I think my son is going to be labelled as failing, from now on in. What to do.

[LucyMinter]

Ok, I never really understood the whole SATS thing, and I'm not even sure if they do it in yr1. But we've just had ds's report and it seems he is way behind, below average, just as he was in January or whenever we last had a PT meeting.

I don't understand. He has always, I mean always been really advanced - walking, talking, creating amazing things from a very early age - everyone commented on his huge vocabulary (not showing off, just so confused - so I have to give some background) but suddenly here we are in yr1 and he's got these 'grades' which label him as being very far below average

It is upsetting for me not because I want him to be super-academic-achievement boy, or better than the rest of the kids, but because he is really smart and bright and I am terrified he is going to get labelled as a failure. He's not good academically - he has huge problems writing and reading, but has improved loads recently. His dad is dyslexic and I've been asking them about this for over a year, but the answer is 'Oh we don't consider that till yr 2' - so great, he might have an actual learning disability and they expect him/me to take these grades and not be at all, well, disheartened?

It makes me . It's almost like grading someone who can't see very well on their eyesight. I've not told ds about his grades and don't plan to. But what eejit created this system and who exactly does it benefit? More to the point what can I do?

Oh that's brill, Smartie. Your dd sounds just like ds and I'm really glad she is doing fine.

I guess I ought not worry about the early intervention school of thought then - that's partly what concerns me, re the dyslexia - that some people seem to think you can help a child at an early age if you know what's going on.

Well, usually an IEP would be instigated by the school if they have a concern - it's not unusual for Y1 children to have one, but again, I am always reluctant to start that early because there are so many other factors.

An IEP would have mini targets for your DS, and then detail how the school plan to achieve this - this might be with extra work/daily reading etc etc. But he may not need one, you will have to have a chat with his teacher and see what he/she thinks.

My dd has had a lot of early intervention 1 on 1 for literacy/numeracy since yr 1. She was diagnosed as mildly dsyslexic after testing by the SENCO and the literacy support officer, but I didn't go into it much. She now has a reading age of a year above her year and maths 2 years above.

The early intervention definitely helped, but generally I just think she wasn't 'ready' for the quite intense focus on literacy/numeracy.

Hello Lucy,

I will come back and post something more meaningful and hopefully helpful when I am less tired! But I just wanted to send some support. You sound so worried and it honestly isn't as bad as you think. Your little boy sounds lovely and I would love to have him in my class. I will return tomorrow to try and help more.

IME schools tend only to call in the Ed psych if children are very behind which, unfortunately leaves it up to parents to pay if they wish to have their child assessed. Given that his dad is dyslexic you are right to be concerned. If he is assessed with dyslexia then you could get hin specialist tuition to help him overcome the problems associated with dyslexia. There don't seem to be enough specialist dyslexia teachers in schools but I believe the government have recently announced that they are going to fund additional training in this area.

I think you need to get away from the idea that a low mark means he is labelled forever.

Grades in Yr 1 really don't mean much for the future. You are not supposed to care that much about them and your teacher will probably be surprised to find that you do. All they do is to show some targets for your child to work towards now.

Dd was getting low marks in Yr 1 at all, though I knew she was gifted (never said so though); by Yr 3 she was recognised as g&t and moving into top sets; she is now doing very well at secondary school. It just took some time for her giftedness to get into zynch with the schoolwork. In retrospect I am glad I didn't stress as it might have made her less confident.

If you suspect dyslexia, get help by all means. But remember he has many years to go before those A-levels. And by that stage, noone is going to be interested in what he could or couldn't do when he was 6.

My dd was reading on stage 3 of Ginn All Aboard, which is roughly comparable to ORT, at the end of year 1.

In year 2 she progressed hugely and I was very proud of her SATs results, 2a's and a 2b. I know that lots of parents here expect level 3 at the end of KS1, but it is not what most children acheive. Reading is her strongest subject now, but we shall not mention spelling . She is in year 4.

It may be worth finding the thing that really excites him, whether it is cars, dinosaurs, going to x museum or whatever and then use it as a learning tool; building his learning around it.

There is a really smart little boy that I know whose school has said that he is behind. The problem is that they don't tests the things that he knows; which is a lot! But in the end he will shine in his area; no doubt about that.

Thankyou for giving me some perspective on it. I realise now that they will prob think I'm a loon for caring - everything that reminds me of what I hate about schools tends to set me off, even if it's a small issue really. I suppose I am just disappointed that his talents aren't being recognised or appreciated - and very anxious that he knows the other kids are ahead of him - he told me they were saying 'what book are you on, Oh we did that ages ago' which made me cry for him.

I fear he already thinks he's not very high up in the clever stakes, when in fact he is, he's amazing, just academically not cutting it. I guess all I can really do is wait and support him and try not to let him realise he's behind, more than he already does. I'm not stressed about where he is at all - he's doing fantastically as far as I'm concerned, and even if he wasn't I'd not care. It's the people who might be holding him up against other kids that worry me.

I'll see what our friend says on Monday - she's kindly agreed to have a look at his books (without him there).

Thanks again.

I am afraid Lucy that whatever your son achieves or does not achieve, it is your job to teach him to cope with it, not to cry for him. His relative academic rating may or may not change as he grows older but the coping skills you impart to him now will stay with him forever.

Chances are, no other adult is going to care about where he is compared to the other kids. His friends may care for a bit, but the novelty soon wears off. The friend who taunted ds with his shortcomings in Yr 1 had matured considerably by the time they both reached Yr3 (possibly aided by a few stern talking-to's from the teacher).

Ds (currently Yr 4) does know that most of the other children are rather cleverer than him. He is also slightly disabled, so has no chance to make up for it in the playground. He further suffers from the disadvantage of having a very gifted sister. But he is still a happy little boy, who enjoys school and enjoys learning. I have no idea whether he will ever rise in the class or not. But I don't need to know that, I am sure whatever happens he will find his niche, as long as I teach him to deal with what he has and feel good about what he does.

Forgot to say, since you see him as rather gifted, it is quite possible that he is actually talented and will catch up later. (have never been under any illusions with ds- though if course things may still change)You just keep being proud of what he does!

If friends are regularly taunting him, that is not proof that he must do better at school- that's bullying and the school needs to deal with the friends! But do try not to project your own feelings on him: he will have his own burden in life, we all do.

I think that however you help him, try to make learning fun. Also nuture the things that he shows a passion for.

best wishes

i teach year 1 and we wouldn't label someone as dyslexic YET...however what we would fo at my school is put in intervention programmes to support him - such as ELS.

those levels are not failing levels lucy.
I have a dd in yr1 labeled as advanced yet she got 1b 1b and 1a.
1b is average for the year and the national expected level. 1c is not failing anything.
level 4 is good for that stage, dd is level 7 but is reading with yr2s, many in her class are are still on level 2's but still got 1b's for reading.
Don't worry about the levels, they are so innacurate at this stage and your lad sounds so smart and wonderful.
He is not behind at all really, honestly.

Also, from a teacher's perspective, it isn't a case of what he has achieved not being "good enough". Although it isn't statutory to report year 1 levels (only y2 and y6) many schools take the decision too. This is just "government speak" that is in his report. I have to use it too and I hate it. But it doesn't mean I don't appreciate the often massive progress that children have made and that I'm not really, really proud of their achievements. It's a shame the teacher hasn't found a way to write this in the report, which is what I would do, but it doesn't mean she doesn't think it! I understand why you are feeling a sensitive about it but may I suggest, tentatively, that you are perhaps taking it all a bit too personally.

As others have said, the levels he has achieved, are well within the normal range and I am sure he will do just fine. I reiterate what I said earlier about him sounding lovely. Keep valuing and letting him know that you value what he is good at and support him with the things he finds tricky. Children often take off MASSIVELY in Year 2 and I wouldn't be surprised at all from what you have said if this wasn't the case with you son.

Off to bed so no time for a full reply, but do test his eyes again.

DS had his eyes tested in August 07 and they were fine, in March 08 we retested at the school's request and he needed glasses.

to obviously not too

I would try not to worry at the end of yr1. My DS had a bad year 1 and hardly seemed to progress with writing. He was labelled as below average at the end of it (along with many other boys in his class).

He has now got 2As and a 3 in his YR2 Sats (so now slightly above average).

I think it is partly that he has had an excellent teacher this year and partly that he was really ready to do lots of writing by Yr 2.

Most children in Europe don't start formal education till yr2.

There are some children who are ready to do lots of writing in reception but many are slower off the mark and then make huge strides a year or two down the line. Summer borns also take time to catch up.

Maybe you could try and continue doing reading books with him over the hols but otherwise try not too worry too much. A lot can change in a year.

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The highest level a child in Yr1 would be assessed at is a 3. My DD's report (yr 1) does say "Nationally expected levels for Reception are 1c and for Y1 are 1a. At this school we are expected to perform slightly better with expected levels for Y1 being 2c"

So it sounds like what is considered "average" may be be different from one school to another.

Take what the grades are and what the school says with a large grain of salt. My ds gets average to poor grades and I have been told every year starting in nursery that he is going to "fail the year" and is "not focusing" and "needs to take his school work more seriously." Last year (3rd grade), I finally got fed up and had a battery of private tests (including IQ) done. Turns out ds is (as I had suspected) a genius, with a few learning differences. He scored in the 99th percentile on most things except his Processing Speed and Active Working Memory. Which means that although he's super smart, it takes him extra long to learn things and he can't multi task to save his life. This means that he does not perform as well as he could in a conventional educational setting. Now with these tests, I can force the school to teach him in a way that's appropriate to his learning disabilities.
In addition, every year (since he was a toddler) I have his eyes tested by a serious proper optician (go to a hospital to have this done...not your local boots) because he has astigmatism and had to wear glasses when he was younger. When he was struggling with learning how to read, she diagnosed a problem with his eyes which explained why he was having such a hard time learning how to read and playing sports (he can't track things easily along a line). He's now at 8 the fastest reader in his year and is inseparable from a book.
You should get a dyslexic test done privately (I had one done for my dss some years back at an institution in south london). And expect to have to supplement what the school does for your child. Don't wait for them to asses him. It may well not happen in time.