Would you change schools in reception??

[Nemoandthefishes]

DS has been through nursery and one term of reception at his school but to be honest I am not overly impressed with it. They know nothing about ds and parents evening they could have been describing a different child. His teacher didnt know he could read, write and spell but told me he was academically above average
I have been looking at ofsted reports in our area and a school that I previously wouldnt have considered has jsut been reinspected and come away with an outstanding[1] with only 2 2's in the whole report, where ds school is good[2] with a few 3s. So would you change school or do I wait until ds school is reinspected as it should eb due in the next year.

I would give it a chance still. Ofsted report being outstanding doesnt mean the other would have been any better in the things you havent been impressed with his original school.

We've not been over impressed with dd's school either but are hoping the good will outweigh our misgivings over time. If not we will change her.

lockets he is generally happy although I dont know about learning as they still seem to eb doing very basic jolly phonics which dont really challenge him and they havent as yet brough home any homework/reading and as I said parents evening was a wash out as she didnt know he had been bullied, even though we spoke to classroom assistant and didnt know his abilities.
Other than that am ok..lol
How are you and yours? Saw poor C has chicken pox

We queried the teacher about ds when he reads and sometimes forgets a word so has to spell it out againeven if he has only read it on the page prior. So she asked like what type of word so we said it wasnt the basic key words it would be maybe a name etc like Viv her response was well we havent covered V yet! Now regardless of if they have covered it ds knows the sound and how to put it into a word so she didnt answer the question.
I think comments like that and he should eb colouring in[which bores him so he does it as quickly as he can] otherwise he wont have good pen control..now ds can write and his writing is completely comprehnsible.
Maybe I am being a bit PFB but neither DH or I are stupid people but we were both completely flummoxed by the teachers approach to parents evening.

If you are going to change do it now. If you have continuing niggling doubts they could transfer themselves to your child, the teachers will be bored of you and nobody comes out well.

But be sure, because schools aren't clothes you can try on and not like. Have a good look round the new school and talk to the teachers first. Your child will probably be as happy in the new school as the old, if they are both pretty good. Be sure, be decisive and if you do change, make it a commitment.

The other thing you have to consider is that they are all tied to the National Curriculum so your ds will not necessarily be able to run with the wind academically whichever school he is in. It depends on how flexible the teachers are -- but they will have a lot of mums saying their kids are very advanced! They can't individualise every child's education.

I know a number of early readers and writers who have come to grief in Reception because they have to "slow down".. it's just the way things are.

agree following NC and paperwork seems to be the main focus of his teacher but I just dont understand how she didnt know he was being bullied[bitten,punched pushed by one child at least twice a week to the point where ds was upset and didnt want to go to school as he wasnt sleeping etc.] I will leave him as we have friends whose dc went to the school and all seem to have done well but I also worry the school itself is too big and too focused on paperwork than the children they teach.

We changed at the end of Reception but really wish we had just gone for it after the first term. My gut feeling was that it wasn't right for DS and it took us until the very last week of summer term to arrange moving him.

I think it's a little soon to be considering moving if your concern is about your son's academic progress and about standards at the school. Frankly, I wouldn't expect the teacher to know each child well after just one term and (as I saw it) the first term is very much about settling the children in, getting to know them and finding what they can and cannot do. And, if there are children who arrived at school unable (say) to hold a pencil or not knowing any English - both of which happen a lot around here - then they are probably are getting most of the attention now.

Although Ofsted reports are useful information as far as they go, I don't think they can tell you very much about how your child will fare at the school. Follow up concerns - such as the bullying - with the teacher as and when they arise. Of course, if there are other issues (such as the other school being closer to home than the current one) then there might be other arguments for moving sooner rather than later.

What happened after you told the TA and the bullying carried on?

You need to follow up. It's possible the teacher doesn't know about subsequent incidents. Unless she sees it or someone tells her she won't know. If your ds is scared to go to school you need to tell them.

wheresthe
we followed it up by reinforcing ds friendships with other children and encouraging them to come home for tea etc and I also spoke to the little boys mum who spoke to her son.