Reception children given e-books instead of reading books for home reading

[Randomname83738]

My daughter is in reception, and we’ve had a message today that instead of being sent home with physical reading books, children will be given a login to Collins hub to access e learning books to read at home instead. I absolutely HATE this as a concept - is this common now? We don’t have tablets, so it would be on a phone screen. I’ve looked at purchasing the books for the scheme he’s doing and it would be hundreds of pounds (presumably this is why they’re doing ebooks instead). I’m actually so disappointed in this and if I knew in advance it might have influenced my choice of school.

Yes that’s a shame. However, for learning to read and budget reasons I think more schools are doing this. Every year at our school we have books that aren’t returned or ruined and as you say a scheme costs hundreds of pounds. Just ensure you have lots of lovely books at home and check they have physical books at school.

I’d have hated this too

Our school uses the Collins hub alongside sending books home - for extra practice as an optional activity. I think it's awful compared to reading the actual books and would not be happy about this at all.

Oh yuck. There is evidence that real books are better for young children to understand and learn. During lockdown is one thing, as there was little alternative, but not for real life.

It also seems like the app itself is really poorly reviewed, with 1.8 stars out of 5 and lots of complaints about difficulty turning pages, zooming in, pages skipping when the screen is touched. Class pressures are such that we’d really hoped to pick up lots of extra reading practice at home with her as they understandably don’t get much 1-1 reading practice at school and it just doesn’t seem very realistic doing it on my phone. I absolutely do not want to buy a tablet for it as we’re trying to avoid lots of screen time. We do have SO many lovely books at home, but they aren’t tailored to her reading level or the sounds she’s been working on 😭😩

I do understand that and think it’s definitely a budget thing, rather than teacher preference (it wouldn’t surprise me if they disliked the concept too)! More of an indictment on school funding than anything else but I’m just disappointed as I feel like learning to read is such a fundamental and difficult thing, it’s going to be much harder to get the actual practice she’s going to need in at home.

That's so awful I'd be furious although it's not the teachers fault imagine but budgets :( For reception children as well!! Surely there could be some sort of scheme to share books among schools or similar? Or quite a few schools have been closing couldn't they donate.

Appreciate it's tricky to fit in timings OP but our local library used to be a godsend and they were open Sat morning

We didn't do it. School didn't send a device for it.

Reception age we went for library and our own books for reading. The school didn't seem to care as they were told.

What a shame. As you say, school budgets are so stretched. I would let the school know you are disappointed. They might not be able to change but if enough parents speak up - they may prioritise budget for this over something else.

Check on fb marketplace and the like for old reading scheme books - we often send out of date books off to charities from school.

Thank you! Did your local library have reading scheme books? We might pop in to ours tomorrow and see if they have the scheme she’s on and just borrow a few at a time. The other annoying thing is that the app only shows the current assigned book (which gets assigned on a Friday) for the Monday, rather than a list of future books so I can’t even try and source them separately without obtaining the whole scheme… ahhhhh

I’d refuse and keep DD reading at home and hang the consequences.

I doubt ofsted would be massively impressed with this.
E books should be alongside actual books, not instead of. That’s appalling practice.
I’d be complaining in very strong terms and possibly even starting up a petition!

My child's school tried this in Reception class a few years ago. A lot of us just refused to use them (and read other books at home with them). The scheme was dropped in the end.

What the hell are they doing with all the books they already must own?? I’m irrationally cross on your behalf!

I'd hate that too.

We have a couple of sets of reading scheme books picked up cheaply in charity shops and Vinted, and we supplement our school reading books with the same sounds from those books. Could you do that?

We also do have a tablet, it was actually mainly bought for the school apps as we couod manage it within our budget. There are some maths and phonics apps that our school uses.

I was worried about behaviour creep but we have very strict limits on when and where the tablet can be used and it has never been an issue. Only I have the PIN and there are no apps other than the school ones on it.

I would also refuse and use the library instead.

This isn't ok for young children.

It's awful, but you don't have to use it. See if you can get physical books from the library and keep reading the books you have at home - it really doesn't matter a jot whether or not your books are at some mystical reading level or not.

I am so glad that this isnt standard practice and I’m just living in the past. She’s only three weeks in so I don’t want to be labelled as the complainer parent but the message absolutely floored me!

I think I’m going to message and ask if they’re able to supply paper copies instead as we’re trying to reduce rather than increase screen time and think it’s important to learn to read screen-free where possible.

failing that, could they provide the reading list for the term and I will try and source elsewhere (and donate to them once finished, since they clearly need some paper copies!!)

I would be annoyed about this. I would expect school to provide all learning materials, so would be asking them if they're providing an ipad!

Most importantly, screens are NOT good for young eyes and general eye health and I would be asking the Head if she is aware of this.

No I would be replying saying this will not be completed as it is not acceptable before bed to stare at a phone. I’d also send them documentation on the effect screens have on small people.

I went and double checked the latest ofsted report and they have a strong score, specifically for how they teach phonics! No mention of this at all, but I feel like home reading is a real cornerstone of learning to read and I can’t see how they’d score well on that specifically without having proper reading books!

The library is unlikely to have a reading scheme. They may have the odd few books from various ones but not a full scheme in my experience. My local one have very few of the type they read in reception - the early reading section was more like early chapter books that y1/2 might read.

Im going to go against the grain and say that appropriately levelled books are actually useful for young children to practice what they’re learning in school. I got told ‘just read whatever you like with her’ all the time on here when I struggled to find suitable books for my daughter (she could read before starting school but school refused to provide harder books until y2 - she wasn’t a free reader but probably needed level 7 or 8 not level 2 which is what they started on). Obviously we read things like Julia Donaldson together but they are too hard for children who have only learned 6 sounds to read to start with.

you could see if you could get some reading scheme books on fb market place - maybe not the exact scheme they use but oxford reading tree (biff and chip) and similar come up regularly for about £20-30. They might not be perfectly mapped to the sounds she’s learned but they are more likely to be accessible to her to have a go at than random books from the library. But obviously also keep reading library books to her too 🙂

I wouldn’t entertain this at all. I’m sorry that schools are facing such harsh budget restraints but the data is clear on young children and screen time. The creeping in of EdTech and screen time in schools is part of the reason we’ve decided to home educate our child.

So disappointing but schools are under such pressure financially ATM. I use vinted to buy all my son's reading scheme books and then sell back on once he moves levels/ gets bored of them- If you just stick to the scheme level she is on it won't matter if it isn't the right book/ selection of specific books assigned from school.

I’d feel the same in your shoes however hundreds of £ to buy the physical books? Not if you get them 2nd hand! They’ll be easily available and vastly reduced prices online. You could even pool with other parents.