can someone explain this reading at 1a and 1b thing to me

[nolongeraworriedmummy]

because ive never been told what level she is reading at and now her books dont have coloured stickers on,

I don't understand it either. I think 1a is what they're expected to be at by the end of Y1, 1b is higher and 1c is higher still. But I might be wrong!

Do you mean national curriculum levels ? It goes 1c, then 1b, then 1a, then they would move on to level 2c, 2b, 2a and so on. At the end of Year 1 1b is average.

This would be the same for all subjects not just reading.

1a is higher than 1b which is higher than 1c.
Mmmmm... they can change so suddenly, they learn in bursts and plateaus, I would argue that at this age having a good attitude about school and learning is more important than the exact level, what the relative stickers/codes on books say.

What do you want to know? I can give you an example of the kind of reading skills the levels refer to, if that helps:

1c - Approximate book band - yellow/blue
Approximate ORT level 3/4
Blends phonemes, in order in the word, to read CVC (consonant/vowel/consonant) words.
Uses phonic knowledge to attempt unknown words.
Makes 1 to 1 correspondence between written and spoken words.
Reads on sight irregular high frequency words.
Sequences a simple story or event recalling main points
Uses structure of a simple story when reacting or retelling
Talks about the themes of simple texts

etc, etc

1b - Approximate book band - blue/green
Approximate ORT level 4/5
Blends phonemes, in order in the word, to read CVC and words containing consonant clusters.
Recognises and blends consonant digraphs
Reads on sight irregular high frequency words , other familiar and important words
Identifies main events or key points in texts and understands structure of a simple story
Answers literal retrieval questions about a text

etc, etc

1a - average (no such thing) child on leaving Y1)
Approximate book band - orange/turquoise
Approximate ORT level 6/7
Consistently blends CVC and CCVC/CVCC words
Begins to recognise common long vowel phonemes
Identifies and reads words with ?ed? and ?ing? endings
Reads on sight irregular high frequency words , other familiar and important words
Talks about the main events in a text, identifying relevant information.

etc, etc.

???
My daughter's book says 'Stage 1+, More First Sentences A.' It's a Biff/Chip/Kipper set.
It's purple(ish)!! How does that corrolate to the other books mentioned? (DD is in reception)
I am not a v.pushy Mum, but we seem to have the least communicative teacher on the planet!

Stage 1 ORT = Oxford Reading Tree - the beginning stages of reading and entirely on the right track to make a fabulous start to her reading! Reception aren't assessed by the National Curriculum levels, but rather Early Learning Goals. Hopefully your dd's Reception teacher will explain more at your next parents' evening, but it all sounds completely normal and appropriate for this age.