Primary 1 in Scotland and Reception in England. Are they the same?

[nevergoogledragonbutter]

We moved to Scotland over the summer and DS1 has just started P1, and instead of being oldest in his year he's now one of the younger ones.

Are reception and P1 exactly the same?

I only ask because he is expected to be reading by christmas and i don't remember that being part of reception.

The children in reception are 4-5, where P1 is 4.5 to 5.5, so they probably will be able to move a bit faster.

It probably depends on the school, but at the school my children are at I dont feel like there is any pressure on the children in P1. I remember being surprised at the rate of progression, but it didnt seem too hard for the children, IYSWIM.

No, it doesn't seem too hard, I'm just surprised at how much he's learnt in the first few weeks. In England we were told it wouldn't be hugely different from nursery and they'd be able to recognise their name and count to 20 by the end. Not reading and writing.

Maybe them being that little bit older means that they tend to be more ready for it? Or we just have genius children?

well that is the answer i'm hoping to hear obviously.

P1 is different from nursery and is definatly a more formal routine. They will be working on counting, pre reading and reading and pre writning and writing skills. They will usually be streamed into ability groups and different levels of work set for each group.

When DS1 was at nursery he initially went to a Montessori nursery. I liked that they worked mostly on pre-writing and pre-reading skills without pushing the issue too early.

I have to say I also a fan of waiting til they are 6 like the do in Germany.

But.....he seems to be enjoying it, he's learning and it doesn't seem too forced.

So maybe i was wrong?

I hate being wrong.

I think it's much more like Yr1 - they are expected to be doing more formal work, though I never found it "too much". But it's not all "learning through play" or "just like nursery" which is what people seem to claim for Reception.

If you think about it, you're allowed to skip Reception, but not P1, so it couldn't be the same really.