So ... do Reception children get 'streamed' or not?

[imaginaryfriend]

Dd's reception teacher doesn't speak about why they're in the groups they're in. But the mums say that they're being 'streamed' according to ability.

What do you guys think?

My dd's class was.

My eldest's class was. But it was based on how many of the key words that they knew

They often do put them in groups for doing some work - guided reading for example. But they aren't formally streamed - or at least , they shouldn't be in a state school.

I think ds1 was in appropriate groups for literacy adn numeracy (he certainly was in yr 1 and is in yr 2 but I think he was in R too). Otherwise they had a 'home' table and that was mixed ability.

Not sure about ds2 because he's only just started. At the moment they seem to be mixed ability on each table each doing work appropriate to them.

Ds's reception class was most definately streamed. The teacher denied it, but all the mums (those who had already had children go through the school) said they were streamed.

Dd has been in reception for a month. They have just last week been put into groups. Completely random according to the teacher. But by some amazing coincidence all the children in dd's group are on the same reading level as her, and they all could count to beyond 50 during a 'counting challenge'

Not streamed, my left foot!!

Oh, and this is a state school.

Yes, for numeracy, literacy etc.

Yes.

There are 3 classes in dd's year group, and they are streamed within the class too (literacy only afaik)

But it was obvious after the first term in Reception what was going on tbh.

They are still in the same classes (now Yr 2) and the middle class(!) is doing very well!

Other class, not doing well sadly.

Dd's class are split into colour groups and I'm pretty sure that all the ones she's with are roughly the same level as she is. But she told me tonight that the teacher said she was going to swap all the yellow group children round with the red group children and I'm wondering, if they are streamed if that means they're going up or down! It's kind of annoying that they just don't tell you isn't it?

Do you know, if they did tell all the parents, it would stop all the chitter at the school gate - 'and what group is your dd/ds in? ohhh, so does that make him yellow reading band? ah, but X over there is in blue group but orange band reading, so what does that mean?' ad infinitum!!

So yes, they should just tell us

yes, definitely are in our school

It's not streaming but just setting different ability groups for numeracy and literacy. The start and possibly the end of the maths/literacy lesson is whole class teaching then in the middle they split off into their groups to do differentiated work suited to their ability/understanding.
The rest of the curriculum is whole class teaching.

I couldn't agree more, they should definitely tell us. We all kind of know they're being put into groups for some reason and it's not age or alphabetical so why not just tell us?

Is it normal do you think for a whole group to change colour?! Maybe dd got that wrong ...

I don't think DTDs were.

They were put in groups with a week of starting and the following year the group they were in were split - some of the group ended up in what were clearly 'top sets' in year 1, others in 'bottom sets'.

On this basis either they weren't streamed or tehy made a very bad judgement as to ability in the first few days.

Reading levels don't necessarily match up with their literacy groups. E.g. you could have a child on a high reading level but in a low literacy group because his writing and comprehension skills weren't as good.

In yr 1&2 they actually have 2 groups.

The first is a streaming group. This has remained largely static over the year, with a few children joining & leaving when ability changes.

Second they have a 'table group'. The table groups are random (in fact I think they are deliberatly mixed so hte bright ones help hte slow ones). The table groups change about once a term 'to split up hte chatterboxes' in DTDs words.

I helped out in ds' reception class today for the first time.
Teacher said they were in friendship group atm .She didn't actually say they would be changed to ability groups soon but she said the groups would be changing ,so that was my assumption

Hippo- how do you know the abilities of the other children so well?

my dd has just started ELS (early literacy support) - I know that she and six others go off for 30 mins within the literacy hour. I also know that v-ahead dd of a friend goes off to do more advanced spellings. and another girl in dd's class has started on chapter books as has read every book in the library!

so, they do seem to cater for all levels

I'm getting confused!

Dd definitely only has one group which she was put in within the first week of starting. I think all the people in her group are roughly at the same level of reading etc. although I don't know for sure. But she doesn't have any other groups, just that one.

So if her entire group are 'changing colour' as she claims, does that mean they're being moved either up or down in terms of ability do you think?

If they are changing colour she could mean the little strips they tend to put around the spine of reading books which dictate the level of difficulty. This could be up or down - I guess you will just have to assess the difficulty when she brings them home.

If it is the couloured bands on books - this will happen many times through the year as they progress to more difficult books.

It doesn't mean they are necessarily streamed as in DTDs class most of the class read teh same level books in R. It also doesn't necessarily mean that she is moving up or down hte ranking within the class.

Does the reading book she brings home match her reading ability (or slightlyu ahead of it)? FDoes she say that she can do most of the number work she's asked to do but has to think a bit about some of it? If the answer to both these questions is yes, then she's doing the right work for her, and it doesn't really matter what other people are doing and what colour table she's on.

has the receiption teacher denied it?

they are, though how they can tell at this young age is anyone's guess, streamed for some and then friendship groups for others.

seeker I honestly don't know! She's one of those classic Reception kids who 'can't remember' what she's done! She's only had one reading book home so far and it's very simple, she got it very quickly. I'll ask her though about the numeracy etc.

But if the whole group is changing colour but will be kept as a set she can't be moving up or down a set in the context of class abilities.

The only thing I can think of is that she has read all (or enough) books with a yellow strip and will start bringing home reading books with a red strip (for eg.). It will just mean she is progressing - as are most of the class I expect.

My second child has just started yr 1 in state school. In all classes they have groups usually called after animals and they are very obviously based on ability. i've helped out in class a lot and have to say i think its a good idea. They tend to stay in their groups for all 'tasks and jobs' they are given and can then mix for 'choosing time'. When i'm helping, the teacher will say, 'The Butterflies' need to make their..(eg flowers for mothers day). It makes it easier as the children within the group are all at the same level and so work together and arent demoralised by cleverer ones whizzing ahead. The children get moved around if necesary.