Reading - Yr 1

[goldpendant]

Evening everyone,

I'm not sure whether I'm overreacting so would appreciate any input/thoughts on how kids school is coordinating reading.

When DS was in Yr 1 (now in Yr4), they came home with two books, twice per week (so four per week total). Parents used to come in and volunteer and manage all aspects of book changes.

Since covid, school has changed the way it does things. No parents are allowed to volunteer.

DD now in Yr 1 gets one book a week sent home, and one e book. School are saying they want to emphasise fluency, so each book should be read over and over until perfect (memorised)? This just seems to turn DD off and understandably it's boring.

DD is really struggling to make progress. She is more typically able than DS, yet DS was on a higher reading level at the same point.

She is bored with the one book that comes home. She reads them in a minute or two. I write comments in her reading record to this effect but the comments are ignored.

I'm a bit loathe to complain as we had numerous issues through lockdown that I was quite vocal about but I just feel like we are being fobbed off a bit and the children will suffer.

This is an 'outstanding' school.

Would really appreciate any insight into what your Yr1 gets?

They don't get any homework apart from sporadic crumpled sheets of paper in school bag requesting we 'practise' certain phonics. That's another thread though

YANBU OP, although it won’t make any difference.

The reading situation at my DCs state school was very like yours and made me so cross. In reception/Y1, IMO, the school’s most important job is to get kids interested in reading. If the school is failing at that then they are failing.

This is how it went:

Our school gave out one book a week.
It was appallingly boring.
The children were “heard” by TAs once a week.
They were assessed to move up one reading level once a term (!) no matter how fast they had progressed.
The assessment was based on memory of the story (not the same as comprehension).
Children were not allowed to refer to the book in the assessment.
DC started “losing” his reading book.
I started writing “Read already” every night in the comment book.
Then I stopped writing anything altogether to see if anyone noticed. (No)
As a second to last resort I offered to buy the school a new reading scheme because everyone, kids teachers and parents, hated the old one.
The HT refused.
So he left and went to another school.
(And became a free reader three months into Y2.)

Assuming you don’t want to take that drastic action then my advice is to ignore the school reading scheme and just get books that interest your child from the library and charity shops.

just realised that sounded like the head left the school and became a free reader. Ha. If only.

We used reading chest to supplement the reading, which was great.

DS's year 1 teacher came back from maternity leave in Jan 2020 and immediately began changing reading books every day.

The kids were all told to put their reading folders in a tray when they came into school and, if the book had been read, it was changed.

Before that it had been up to the kids to put the folders into the tray, and my DS decided not to bother, despite having read the book!

So it can be teacher dependant too.

I just supplement at home generally, school is busy and things often get missed with large class sizes and a big curriculum.

They will be without a lot of help now parent volunteers aren't allowed in.

Mine (DT) get 3 books a week each from school. We have had a reading chest subscription since the beginning of reception (now in year 1). It’s worked well throughout lockdown and they both can read fluently so we don’t re read the school books. They read at school 1 x per half term but that’s fine with me as I know they can read, I’d not be so happy if they were struggling to learn.

My older child had the same amount of books per week in year 1 but occasionally read to a volunteer too. Again we had a reading chest subscription until the end of year 1 so we could select books of interest.

OP do you know what phonics scheme the school is using? The Government have issued new directives for all schools to now buy into an actual accredited phonics scheme now and ensure they have “fidelity” to that scheme. The deadline for this is Sept 2022 I think but some schools are doing this already.

The reason I ask is because the reading with 1 ebook and 1 physical phonics book as week sounds very similar to the scheme we use which is called Little Wandle. The focus here is on the fluency of reading with the children reading the same book with school staff 3x a week (each session focussing on a different reading aspect, decoding, reading with meaning and comprehension) and then that book is sent home as they are then able to read with 95% fluency which is the aim. The DFE are also very clear that any books sent home must be matched to the child’s phonics ability so old phonics scheme books are often no longer suitable. For example Biff, Chip and Kipper couldn’t be sent home early in Reception like previous years because the children won’t have been taught “ch” or “er” as well as other non-decodable words within the story. This could be why the books are really easy for your daughter to read.

I can see the scheme we are using working already despite my hesitancy over some aspects. Phonics isn’t the only way for all children to learn to read but in the UK it is the way it is taught and fully endorsed by the DFE so schools have to adhere to this. I think it is worth having a discussion with the teacher and finding out the intent behind the scheme they are using or their decision over the two books a week. You can also request more books, they can only say no but would need to say why. I hope that helps a bit to explain why you might be seeing the changes since your son was in Year 1.

They were allowed to choose whatever they wanted when dd was at school and she brought home far too easy books so we bought a few ourselves, not from the reading scheme just suitable level - year 1 she was reading simple chapter books like rainbow fairies or those farm books.

@Purpleprickles

Unfortunately phonics doesn't work for all kids, I taught both of mine to read using whole word recognition and it was much more effective, dd1 was reading at 3 so before school we lived overseas, Dd2 was slower (dyslexic) and wasn't getting anywhere with the school phonics scheme so we had private tutoring who encouraged me to go back to whole words - she's at a top university currently!

At this age I used Reading Chest when it was obvious the school were not going to send home appropriate books with any regularity. This got the dc off to a flying start with their reading and ensured they learned from phonics-based material rather than the school’s stock of 1980s reading books.

@gogohm I absolutely agree but we have to teach phonics in the UK. That isn’t to say that we don’t quietly whisper other strategies when reading with a child but officially all children learn to read through phonics

@Purpleprickles this rings a bell.

I know the school approach has changed and your first message is essentially what we've been told at the 'meet the teacher' session. Little wandle also sounds familiar, I've seen it written down somewhere.

They are given Collins Big Cat books for home.

Would Reading Chest be appropriate to supplement with?

And do you think the new approach will work?? I just see her making little to no progress and coming home with the same books she read perfectly well at the end of reception!

Name change fail!!

Reverted to my old user name for this post. My other name gives away the fact that we've been so upset with school that we are looking at moving DS (yr3). That's another thread, literally!

@Purpleprickles that all chimes with what school told us

My DS is in Y2, last year in Y1 his book got changed twice a week (so up to two books week), but the book had to be read three times before it was changed. Read 1 - learning new words, reads 2 & 3 - fluency and comprehension of text which can't be done on first read whilst struggling with words.

As for volunteers in class that is a school specific thing. I've been back in one class reading since September 2020 (with mask/visor) and since September 2021 we are allowed to volunteer across multiple classes (face mask/visor now personal choice).

@indiesearcher I’ll come back in July and tell you if it works Honestly though we are seeing pleasing progress in Reception so far. I think the trouble is one size never fits all but that is what we are being directed to do by the DFE. All of the phonics providers had really strict criteria to be able to get their scheme accredited.

For the current year 1 this would be a transition year between the school’s old way of teaching phonics and now following the scheme they have adopted so I wonder if this is trickier than it has been for those teaching Reception. If the school is using LW then the assessment of where the children are at should have happened before the half term break and this would then inform the teacher of progress and next steps. I do think it’s worth you talking to the teacher, I would always rather a parent asked and we had a discussion than them being frustrated and silent.

Also outside of school there is nothing to stop you reading a wealth of books with your dd. Reading chest and other books, even simple chapter books are all good reads and a chance to apply reading skills without the constraints of a scheme.

You could buy your own reading books on Amazon etc. Alternatively you can visit all local charity and book shops in order to see what is available on the shelves as well. Your local library often have a limited selection of books on sale, bear that in mind.

Otherwise you can go to a church book fair and have a look at the books for sale. If you prefer online shopping, there are numerous free useful sites that sell books at low prices online, try one of those. If all other options do not work, use Facebook Marketplace as a last resort only however. Car boot sales are another way of buying new reading books.

Sometimes people have book swaps.

Test

We bought a set of reading books to supplement DD’s school books. The Julia Donaldson Songbird books are great & I got a set for £15 on Facebook Marketplace!

Really interesting to hear about the fluency. I must use the prompts in the book to ask questions etc! I don’t think our school use little wandle but they do a similar way of reading with the same book for the week & various groups sessions to discuss it & read it. My teacher friends rave about the scheme at reception age, don’t know so much their opinion as the child gets older.. it works for my reception aged DD for sure. She quite likes repeating books that she feels confident reading. Obviously, we are early days!