Son in bottom set - extra support?

[justthatmum]

Would love some advice/perspective please!

My son has just gone into year 1 and has been placed on the bottom table. For context he is very nearly 6 so one of the older kids in the year.

During reception at parents evenings we were made aware he was below on reading/writing but expected with everything else. Nothing more was said and no indication how far behind he may be so I assumed (perhaps I should've sought clarification) that it wasn't so far behind as to worry and that he would catch up naturally.

It seems he is maybe further behind than we were explained as he is on the table that has constant TA support. For some context on ability, it also has the SEN children in the class. My son hasn't been diagnosed with anything (nor have we had anything mentioned by teacher but appreciate it's early days into year 1 still) - but now it has me worrying about how far behind he is and whether he perhaps does need some additional support.

He was speech delayed a little, although caught up mostly before a S&L therapist was needed but does still pronounce some things slightly odd for his age (control is patrol for example, and mixes up she & her "her did it") which are signs of dyslexia I believe so am now worried he has something that is yet to be picked up - I really don't want school to be a struggle or a source of stress for him!

We did lots of reading over the summer to make sure he didn't forget or lose confidence and I think it actually helped move him up a reading band so that's good.

I suppose I'm just worried about him falling behind in the areas he is at expected if he's not challenged in those areas (maths etc) because his whole education has been categorised based on his current reading ability?

How can I support here? We read at home everyday but it seems he's too far behind that alone won't catch him up.

Thanks!

Can you speak to the teacher- check he's being pushed enough in maths etc according to his ability in those?

What does his teacher say?

I have requested a meeting so have one on Thursday so hopefully I get some answers there.

The teacher hasn't given me any information directly as of yet.

So currently about two thirds of children are reaching the expected level in reception.

https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/early-years/reception-pupils-expected-level-data#:~:text=EYFS%3A%20Around%20two%2Dthirds%20of%20pupils%20at%20good%20level,-Proportion%20of%20youngest&text=The%20proportion%20of%204%2D%20and,levels%2C%20government%20data%20has%20revealed.

Children who don't, and are are are"emerging" will be are very high priority for the year 1 teacher as the year 1 curriculum pretty much assumes the reception goals are met.

The TA will be working very hard with all the children on her table to try to catch them up.

What you can do:
Get him to read every day. This is the single most important thing.
Alphablocks and number blocks are tv series that are good for early maths and reading.

Reading eggs is a good program that will help with reading.

https://readingeggs.co.uk/gaw/branded/?gadsource=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD4NOmm0ETBEe7mGA1zmC7ON7Pyp5&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7NfJuOjJiAMV0JhQBh28Hy1pEAAYASAAEgJRyDDBwE

Some children who are "energing" will have a learning difference or disability and the school will be looking out for that, as the teaching your child has received in reception hasn't got them to where they need to be.

@Octavia64 thank you that's all really helpful. I can't read the TES article but will have a google of emerging in reception vs year 1 etc!

And yes we recently signed up to Reading Eggs and he has been thoroughly enjoying it so far - he's very reward oriented so the 'egg' winning is very motivating for him.

Our school have “reading club” which is 10-15mins before school starts the children behind go in and work on phonics / spellings. Ask the teacher what the support plan is to try and bring these children upto national level.

For hand writing, have you looked up any resources? There’s a lot of things you can do at home with mark making or the work books.

Reading is mostly achieved at home anyway.
So just keep up with the daily reading. Is he getting through a whole book? Which band? Might need to up the time spent reading.
Also a teacher or ta wont necessarily realise all the words he cant pronounce so may think he is misreading.
I take it he doesnt have any asd signs with his speech delay (and confusion on she/her etc). Is he still blending all words?

In year 1 the teacher was really annoying with dd and kept saying blend which she didnt need to but kept following what she was told.

He is in after school club 4 days so we do our best with reading at home but are a little time limited. We do every day at bedtime as a minimum but sometimes he does get tired by then unfortunately.

He is whole book, band red on the Big Cat Collins books, which is 2 bands below where they want at end of reception I believe.

He can blend although sometimes appears 'lazy' and guesses rather than blends (I think - he seems to know all sounds so not sure on the occassional slip up?)

No mention of ASD other the initial speech delay which was mostly around pronunciation once he started talking.

Just because he is sat on a table with children with SEN and has a TA doesn't mean he won't be challenged in other ways. Lots of children aren't diagnosed until Secondary so intervention now instead of being left to struggle is great.

I used to teach (and TA) at secondary, I worked with plenty of higher ability students who just needed some support with their reading, IE in science reading / paraphrasing a question for them before they carried out the task. Their reading ability didn't hold them back. Having access to a TA (if they are good at their job) should only enhance his experience.

What I will say though, is if he is destined to find school hard find him something outside of school that he excels at, whether that's playing football, gymnastics or tinkering with bikes. Anything that will give him confidence in himself going forward as spending 5+hours doing things you struggle with is soul and self esteem destroying.

Also, don't worry about getting him to read, listening to you and following along in the book is almost as beneficial for him so don't forget to instill reading for pleasure as well as reading for function.

@Singleandproud thank you. Yes we have definitely made much more emphasis on reading and I see it as a non-negotiable before bedtime now (whether he reads to me, I to him, or both).

DH used to say no story if they stay up a little late doing something else (playing/watching a film etc) which I have asked him to stop doing in recent months because the reading is so important, regardless of anything else they are doing.

We are trying some extra curricular clubs. Before he wouldn't take part at all but seems to have matured a little in that sense and so will take part now (sometimes encouragement is needed still of course).

I do worry about his self-esteem as he is a sensitive little soul, always has been.