Year 5 taken off reading scheme even though they haven’t completed it? Is this normal?

[PrimaryReading]

DC is in Year 5, reading books at around Year 2 level not sure of exact level as they use a mixture of schemes after Year 2, but its equivalent of ORT levels Gold/White, DC is between them.

Apparently as of the end of this week we break up for half term this week DC is being pulled off the reading scheme due to being too old to be on it and there being no other concerns. Apparently, it’s not normal to have not completed the scheme by end of Year 2 and they’ve let DC have an extra 2 years but now’s the time to come off.

There are children in the class still on Reading Scheme at a similar or lower level but from talking to their parents they all seem to be on IEPs or EHCPs which my DC doesn’t have as theres no other concerns. All of DCs actual friends in the class and the other classes finished the scheme around about end of Year 2, some where still on it in Year 3 but they’d all finished by end of Year 3.

DCs writing level is just below where it needs to be. Maths is exceeding and has been since Year 1. Struggles a bit in lessons where there’s a lot of reading; English and History especially but no other concerns when read to they understand things they just cannot read well themselves.

I’ve bought up dyslexia but school say DC doesn’t meet the criteria for assessment and I can’t afford private. I don’t think we’d get EHCP due to this alone as DC is overall fine.

What do I do now? How can I help DC with reading? Can I borrow the books from the local library easily?

Also is this normal? Or should I be fighting the school to keep DC on it?

Tbh it's a bit late to start being concerned about this now. Yr 5 and you haven't ever been to a library? Have you never heard of the yearly reading challenge? Mine started doing that before they could read!

Im sorry that this isn't helpful but if you can't get him assessed (for whatever reason) I genuinely don't know what you can do. Has the school never said anything before now? Has your DS never mentioned that he is so far behind his mates? Did you never listen to him read? Hopefully others will be along with advice but if you have other DC I trust you are keeping a closer eye on their learning.

Year 5 - is that 10 years old? Maybe DC would enjoy reading more, and make better progress, if they were reading more grown-up books. The tricky thing will be to find age-appropriate books with simple enough language to not be discouraging. Really, if the teacher is making this change they should have an idea what the alternative is going to be - ask them! Your local librarian may be able to help with suggestions.

Has DC ever had an eye test? Might be a good idea to check eyesight just in case. And actually hearing too. In-school checks might have been missed because of lockdowns.

That level is fine to move onto free reading.
He probably needs to speed up and read more to himself.
Maybe get his reading speed checked with school as surely he will need extra time ob reading sats next year. But, its obviously necessary for secondary to be at level of reading chapter books etc. As you move into science vocab and foreign languages. Even physics or chemistry.
If he find a whole chapter book too much .aybe start with alternate oages so he stsrts gettibg the harder words.
Dd has come on a lot this year as the class spend a lot of time reading to themselves. (Y3)

I would be pushy about the dyslexia screening - there’s obviously something wrong if an otherwise bright child is 2 years behind. You need to know what that is and how to help before they get to secondary.

Don’t ‘fight’ the school. Always try to work with the school to benefit your child’s education.
Ask the teacher/school/ teacher in charge of reading at the school for suggestions on how to progress your child’s reading.
Look on the schools website to see what advice is there in general for encouragement with reading.
Several times a week at home switch off all devices and in a positive way share a reading book with your child. Any age appropriate child’s book will do. You read some aloud, they read some aloud, take in turns, and chat about the words and story too if you can. Maybe get some audio stories as well for your child to listen to.
There is time to improve your child’s reading before they get to secondary school.

Actually as other PPs have said, incorporate child reading to themselves in the practice at home. So perhaps they read a page to themselves, then read it aloud to you, perhaps after getting a bit of help on any bits they are stuck on.

Ds struggled with reading, the reading scheme was ok for getting the basics but did nothing to encourage a love of reading.

in year 3 I spoke to school and we moved him off the reading scheme to books he wanted to read and it was from that point that his reading improved massively.

reading schemes are good to a point but they aren’t be ultimate answer for many children.

How does your DC read? Do they understand about letter sounds and how they combine, can they break down a word using phonic knowledge, or are they relying on words they recognise and hoping to deduce meaning from them? How do they spell?

I am surprised you say they are fine with maths, increasingly little maths at Y5 relies solely on manipulating numbers, there is a lot of maths work, especially for children working above the expected level, which involves reading and understanding problem or instructions , working out the maths needed and solving it. Poor reading skills are going to make this impossible. I suspect your child is possibly relying on another child to read information for them.

You really need to arrange a meeting with the school asap. For a start they should have age and interest appropriate books available to older children who are struggling. I think both you and the school have let your child down by not identifying and tackling this sooner. As for a parent of a year 5 child asking how to join a library - it leaves me speechless.

You’ve probably considered a lot of these suggestions but I wondered whether he might progress further with something more relevant to his life.

Does he love Minecraft ? Get him a book about Minecraft. Marvel films? Get him marvel comics. Does he enjoy cooking? Get him using cook books. Etc etc. Aim to read every single day.

If you think he might be dyslexic a really simple thing that you can try is covering the previous and next lines to see if that helps. And trying coloured overlays to see if those help.

How is his writing just below where it needs to be if his reading level is several years behind? That doesn't make sense.

What reading does he do at home? Eg my dc have always had lamps on at bedtime and encouraged to read to themselves after they go up to bed. When they were younger I'd read a chapter then they would pick up some easier books to look at for a bit til they felt sleepy.

Does he have favourite stories at home he can read to you at bedtime/ read to himself?

My dc2 is Y4 and still on the reading programme as he struggles with the actual test they do - he can read perfectly with me at home and with his Read Write Inc teacher, but when he does into the little test room he apparently stuggles so I think it's the environment of that test. Either way, his teacher and I can both see that he can read well.

He is now also doing the Accelerated Reader programme in conjunction with RWI and is on a mid range points of books.

It's right for a 10yo to come off the reading scheme - the topics of reading scheme books are too babyish for a y5.

It's very easy to register with the library. Just turn up with a proof of address. Depending on the size of the library they may have in stock, or if not will be able to order for you, books specifically written for older learners - so with a carefully chosen vocabulary but without the babyish story themes.

Fwiw, most children in y5 at this point of the year are nine, not 10.

How can I help DC with reading?

As a PP said, find what he likes. Lean into that, share it, set aside time for it. Get the love of reading / the motivation to do so. Joke books, non fiction, comics, anything. If you find something he WANTS to read then you're most of the way there.

Are you practising reading and sharing books at home? Are you members of your library? You can search my library catalogue for books for high interest low vocabulary, books for reluctant readers, reading scheme books. Also lots of books on dyslexia assessment and how to support at home. It really helps to read regularly at home with your child.

If the school have decided to take him off it then what are they putting in to replace it?
Go to the gp and ask to be put forward for assessment. It doesn’t need to be through the school. Maybe also a referral to community paediatrician so they can refer on to different services in case it isn’t dyslexia. Keep pushing. Don’t let them allow the child to fall through the cracks. Also with this issue why isn’t your child on an iep?
Buy some coloured overlays and try to use them and see if they help him. Different colours work for different people. I think yellow is most common but try a few.
Do you have books at home? Let them pick some books that interest them. Borrow some from school. The library is also an option.
I don’t know why people are shocked you don’t go to the public library with them. I don’t and I have a child with a 1st class honours degree in English! All of mine love books and are great readers. That said I have always kept a supply at home. Charity shops are great for cheap 2nd hand books, they go for next to nothing.

For very child with a reading age of less than 9 the DfE guidance is that an individual diagnostic assessment should be in place. Does he know all of the sounds? What catch up is he receiving?

A child would typically remain on a scheme until they are at least at this point. the schools should have some high interest lower reading age books.

The only way to get a dyslexia assessment for a child of that age is realistically be to pay for it. The Senco should ahem already done a basic screening to indicate if there are any traits of a specific learning difficulty but schools cant easily commission or afford full assessments and LAs don't typically provide them.

google search for “high interest low reading level books”. Might help :)

@wellthatwentwelldinnit We go to the library weekly, hence me asking if i can borrow the reading scheme books from there. DC is not interested in reading alone, I have asked, I have begged, I have bribed they will not read alone and seem to understand the book less on their own.

We read most nights after school (1 night we have an activity, and EO Friday DC goes to their dads who won't read with them) where DC reads 4-5 pages to me, but they get tired so sometimes we only manage 2 pages. Teachers have never said we're not reading enough at home. I also read a bedtime story of DCs choice to them, we're currently reading a series. Borrowed some of them from the library.

DC doesn't realise they're behind atm and I don't think would be bothered anyway they don't particularly enjoy school.

@AudiobookListener DC wears glasses and hearing aids which are checked every 6 months and I will go sooner with them if school or I pick up on issues.

@viques Really struggles with decoding and breaking words down, will give up very quickly with working out what words say and even if they do work it out often ask what it means this has been picked up by all the teachers they've had to date.

Spelling is ok, often get 10/15 on spelling tests but only started managing that in Year 4 when intervention was put in place in Year 3 to help with spelling

@Namerequired I have asked for IEP but school have said they're only used to children who are very far behind, likely to get an EHCP or just missed out on getting an EHCP which DC will not get as behaviour wise and socially they're fine. They do out of school activities and cope fine, they just can't read that well.

@PinkDeer Yes we're reading at home, 3-4 times a week and once over the weekend unless DC is with their dad and then I don't get a chance to do the reading on weekends. Teachers have never mentioned we need to read more at home.

Also I read a bedtime story of DCs choice to them. We borrow from the library often I just wondered if we can get reading scheme books from there or do I need to buy them?

@brokenmug No catchup, they were reading once per half term with the teacher and 3-4 times per half term with a TA until this year because there's no TA support in upper KS2 unless it's EHCP funded. They had spelling and reading intervention in the Spring Term of Year 4 but once they caught up with the spellings it was taken away.