What reading level should my 5 year old/year 1 child be on?

[winterrabbit]

Just had parents evening and been told my 5 year old (June 2018) boy is behind in his reading and handwriting. He is on Oxford Reading Tree level 2 which I thought was fine and his handwriting seems ok to me so was a bit surprised. In his end of Reception report he was meeting expectations in all areas so wondering how he has fallen behind so quickly in 6 weeks.

The EYFS Early Learning Goal for reading doesn't marry up to the Year 1 curriculum unfortunately.

A child can reach the Early Learning Goal (ie be 'expected') by achieving the following:-

• Say a sound for each letter in the alphabet and at least 10 digraphs.
• Read words consistent with their phonic knowledge by sound-blending.
• Read aloud simple sentences and books that are consistent with their phonic knowledge, including some common exception words.

It can be argued that a child reading red band (ORT stage 2) well can achieve the ELG so some schools do put these children through to boost the EYFS data, as technically they're doing everything they need to do at that age, but it's a nightmare for Year 1 teachers as a child ending year R on red band would definitely be considered behind at the start of Year 1 as they've got a lot of progress to make in a short space of time in order to achieve age related expectations for the end of year 1.

Ideally they'll be going up to Year 1 on yellow band, for those still still using book bands, and some schools won't put children through as expected in Reception unless they are, as they know the curriculums don't marry up and it's only children on yellow band or above who will be on track for expected in Year 1.

I'm surprised they're still using ORT though (unless you mean the modern Floppy's Phonics books). The old ORT books aren't decodable and are therefore a big no these days.

I can't comment on his hand writing I'm afraid without seeing it.

I hope the school were able to tell you what they're doing to support him and were able to advise how you can support him at home?

Thanks for the response Boleyn. Not sure I really get it though - why have a system in which they're meeting targets at the end of reception to be told they're behind at the beginning of year 1? Makes zero sense. I don't know what you mean by yellow band - what stage is that? - or by the old/new ORT books. My older kids had the old ORT and were all good readers. I think the books my 5 year old is using are probably the new ones, based only on the fact that there isn't a single white child in any of them :) We were advised to read more with him/accused of not reading enough. We read to him every day and get him to read several times a week. Sorry, but I just don't believe a 5 year old can be behind in any meaningful way. My 15 year old took longer to learn to read then my 13 year old but by 7 or 8 was a better reader than his brother.

I know someone who finished Receotion on Red and did not achieve early years goal. My DC is on Green but is probably in the top third of the class for reading. I'm curious to know what book band would meet 'expected' at end of Yr1?

Depends on the scheme. I have many children come up and I’ve shaken my head and gone…no. However, we consistently ask children to over preform so because of this pressure loads do fall back over summer. And oh yes children of that age can be very much behind.

I think they like children in Year 1 to be around a level 3 or 4 in September. Though of course there will be children ahead/behind this.
My 6 year old who has just started Year 1 uses a reading scheme at their school where everyone in the class takes home the same book each week. In Sep they started on level 4 and are now reading level 5. There will be some who may need slightly easier books but the majority of the class are reading level 5 books now.

I don't see how this works for more able readers? My nephew was sent home with a level 5 book as his first book in reception, he's a self taught reader, he read it easily and fluently first time. If he was getting the same in a year's time then they would likely be ignored and he would read his own books.

Tell me about it, they've changed reading schemes for this year, last year they were grouped for ability, now everyone is on the same book, kids behind have extra top 'catch up' lessons and those excelling.. well nothing. Seems like a bit of backwards way of doing it, as we all know children learn at different stages/ages yet the reading scheme doesn't allow for this.

It takes a while after the long summer holiday for some children to get back into the swing of things. Parents evening seems a bit early too, as you say 6 weeks isn’t long. Our parents evening isn’t until the 2nd/3rd week of November.

Looked it up and it was actually level 6 as it was an Oxford orange book. He isn't 4 and a half yet either so I imagine some of the autumn born children would be ahead of him. Seems crazy to give them all the same books!

@AvengedQuince we are having the same issue. My son is 4 and reading level 6 at home fluently. He is being sent home books with three letter cvc words. The whole class get the same books.

I posted a thread about it but still don't really understand the reason behind it, other than it's what they do.

Maybe because it's because they like to make sure the kids have all the basics securely and because there's no need to rush through the reading levels? Not sure there is any need for a child to have to read fluently at 4.5. Just to add, my eldest son was [behind] in year 1 and had reading intervention although I think it was later in year 1, and more or less caught up in year 2/year 3. He went on to get full marks 120/120 in the SATs reading comprehension in year 6. I am therefore trying to understand why there is this mad panic at the beginning of year 1 and talk of 5 year old being behind.

There are no "shoulds" in primary education. Each child is an individual and will progress as such. Comparisons are wrong.

Your child should be where he should be, and his teaching plans should reflect that.

If you are worrying about comparisons with peers already when your child is barely out of the womb you are in for years of anxiety.

Maybe because it's because they like to make sure the kids have all the basics securely and because there's no need to rush through the reading levels? Not sure there is any need for a child to have to read fluently at 4.5.

For a young child who can read it's going to be confusing to bring home books that are much too easy and they don't find interesting. The same as if a child is given books that are too difficult. They are likely to disengage from learning.

Sounds like summer slide. Children often go backwards over the summer holidays unless they continue with their daily reading.

It's because the government decided schools could no longer use their own schemes or free schemes, each school had to pick and pay for one of a few very expensive government authorised schemes. And often get rid of all their old books and buy new scheme books.

I assume it's because a Tory has a financial interest in one of the educational companies producing the schemes.

Of course there is no need for a child of 4 to be reading fluently but some can and shouldn't every child be allowed to progress at their own level?

And of course no child should be 'rushed through the levels'!

Every child learns differently and at different speeds and I would expect schools to be able to work at the level that the child is happy at but that obviously isn't the case.

@winterrabbit but I do agree with you that it's madness to say a 5 year old is behind!

My child started reception able to read (I taught him) but his school insists on all the kids having the same books.

I found it a little annoying but it hasn’t annoyed or confused my son, who is now year 1, at all.

He knows the school reading books are easy for him, but tbh he still enjoys reading them, which we do once per week, and we work on stuff like reading with lots of expression and talking about the text. The other 6 nights a week we read books together that are appropriate to his level.

I think often people are very quick to complain/worry about their bright children being bored, but actually children who are very bright are usually good at finding things of interest and ways to extend themselves, and it’s never any harm to boost their confidence by giving them something simple to read once in a while either.

In answer to the OPs question, my son’s class are expected to be on blue/band 4 now.

I don't think they should be saying he is behind at this stage either. If he was three months younger he would be in reception, he may just not be that ready yet and will take off when he is. My child wasn't ready to blend anything other than CVC words until he was almost six, then it just clicked overnight. My nephew is at a similar stage at not yet four and a half having taught himself to read. They are all different.

What @caban said. Ofsted expect children to have phonetically decidable books based on sounds taught at school.

OP, you'll always find gaps between year groups. I teach Year 2 and children who were expected at the end of year 1, aren't necessarily expected at this point in Year 2.

Schools have to follow government guidance. This…
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-reading-framework-teaching-the-foundations-of-literacy

You said he's on Stage 2, which is red band (the ORT books are colour coded in the corner so you can see what band it is). Stage 3 is yellow band, which is where most schools still following book bands would like the children to be by the end of Reception in order to put them through as expected. As I said, some schools like your child's school will prioritise their EYFS data instead and put a child on red through as it could be argued they've done everything they need to do to meet the Early Learning Goal in reading. Others choose not to though as they know they would be setting the child up for an uphill struggle to maintain that expected level by the end of year 1 unless they make accelerated progress (plus they know the child will be less likely to receive the additional support they perhaps need if they go up to Year 1 as expected).

Unfortunately the Early Learning Goals at the end of Reception are quite subjective judgements. As an experienced Reception teacher, I've sat through many a moderation meeting over the years debating with a colleague (both in my own school and externally) whether a child should be put through as expected or not in each subject, based on the evidence/knowledge we have of that child.

It would be lovely if the curriculums did marry up, but have you ever known anything in education to make sense with this government?

I'm sure your older children did do well on the old style ORT books. I have many old pupils who did too. They're considered outdated now though as they're not decodable so children need to use more than just their phonics skills to read them (stage 1/pink books containing sentences such as "Look at me on my bike"). Ofsted would definitely frown on a school still using these as it goes against current practice. The newer Floppy's Phonics ones are decodable, with Stage 1/pink books instead containing phrases such as "I am Sam. I hop hop hop". Although they still contain the character names (Biff, Chip, Kipper, Floppy, Wilf, Wilma etc) which are not all decodable at this stage. If your child's books are newer decodable ones, ar Stage 2 they will have sentences such as "Chip put the mash into a dish", as opposed to the old style Stage 2 which would have included sentences like "The children had a water fight".

I don't know why you felt a cheap dig about non-white characters was necessary?

I understand you're disappointed to hear your child is currently working below the expected standard but it's not the end of the world, they can easily catch up with you and the school working closer together. Of course there's such thing as being behind even at this age. Some year 1 children still can't read CVC words, others will be reading Roald Dahl fluently. Then there's every other stage in between. The range in ability is massive at this age. Some will be way ahead of the expected level, some bang on and others behind. It's ok. That's what teachers are there for. If they didn't identify a problem at this early stage, it will take longer for your child to get support to close the gap. It sounds like their Year 1 teacher is on the ball. That's a good thing.

Do you record all home learning in a reading diary or such like? I only ask because if you don't that could explain why they questioned how much you read at home. If parents don't engage with the reading diary I will bring it up at parents evening, asking how often they read and reminding them to fill it in. Some parents do seem offended/defensive when I question how much they read at home but if it's not recorded we're not to know. If parents do record regular home reading I thank/praise them for their efforts, regardless of how well their child is actually doing in reading because, ultimately, the daily practise at home is what will help the children to progress.

All schools are different, and many don't use book bands anymore since the need to follow an accredited phonics scheme came in, but historically most would have liked them to be Orange/Turquoise (ORT stage 6/7) by the end of Year 1 and White/Lime (ORT stage 10/11) at the end of Year 2 to be considered expected.

It's changed a bit since my DC came through it, but the Oxford website suggests levels 4-7 for year 1 children.

Couldn't even rtft because I was scanning to see if anyone pulled the op up on the single white characters 🙄 it's 2023 ffs