Feeling like children who are ‘middling’ in terms of ability get left behind?

[Livefreely]

I have a daughter (8) who is mostly achieving the expected standards at school but struggling in maths and it’s only been just over a week and already she has come home saying she is finding it all quite tricky.

I have spoken to teachers on 2 occasions last year about my concern that she finds it hard and can I have a breakdown of what she is doing term by term but they just sort of brush over and say everything is ok, she’s doing okay, etc. she didn’t meet the expected standards at end of last year.

I feel she is just getting a little left behind and not supported enough. Is this just normal and I need to make sure I plug in where there are gaps, support her or get a tutor if we can afford it?

I think this is really normal to be honest all through school, obviously not great but I do think it’s normal. The kids at the bottom of the class who are really struggling get the extra support to try and get them to passable level, and the kids at the top of the class get the extra in terms of further bits of work, extra reading to expand their ideas, put forward for more advanced tests etc. The kids in the middle who are working at the average level do tend to just get left to get on with it! I think there’s also the fact that classes can have 30 kids to 1 teacher plus a TA, so it’s just not possible to provide the personal 1-1 touch some kids do need, if you think your child would benefit from that then a tutor or doing it yourself would be a good idea x

Yes it's normal.

It would probably be a good idea for you to try to get a sense of what she can and can't do.

Websites like twinkl will have information on what's expected for her year group eg this for year 3.

www.twinkl.co.uk/resource/t2-m-4531-year-3-maths-revision-booklet

You can also buy revision workbooks for each year group - WH Smith or most bookshops will stock them.