Little waddle

[Whatdidisay]

Does anyone have any experience with the little waddle reading scheme in schools.
My child was doing really well last year and progressed quickly through the old style book bands becoming a free reader. Their comprehension and expression were very good and was enjoying reading proper stories rather than the clunky phonic type books.
However since moving to little waddle she has to read as part of a group and is therefore now having to read phase 5 books which seems to be where the rest of the class is which is no challenge at all and she finds it easy and the books boring.
Worse still they have to read the same book over and over for a whole week.
I appreciate that this new scheme may be good for some children but it feels like its holding mine back and they are no longer enjoying us reading together, although obviously they still read their own books to themselves which they prefer.
Should I be that parent and broach the subject with the school, or should I just roll with it knowing that they can read what they want at home?

Oh I couldn't agree more about the need for parental involvement and role modelling a love of reading - we're regular users of the library and there are always plenty of things to read at home. I know this isn't the case for every child and an over reliance on school to teach everything isn't helpful to anyone, not least the children.

I'm happy to say that school are reviewing how things are going after half term for year 2 and are holding a series of Q&A sessions for each year group - I suspect to reinforce the need for that help/effort/support/variety at home. We've taken a pragmatic approach to the reading books now, but we do read regularly still.

I think my struggle is with the confusing message it could be giving the kids who are meeting or potentially exceedingly age related expectations and since originally writing this, I've realised it's a wider issue than just reading. It's likely I'm going to have to give a lot of additional attention at home to make sure DD develops resilience skills at home to overcome challenges because that's not currently coming from school.

This is the best phonics programme out there.
The authors of Bug Club Phonics, Rhona Johnston (MBE) and Joyce Watson, were also the authors of the seven-year Clackmannanshire study that proved systematic synthetic phonics to be the most effective way to teach children to read. Bug Club Phonics offers a fully resourced systematic synthetic phonics programme based on a proven progression.
"This progression, and the method, follows what our research has shown to be very effective in rapidly developing independent reading skill in children." Rhona Johnston (MBE)
Take a look at the Clackmannanshire Report and its impact.
Bug Club Phonics was also analysed as part of the Bug Club UCL Institute of Education (IOE) randomised control trial which showed pupils were 11 months ahead of their expected age equivalent reading score after 5 terms of use, as measured against Cambridge University Press and Assessment’s InCAS standardised reading assessment. Take a look at the full report. (PDF | 525KB)
Bug Club Phonics and Bug Club are designed to work together to help your school achieve the following:
increase learner access, in that pupils can access Bug Club materials in print and online, and at home, as well as at school
increase positive pupil behaviours toward reading, including enjoyment, engagement and independence
increase achievement for all pupils, regardless of first language, gender or socio-economic factors
secure learner progression, ensuring that pupils are ready for the next reading phase.
The books come in fiction and non fiction, are beautifully illustrated and in a wide variety of book bands

I certainly don't doubt the research and I'm sure if it's introduced at the right point in a child's learning journey, it will do a great deal of good.

I think for my experience (and by the sounds of others) it was having it introduced in Year 2, when really it should have been covered in Reception and Year 1. For my daughter she lost 6 months worth of that learning time as she got dragged a LONG way backwards to repeat content she was already really more than proficient in. That said I appreciate others in the class, absolutely needed this intervention and I'm sure it did them the world of good.

Thankfully when we got to Year 3 we are back on the more traditional phonics based reading scheme. We read the school reading book in one sitting (and obviously it's not being read multiple times that week at school already), it's not at all challenging and then DD2 moves on to whichever book she's reading at home. Nobody is getting bored and frustrated with their reading anymore and we're back to enjoying things again.

Thankfully school have also introduced BoomReader, so we make sure to upload all the other materials she's reading and school can be aware of what else she's capable of. In addition they've also moved to CUSP curriculum, which I think also helps to develop vocabulary and reading skills during the rest of the curriculum, so there's a bit more stretch for those who need it.