great.

I’m always surprised that schools don’t have parents’ evenings and explain the curriculum to them. They should explain assessment too. At good schools, what each year group is learning will be on the web site and handed to parents. Parents should also get tips and hints to help with learning too. So themes and topics can be explored in more depth by families if they wish.

I know I was a governor at a good school, but I would expect all schools to be doing this now. So when you have parents evening you can look at what she has done and compare with what she should have done and know how the school teaches that topic - because they have already given you that info. Ditto with their reading scheme and writing. SLT is poor because they are not checking this. They should be doing classroom visits and monitoring assessment. Assessment should also be checked by other experienced teachers (SLT) if staffing and teaching quality is not consistent and reliable. I do think you are being let down.

Of course the HT might be cracking the whip and that’s why staff are leaving! It might be that too many were not great (that’s putting a spin on it though!)

Bubbles, no it wasn't you specifically. All the advice (and warnings) have really helped me understand the situation. It's just really hard to hear that everyone agrees that my dd isn't where she should be at this point in her education, and made worse when her teachers have always said that she's ahead of where she should be and there's no cause for concern or anything that needs working on. I've had a niggle at the back of my mind for a while but couldn't put my finger on exactly what was concerning me because it's like getting blood out of a stone when talking to my dd about school. It's only since she's been wanting to do her own maths at home that it's become apparent to me that something wasn't right.

The school is notoriously bad at communicating effectively with parents. None of us ever know what's going on. They used to do weekly newsletters letting us know what the children had been taught each week but the newsletters have stopped out of the blue. Nothing is ever explained, and Parents' Evening consisted of me asking questions and receiving yes/no answers. I asked if there was anything I could work on with my dd and I was told a simple 'no'.

Anyway, onwards and upwards. I have a plan for both a change of school and for helping my dd. I will also attend the meeting with the headteacher just so I can let her know why I believe my dd has been let down by the school.

I wouldn't worry too much OP. We moved our son from a crap school to a better one in Y2. They said he was quite behind at first, but he had caught up by the end of Y3, and and was well above average by the time he got to Y6.

Op - Please please don't worry.
yes, she needs some good input, but she is young, there is plenty of time, you are on the case. This is not a permanent problem, this is a temporary blip.

I'm not posting inaccurate information. When moving schools mid year, the start date will most likely be the start of the next term.

This is really not true. It is not helpful at all and does not come from a place of knowledge.
On eof my constant frustrations is people posting opinion as fact.

In fact, an LEA not allowing you to take up a place they have is I think technically illegal, but I am not an education lawyer.

I work with families all over the country, who need to move schools. The procedure is this:
Find out which school you want and ask them if they have places. You say that isn't an issue.
If they refer you back to the LEA, ask them about places.
The standard procedure is to apply to your LEA for an in-year application.
The best person for specific advice as to your area is your LEA helpline. They are usually pretty good.

The application is processed and if there is a place, then the school is abliged to take you unless there is a reason why not.
Usually you are asked to take up that place within 3 weeks. If you need to you can negotiate a different start date, but usually it there is a place and the school has your details, then you can start.

Schools often have 24 hours notice of a new starter. It is standard. Where possible they will get reports etc from the previous school.

BUT 1st March is the date that everyone gets their secondary school placements, so the LEA will be run off their feet from Monday, and the helpline will be busy fielding secondary school queries.

Yes, it possibly is illegal. If schools have a vacancy and anyone from anywhere wants the place, they cannot turn them down and refuse them starting in favour of a mythical child that hasn’t applied yet. In other words, it’s first come, first served, if there is a vacancy. Vacancies cannot be held open if a child wants the place. The LA might be saying it takes time to do the paperwork and allocate a school centrally if you don’t approach the schools yourself, but you would imagine schools are taking on DC without waiting. Especially in advance of the school census date. You would, as a school, be mad to hang on for the LA and reduce your funding. So the op should just go and view the schools and ask.

OP: your communication from school is dire I’m afraid. This might also be a symptom of poor leadership. Although parent governors are not delegates, do you know one? Also you are entitled to look at the GB minutes so this might give an insight into what they are talking about.

When you visit a new school, ask to see their y2 curriculum (as given to parents) and ask about communication. Your parents evening is less than professional too. The teacher should give you a summary of what DS has worked on and what assessment is showing. Most teachers can articulate weaknesses and tell you how to help. I don’t think the standard of teacher you have is “quality first” either. It all seems sad and very frustrating. Best of luck with your search.

DD not DS. Apologies.

I am a supply teacher and I’m rushed off my feet working in schools exactly like yours. I’ve just spent a term in a year one class where the school has been taken over by an academy and they are targeting the more experienced and therefore more highly paid teachers and making their jobs so difficult that they leave. Then covering them with HLTAs whose qualifications they don’t recognise in order to pay them more, but do recognise enough to make them teach a class every afternoon.

I quite often think that the parents have absolutely no idea whatsoever what is going on ‘on the inside’.

I work in four LEAs as I live on the border of two counties and both have separate LEAs for their cities and all of them accept moves mid-term. My own daughter started school mid-week and mid-term the very day after she was given a place.

And definitely don't worry. Both my dds went to school in another country and barely learnt a single thing while they were there.😂 One went straight into year seven and the other into year four. The year four teacher was flabbergasted at my dd's lack of knowledge in almost everything but equally amazed at how quickly she caught up. She was behind because of a lack of teaching not because she was daft so she just flew.

I would also be worried by the teachers leaving. To be fair by y2 my DC could well have forgotten what the word number bonds meant as they were well past using them consciously. (Obviously if you asked what did you need to add to 42 to get to 50 they could answer immediately). Likewise neither would naturally use a written method to add two two digit numbers together at that stage because they could do it quicker mentally. That said they'd certainly know how to and begrudgingly do it if asked.

My friends in teaching have akways said failure to retain staff, lots 9f staff on sick leave, and lots leaving is a red flag. If there's been a change in leadership one or two leaving and being quickly replaced isn't unusual but a mass exodus and a failure to replace them is concerning.

Make sure you're not jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire with an upheaval as big as changing school. If lots of staff are off sick for long periods and leaving, you can almost guarantee there's an issue with poor management, but there's a teacher shortage crisis nationally. And with funding to schools slashed, schools are more and more willing to 'replace' a teacher with a TA or cover supervisor. There's plenty of our children not being taught by a qualified teacher at the moment, and I'm surprised parents aren't making a massive deal about it.

With all the staff changes, it's no surprise there are gaps in your DDs knowledge. Something like number bonds is fairly easy for parents to support - like a PP has said, plenty of online songs and games. And you can make virtually any day to day activity you do with your child an activity to support number bonds. Bonds are to be practiced little and often to consolidate them. So in the shopping queue, baking, colouring (with pens on the table), handing out sweets, serving vegetables. My kids like playing 'ping pong' (nerdy kids of a maths specialist). So I 'ping' by saying a number and they return it with the complement. So if we're playing ping pong to 10, and I say 4, they have to say 6 as fast as possible. And you can do complements to 20, 50, 100 etc when they become really fluent in the basic 10.

Your daughter's written method works, but it's not efficient. She obviously can't go up to gcse with those methods or she'll spend all day on the first question. But the important thing is she's understanding the principle of addition and subtraction and you (if school aren't) can help her achieve much more efficient methods with a small input every day. You don't need an hours tuition, keep it fun. Good luck!

I quite often think that the parents have absolutely no idea whatsoever what is going on ‘on the inside’.

Definitely. The staff turnover in my kids' schools is so small as to almost be negligible - you get the odd maternity cover who leaves when the permanent teacher comes back, or teachers reducing days when they've had children, but people tend to stay there because their experience is valued (despite it moving them up the pay scale and making them more expensive), and because we're two (infant and juniors) of the few non-academies remaining - and because basically they're nice teams of people to work with, with nice management to work for. It makes a huge difference - staff who are intending to stay put because they're happy there are really more likely to be putting in long term effort to make things sustainable than just surviving till July when they're going to be off out of the door, or on very short term uncertain contracts.

In contrast, where I moved the kids FROM is part of a huge hungry multi academy trust forever playing musical headteachers/principals/supreme rulers (they change the terminology every other month) and hardly any of the staff seem to last more than a couple of years - it's very much a setup to survive, get your NQT year done in, and get the hell out of.

I love the Supreme Rule quip!!! Yes, this leads to trouble.

I think staff retention says a lot about a school. However, you will find that some schools are very challenging because the DC in them are challenging. Some teachers simply will not want the hassle. It is a bigger job than teaching in a nice little vilage school with lovely parents just like you. Others see challenge and making a difference as their USP but will move for promotion if the challenging school has added to their cv and made them an attractive proposition for deputy headship, for example. Indeed they should move.

We also find teachers move with DH's job, and simply to get varied experience. I have, over the years, found few who move due to difficult relationships with the Head - unless they are facing capability. This was, however, very rare, but was justified. Indeed most good schools seem to have good and excellent teachers and keep them in post. Occasionally there is sickness and this is the biggest issue. However a supply teacher,known to the school, and often the deputy will step in. Teachers will want to work in a well run and happy school.

'How to do Maths so your children can too' by Naomi Sani is a good book that explains primary maths.