Y1 reading

[Ladylulabelle]

Hi, my DD is in y1. She is on level 9 Oxford reading tree but has been since reception (started school reading). I’m not really bothered about what level she is on as long as it’s appropriate for her but I think she could have moved on ages ago. However, she hasn’t read with a teacher since October. Is this normal? She has read with the TA (approx weekly). All the entries say vague things like ‘lovely reading’ or ‘very good’.

I let her read whatever she likes at home so I haven’t restricted her reading but I’m starting to feel like school aren’t trying to get her to improve at all. How often do your DC read with the teacher?

Same here unfortunately. I agree it should be more.

Is she's level 9, they won't be prioritising her as she's exceeding already.

@2cleverlovingchildren

Ours seems to be weekly with the TA and she has only read once with the teacher? Is that the same as yours? Maybe my expectations are too high!

I do understand that she’s exceeding but it doesn’t take much work to give a different band of book out.

Weekly with TA is pretty good. I volunteer to read with Y2 and it takes a whole afternoon to read with 10-12 children - so at least a whole day to read with a class of 30 kids. Send a message to the teacher and ask for her level to be reassessed.

I already did @Patchworksack and she said she would change it in the new year (no idea why) but still getting the same ones. I’ll ask at parents evening, which should be coming up soon.

I have absolutely no idea how often my Y1 reads with his teacher. But his school is woefully inadequate with reading records.

I’m a Y1 TA so not answering from a parent perspective but..
We aim for all our class to read at least once a week in school, whether that is to a teacher or a TA. We have half a dozen that we aim to hear daily, because we have concerns. Children who are progressing well and/or have input at home - if we can do more then great but sometimes we don’t have the time.

I always put more than lovely reading, because I don’t just hear them read. We talk about the book. Comments may include things like:
X noticed the ay digraph we have been learning in class.
We talked about fiction and non-fiction and X thinks this book is non-fiction.
X could explain what this word meant but wasn’t sure about that one.
X knew that Bob was sad because his dog got lost.
X predicted that …

You get the picture! I ask them questions that make them explain what they’ve read, or identify key elements of the text, like punctuation, or make predictions about what might happen next.

I have had all the same phonics training as the teacher. I don’t however make decisions about reading levels. If I think a child is ready to move up then I talk to the teacher (Can you hear Fred quickly? I think he could probably go up a level).

We just try to make sure that over a two week period we both hear everyone so I might hear a child one week, the teacher will hear them the next. And we talk about each child, a lot. Reading records are checked daily (by me) so we know who is reading at home, and I flag to the teacher if someone is consistently not reading.
I don’t know if any of that helps or not!

@babybythesea

thanks that’s helpful. I wouldn’t be worried if there were more detailed comments than ‘lovely reading’ as it shows some thought has gone into it. It’s not the end of the world as she can read whatever she likes at home but school are really pushy with us doing the school books and send loads home so I end up feeling pressurised into making her read them!

If your child is Oxford reading tree level 9 in year 1, the reason she’s not getting marked anymore could be because she is so far ahead of the class. Have a look at this cdn.oxfordowl.co.uk/2019/07/19/13/52/18/160/OxfordLevelsAndBookBands.png

Level 9 is expected in year 2.

I had two DC, one very ahead in reading and one about average. The one ahead was held back in both year R and 1 because the school ran out of books of the bands in their classroom. They have a much smaller selection from book bands from the year above. What we did is find extra reading material for her and just ignore the school books.

Given your child is level 9, she can try reading non book band books from the library. It will be slightly challenging at the start but your DD will get used to it quickly. Find some with pictures along with text. For example Tom Gates and Wimpy Kids.

As for the school want to make sure she’s read it. If she still get new books, keep reading them and don’t worry. We ended up getting lots of repeats and we just wrote in her reading diary she read it. It’s the truth because she read them last time she brought the same book home.

Once a week with a TA sounds great but I can understand your frustrations about being on the same band for ages.

I would leave it though if she's reading a good range of books at home.
Mine is year 2 and loves to read, he reads everything from school readers to anything he can find at home (he has an older sibling)

His teachers listen to him read once every half term and moves him on, but we really don't take much notice of the band.

Guess there's no harm in asking the teacher whether they can move yours on as she's probably more than ready.

have a child at same level in y1. I asked for reassessment and he went up three more levels. Just point it out and say she’s getting bored.

@ACynicalDad

I did point it out and they said they’d give her the next level but it didn’t materialise, or it hasn’t yet anyway. I’ll speak to them again at parents evening- thanks.

I think the difficulty was that in reception her teacher treated them very much as individuals and varied the work a lot. They read more frequently and we got more feedback. Now it seems to be if you’re average or above no one is particularly interested.

Yeah weekly TA and once every 6-8 weeks with the teacher. I’d expect more frequent too.

At home she reads encyclopaedias and stories such as Alice in wonderland and Alice through the looking glass with little help needed. Just started on some children’s Shakespeare with her too.

Could you get her to read stuff like this and quiz her every chapter to check understanding?

Our school insists they read at least three times a week. If they haven’t they don’t change the child’s reading book.

In most schools, reception is set up very differently to year 1 and above.

The curriculum is king from year 1 up, and lessons are taught whole class. Teachers are teaching whole class lessons all day so can't do 1:1 reading often at all.

My Y1 son is a pretty good reader (will happily read purple/gold/white books at home when we grabbed some from the library).

At schools he’s on the equivalent of green with his group of six kids, and the group reads to the teacher/TA once a week. It’s a farce, because some in the group have been free readers since reception, but they’re only allowed to give them books with the phonics they’ve been taught in class so they’ve all got to be held back.

What my son has said (which isn’t in the reading record) is that the teacher has sat with him in the reading corner and he’s read free-choice books to her - she knows he’s a better reader than the phonics scheme books he’s on.

Basically, I trust that the hands of the school are tied with what they send home on the phonics scheme, but I know we need to put the effort in at home too if we want “harder” books.

It’s frustrating in a way having an able child that isn’t prioritised in any way (and is actively looked over - the “middle” kids read to an adult 3x a week and the “lower” kids 5x from what parents are saying), but at least my son isn’t struggling and actually has more time doing other activities in the classroom.

Maybe ask if she can get books from the junior classes instead? My Yr1 daughter is an able reader, in a state school. She has been allowed to take part in the school's Accelerated Reader scheme, which at least means she gets more challenging books and her comprehension is tested. I know the scheme gets mixed reviews, though.

@RachelSq

It is frustrating as it does feel like they’re being held back somewhat. For example she has known number bonds to 20 since reception and they go over them so many times it feels like nothing else has been learnt! I’m not particularly pushy- I’d just rather she could spend time learning to ride a bike or something like that than doing the same maths / reading over and over again.

It definitely does feel like they’re being held back, but at this point in year 1 they’re so young (my DS is also summer born and still very immature!) I’d actually rather them just have more free time to explore. As far as I’m aware it’s similar in maths (i.e. we’ve got no concerns about you reaching exceeding by the end of year) where once you’ve shown mastery of something you’re pretty much left to it in the classroom.

I think when the “sit down at your desks as a class and all work at once” work kicks in they’ll need to have harder/extension work to keep the brightest occupied. This will definitely hit my DS hard as he’s used to being allowed to potter around the classroom and draw/build/read for massive chunks of the day still!

@RachelSq

well that’s the thing I don’t think mine is able to wander around and do her own thing. Genuinely wouldn’t mind that. She seems to be just doing the same work repeatedly.

We just read up the bands in year one and my DD was a free reader by start off year 2. One of the things you need to focus on in comprehension though, as once they're at a certain point in phonics it's more about understanding than decoding.

Once a week with TA is normal and the teacher might do guided trades sessions which they don’t put in reading records. However, not moving your dd up a level isn’t right.

oxford owl have some books online you can access if your dd still wants to read about biff chip and kipper but at a higher level

Guided reading that should say