Quick Poll: your experiences of reading books and reading records please

[Overmydeadbody]

I have concerns with regard to this with DS, but I don't know what is the norm, so:

1. How often does your DC's reading book get changed/how often do they bring home a reading book from school?

1. Do they have a reading record that you fill out and does the teacher look at it and/or leave comments in it too?

greeneggs- i am that some schools dont do reading records- how on earth can you work in partnership with the school if you are unable to communicate regularly with them?

Ds2 is in Yr1 and gets a new book once or twice a week. The reading record isn't written in very often by the teacher but it's not a problem because I know that he does a lot of guided reading at school.

Ds1 is in Yr4 and off the reading scheme. His last school reading book was actually given to him back in November so ds1 reads his own books or library books and those go into the reading record instead. He has his reading record written in about once a month when they do guided reading.

I think the system ds1 has is okay for him for a number of reasons but I would not be happy about it for a child in Yr1. At that age I think they need a lot more guidance even if they are fantastic at reading.

OMDB, if he is having 1:1 time and adapted learning then has he got an IEP? If not then that is odd!

He does has difficulty communicating sometimes though, was selectively mute in nursery and still finds direct questions hard to answer sometimes.

Which is why I feel they should be focusing on what he can do, like reading, and giving him lots of praise and recognition for it.

mmmm. that's interesting. I would be bringing that up definitely. There must be a reason if they have allowed that amount of 1.2.1 and you should know what that is. Have you seen a IEP?
Going back to the reading though, thinking about it more it doesn't surprise me at all and that's exactly what happened to my boys when they became free readers. They are much further up the school now. DS1 is yr 4 and has a reading record that is completely blank. neither the teacher nor myself have written in it as he reads Harry Potter, Alex Rider whatever he likes. I think it's just surprising because your ds is only yr1 but so advanced.
AFAIK reading records are really so the teacher can check to see if the dc has read at home and not really for communication. Do you have a homework diary as well?

exactly coppertop, he should be having guidance and his reding should be monitored regardless of what he can read.

I can only assume he has an IEP, altohug hI have to confess I haven't seen it , but I have regular meetings with the senco so am mostly happy about other aspects of the school.

So has the senco told you what she thinks the issue might be?

no homework diary ingles, homeowrk is only sent home very rarely (twice since spetember) but afaik this is the same for everyone in the class and the teacher doesn't set homework as such, just lets us know what topics they are covering and suggestions for extra stuff to do at home.

The SENCO is flummoxed, no 'label' or category of 'disorder' fits him. He has been observed by an outside Ed Psych but what a joke that was, an hour of observation when she doesn't even know the child, what good will that do!?

It is a big worry to me actually, why he seems so different at school to the child I know at home.

plusone more - the school is ofsted outstanding, always oversubscribed, and has very high SAT's results. Their view is that they know what they are doing and parents should leave them to it .
I know that those children who are struggling do get help, and do get extra stuff and more monitoring, but those who are achieving get left to it pretty much. It didn't bother me with DD1 so much, as she loved reading, but dd2 while much better than 'average' is not doing as well as I expected her too, although in many ways brighter than DD1. DD2 is not meeting her potential with reading (although she is in other areas), but because she is reading Yr2 books in Yr1, does not get anything targetted. She has had about 10 books home in Yr 1 in total.
Sorry - being self indulgent. The fact is, that I need to do mre with her at home, but she is reluctant to read because she thinks she is rubbish at it and is cross it hasn't clicked yet. That is why I wish the school would give her more support than they do. Apols for hi-jack OMDB!

not only should you have seen the IEp, you should have a copy of it so you can be working on the same targets.

homework twice since september??? That document a linked to suggests that Y1 age children shoud have around an hour of homework a week, made up of a combination of maths, lieracty, topic work and regular reading. There's something very wrong here...

The ussies are sensory overload and difficulty with aspects of communication (but not a lack of understanding).

by ussies I meant issues!

oh dear plusonemore, that's quite shocking.

I will ask to see the iep tomorrow.

greeneggs- how obnoxious of the school to assume that parents have nothing to offer! Surely better to share with the parents what they are doing so they can help too? What did the Ofsted say about parent partnerships?

hee hee
literacy

Books changed when they have been read and group reading every day. Also she choose 2 library books to take home and read aswell (p2/yr1). Reading record comments are ticked or answered by Teacher if needed.

Ds (P4/Yr3) has chapter books where he reads a chapter a night (only about 6 pages per chapter) and also group reads every day.

I have found that their current school in Scotland concentrates alot more on language and literacy then their previous school in England though.

and did you get to see or talk to someone about the Ed Psych report?
IME it was practically impossible to a dx before the age of 7 even though it was really obvious to me that ds2 had problems processing numbers from a really early age. He has dyscalculia.
How about making a appt with teacher and senco to talk about reading, an IEP, his 1.2.1. ?

Also,when you see the teacher tommorrow,take in a book that your ds is reading at the mo and explain how well he reads. (Remember to deep breathe,count to 10, and be very diplomatic lol!)

It does sound shocking though, and I would be cross too.

Good luck!

My experience with my DC has been that once they can read properly, they are almost never heard and their reading record isn't checked.They have not wanted or expected to be confined by having an official 'school reading book' and have just read libtrary, own or school books as they fancied.The school reading record is supposed to be completed as 'evidence ' for OFSTED etc but in prsactice isn't.
They allegedly do guided reading once a week.In reality more like once every 6 months.The support definitely targetted at the weaker readers , and quite rightly so IMO.

1. How often does your DC's reading book get changed/how often do they bring home a reading book from school?

DS1's reading books are changed every night, when he has read them properly, atm this is every night. We read it with him in the evening and then he reads to the Teacher/TA/Volunteer parent on a daily basis, if he does well he gets a new one.

1. Do they have a reading record that you fill out and does the teacher look at it and/or leave comments in it too?

Yes, we fill in with specific things "He struggled with xxx word",etc, so if he is finding something hard they can pay special attention to it when he reads in class. The comments from school are normally "well done" or "needs another try". Comments are left every time he reads.

DS1 is in reception and parents were invited to a 10minute briefing chat with the teacher a few weeks into the first term. Just to tell us how to sound out/blend words and what to write in the book (so not, X did fantastically, I think he is a genius), also gave us ideas of things we could do around reading, looking at the pictures, talking about the story etc.

In reception/yr 1 book changed 3 times a week. Yr 2 onwards, children can get a new book as soon as they have finished the current one.

Reading record - we have one to write in and I expect the TA looks at it from time to time but we have never had anything written in it from the teacher unless she has heard DS read.

DS is now YR 3 - at his old school - he was very rarely listened to and books changed once week if lucky.

New school - has literacy hour every day and listened to reguarly - we write in homework book when book read and they change it the next day - if read a book every night then book would be changed every day - i am very impressed. I always write" read to page 13" etc and everyday it comes back with smiley face or tick or comment so i know they have looked

katiestar that sounds like a possible explanation for DS. I don't expect someone to listen to him read in school, better to concentrate on the childrne who need the guidance and help.

I feel bad now, I shouldn't have left it for six months should I?! Slack parenting.

The ed psych hasn't got back to the school yet, but the senco said she'd let me know as soon as they knew.

Oh poo. It's just so complicated and worrying.

plusonemore - the teachers at the school are mostly lovely, it is the culture from the head that is very much 'leave us to it'. I have helped in class for three years, with 5 different teachers and so do think I have a good feel for the culture btw.
As for Ofsted, it only gets a short Ofsted report, and management like everything else is outstanding. No specific mention is made of parental partnership, although it does say parents speak highly of the positive impact the school has on their children.
Obviously, the school is great. However, with 30 children in each class, not all are going to get their needs met. Quite rightly those who need the help the most should get it. Oh for class sizes of 15 though...