Reception child reading at Year 2 level - what to expect from school

[ProcrastinatorsAnonymous]

DS in Reception at good state primary is reading well above his expected level - on around Oxford level 8 / Purple - which I think is more like Year 2? He's in the top phonics set, but the books he brings home are still way below the level he's capable of and aren't stretching him. I realise he is 1 of 30 in a class, but what is reasonable for us to expect from the school in terms of meeting his needs and stretching him? We obviously read with him and to him loads at home, but I'm hoping school can also do more... I would be interested to hear what happens in this situation at other schools...? Thanks!

Dd2 was an early reader although not as advanced as your child & is an Oct birthday.
She and 2 others went & did phonics lessons with year 1 - the whole of Yr R & 1 were in small groups based on ability.

We just ignored school books when they said she couldn't have books above x level (did tell teacher) & did home books/library books/Oxford owl.

Reading early is a bit like riding a bike early. Everyone gets there in the end. Some are taught earlier than others. Others pick it up quicker but there’s no real advantage in reading early.
Schools should rightly concentrate on those who are not reaching ARE.

My DS is Y1 is a good reader (probably purple/gold equivalent based on how he rattles through these at home) but not outside of the ordinary good.

He’s in the top reading group, which is pretty much all fluent in a “reading the words” perspective as they’re all so far ahead of the strict timings/full class teaching of the Little Wandle reading scheme they use. Their teacher time is focussed on in depth discussions about the text they read as it’s almost a given that they’ll all read the book flawlessly and with good prosody etc.

They also occasionally read a non-scheme book with the teacher, so the teacher definitely knows they can read well ahead of the scheme books they are given, which presumably guides how they approach things.

They all do phonics with the class which is very much needed from a spelling perspective for my DS! From what I know from the parents of the other fluent readers, all bar one need the “back to basics” phonics approach for spelling as they can read well but it doesn’t translate into good spelling. The other seems to have a photographic memory (or similar trait) where they can just remember words and the spellings, she’s the only one that I would understand if the parents were concerned about how school was dealing with them!

Its one of those things where there’s no real alternative to going with the flow, especially if spelling/writing aren’t as ahead. We read what we want at home, but let school do what they think is best and leave them to it.

Thanks for these responses - very useful. We will keep reading widely at home (which he absolutely loves!) and focus on handwriting (which he doesn't!). Helpful but a little disheartening to learn that we shouldn't be expecting his school to do any 1:1 stretching with him. No disrespect to his teachers - who seem fantastic - but how awful that we're now in a situation where reading 1:1 with a child a couple of times a week is beyond the resources of the average school. I went to a fairly crappy primary in the 80s and I'm sure I remember regularly going up to the teacher's desk to read a few pages...

Reading 1:1 with a teacher is exactly the same as reading 1:1 with you, so he won’t be missing anything. At our school they focus on reading with the children who aren’t listened to at home, for obvious reasons.

@pocketvenuss - Yes, we read tons at home. But I'm not a teacher and so I thought he might benefit even more from 5 mins spent reading a book that's stretching him with someone who is specifically trained to support that?

@Slapmyslapmyass This might turn out to be be the answer...

DD was an early reader, she was sent home with books that were far too easy for her, her comprehension was good. So we read the school books, talked about the story, what could happen next, talked about the emotions of the characters etc and then focused on reading books we had at home. DD is a summer born only child so I was happy for her to concentrate on developing her social skills and classroom etiquette more than anything in reception, learning how to learn. She got 40/40 on her phonics tests and as she moved up the school she was taken for intervention classes to be challenged with other high achievers, put forward for competitions and had other opportunities.

She is a teen now, her peers have caught up with her, although she's still top sets and goes to intervention groups for high achievers in all subjects that offer them. As far as reading goes she doesn't particularly enjoy reading now anyway.

@Sherrystrull - Current favourites are Julia Donaldson, Judith Kerr, the Farmer Tim books, Little Red Train series. He has the Usborne Young Reading series one and I'd say that's about his level - there's usually one word every few pages that he needs help with. He wasn't too interested in factual books, but is starting to pay more attention those now when they're left lying around.

Our school started book clubs and it was to link children of similar abilities. It has proven very successful. Parents offer support one morning a month and it helps encourage all children to engage in reading outside the curriculum.

They use a mixture of fact and fiction books.The class reader remains constant but at least the children get supported to explore a little more and hopefully develop a love for reading.

Would he like the Claude books, OP? About a little dog. Those are nice. DD is 5 and an excellent reader and she loves reading them to me

@Parker231 In an ideal world, I would hope that an adult at school would listen to him read at his level a couple of times a week and maybe do some stretch spelling activities. But I realise they simply might not have the resources to do that, so I’m trying to find info on what other schools do to gauge what might be a reasonable expectation.

Might?? They 100% do not.
To be fair, if he’s at Year 2 level he can probably read fairly well independently. If not, that might be something to work on?
If this were my DS and they were this ahead with reading I wouldn’t be expecting much else from the teachers in school time to be honest - reading’s one less thing to worry about really. Keep ‘stretching’ him at home with a big variety of books. I’d be more keen on making sure he’s getting the support he needs in school with things he’s not as confident in.

No disrespect to his teachers - who seem fantastic - but how awful that we're now in a situation where reading 1:1 with a child a couple of times a week is beyond the resources of the average school. I went to a fairly crappy primary in the 80s and I'm sure I remember regularly going up to the teacher's desk to read a few pages...

You didn’t, unless your class was tiny. Or your teacher didn’t get up to much else. I don’t see how this would ever have been plausible - to read 5 mins with each child every week if you’ve got thirty is already over 2 hours. A few times a week you’ve literally got an adult reading for over a day with the children.
Once a week is fine in my opinion. That’s why they have a reading record and are expected to read at home.

I thought reading books with a teacher was the only way they’d gauge reading.

When I mentioned this, they said there’s tons of opportunities for things like this and they’ll often get children to read out worksheets and stretch certain kids naturally.

Makes sense, but reading progress in school does feel painfully slow so it’ll be a long process for you!

@Beanieteen in my school we definitely read to the teacher regularly but there were also lots of parent helpers and other assistant in the class that you just don't have anymore.

Similar here - DD (5) started reception this Sept. At home she is reading the Daisy and the trouble with… series, at a rate of 100 pages a day (properly- we talk to her about what she’s reading, have her read out loud). At school it’s “Tim got a fish” sort of stuff. She usually reads the child’s part, adult’s part and then the instructions to parents on the inner cover!

The school are aware; the head came to listen to her. We go to the library and offer free choice at home.

I moved my son to private school just because of this reason. He was always waiting for others to finish their works and always bringing home
really simple homeworks for his level (spelling and time tables). I asked his teacher to give him harder topics but this is really unusual in state school. My used to have really good friends in the state school, his teachers and school was lovely too but he was so unmotivated to go to school because he used to say he was so bored and he wasn’t learn anything. My son started to private schools this year and he is now bringing home chapter books from school library also oxford reading books brown 11 (he is 6 and his reading age is 9).
if you can not change the school let him read harder books at home for his level.

At home you can take him to the library and let him loose in the childrens section. Improve his writing by encouraging him to write his own stories and illustrate them.

At school as if the books he brings home can be selected from the school library as he’s beyond the ones they are assigning him.

I'm absolutely saying this is what should happen, but reading schemes in Reception are not designed to 'stretch' children. They are intended to provide phonics coverage. It runs contrary to common sense and can easily turn children off reading, but that's how it is. There's nothing to stop you providing your own reading material and keeping up your child's engagement and enjoyment.

It doesn't run against common sense. Reading books children can read independently and fluently applying the phonics they know is the best way for children to feel and build success with reading.

The EYFS has 17 Early Learning Goals. Download the document , you might see that Reception has their hands full helping him meet the whole range. Please don't obsess with writing, no other successful education system forces 4/5 year olds to write.

There have been some very bad financial moments, but I don't regret it for a second. All my DC have benefited in very different ways.

My dd was a very good reader on starting reception (hyperlexia linked to autism). The teacher would give her books from the school library to read rather than the phonics/biff chip and bloody kipper books they kept in the reception classroom. The TA would listen to her read once a week. She still had to learn phonics with the rest of the class.

As a year 2 teacher, I am finding that my higher attaining readers are excellent at decoding, using expression etc but they don't understand the vocabulary they are reading and although they do demonstrate good comprehension skills, it's very surface level. I would concentrate on building his vocabulary, offering definitions and checking that the words make sense in the context of the sentence. I would also go deeper with comprehension questions, encouraging their inference skills as these are what most children find tricky.

My child was the same OP. Primary school assured us that they could teach all levels of children and that DD would not be bored.

On starting, DD and another couple of girls were taught phonics/reading separately in a small group of kids who were very ahead of th year group. Three weeks later the school decided they couldn’t be bothered with separate groups anymore and they put everyone together. DD learned nothing for 2 yrs, was bored out of her mind chanting the alphabet and colouring in. School promised to sort it out, but did not. We then left, by which time she was no longer ahead in anything.

Keep a close eye on things and advocate for your child is my advice to you. I get the strong impression that schools want everyone to be average and will hold back bright kids - despite their legal obligation to actually teach them stuff.