Can I ask if there are any primary teachers out there who can tell me.....

[becaroo]

...what 1c means in relation to a childs ability level?

My ds1 is 6 and went into year 2 last week. We have had a really difficult time with him in year 1 due to him struggling with literacy but he made good progress in the last 2 terms. I noticed on his transfer form that he was labelled as a 1c...could someone tell me what that means?

Thanks

Hi Becaroo...my ds is 6 too and in Y2.

1c is one of the National Literacy levels. It's in a triangle, starts at W, going up to 1c, then 1b, 1a, 2c, etc..

According to our school's Literacy Handbook for Parents:

"The 'average' child is expected to move 2 sub levels in an academic year....Average levels expected on entry and exit in each year group is:
Year 1 - Entry: 1c, Exit 1a
Year 2 - Entry 1a, Exit 2b

Writing Levels:

Level 1c: I am learning to:
-write my letters carefully, so other people can recognise them.

• get my letters the right way around
• make my letters the right size
• write letters and words that will tell someone else what I mean
• read my writing to other people using the words and letters I have written
• write stories, lists and letters

Reading Levels:
1c - Use pictures to help me work out a word

• know the difference between a word, a letter and a space
• point to each word as I read it
• say the main events of a story in the right order

This is not the definitive list. Maybe if you do search on the internet there may be a more comprehensive list?

Hope this helps...

Thank you that is very helpful x

Children are expected to progress by a complete level in Y2. Therefore, your child would be expected to achieve a level 2c by the end of the year.

This is slightly under the average, and, whatever we do (nationally) to try to address it, the 2c writers are mainly boys! Sometime (hopefully soon!), someone will find evidence for a gender difference at this age. As it is, we'll just continue to miss targets with boys' writing and continue to beat ourselves up about it.....

Yes, its tricky isnt it? Dont see what either the teacher or myself can do about it tbh

I am currently using an online early reading programme with him at home which he has nearly completed. I am going to try the toe by toe teaching method after that to try to help him too.

Strangely, his handwriting is quite neat and his letter formation is also good and he is now doing joined up handwriting too. He just HATES reading because he finds it so difficult...I have nearly bankrupted myself buying books on subjects he is interested in but to no avail. I am sort of at the stage where I dont know what else to do for him.....

Sorry, I was waffling about writing there.

Try comics; reading signs in shops / on food; anything that interests him. Read bookds with him, letting him read the odd word or sentence. Put words on the fridge / TV so he has to learn them before opening / turning it on.

Does the school do Precision Monitoring? We find it really successful (for most children) for sight reading tricky words.

Play rhyming games on the way to school; listing things beginning with same letters; i-spy.

I am not sure what precision monitoring is...sorry

He has an IEP (and has had since starting year 1 - although we were not told about it til I asked for a meeting with ds1's year 1 teacher as I was so concerned!!) but I am not sure it is helping tbh.

He finds I spy boring (so do I!!!) but he has started trying to sound out the words on raod signs, in shops etc so I take that as a good sign that I am doing something right....sigh.

He is much happier now than he was in feb/march - the work I have done with him at home has really helped his confidence, which was my main concern as it was at rock bottom.

Problem is, he is 1 of a class of 26 children and the IEP states he should get 10 mins on his own per day with a TA.... but (assuming he gets the 10 mins per day and sometimes he doesnt) it doesnt really amount to much over a week does it? No easy answer I guess

www.johnandgwyn.co.uk/home.html

That's the link to precision monitoring. You'll need the 'literacy probe'. It's a really messy web-site, which is a shame, as it puts you off a really valuable resource.

Sorry the link only drops you on the home page, so you'll need to click on Precision Teaching Probe Generator -> literacy probe.

sorry becaroo - just read something from you on another post saying that your son is reading ORT stage 5. Would think this was a bit advanced for a 1c reader. Have an idea you may have seen his writing score not his reading score after all.

ORT stage 5 books are about 'green' level, around a 1b.

hmmm...this gets more and more confusing!!!!

At my ds1's school the stage 5 ORT books are labelled with a yellow tag...is that right? Is every school different? Surely not or how would it work nationally???

As I said in my original post, I am a bit confused!

Thanks for all the info...will check out that website x

Maybe your son's school is using its own reading colours. The nationally recognised colour is green for that level.

Perhaps they just have ORT books and label by the colour of the spine?

Children are assessed separately in reading, writing and speaking and listening for 'literacy'. They are also assessed in maths and science. All assessment in KS1 is by teacher assessment, with supporting evidence from work throughout the year and SATs tests.

So the 1c you saw actually could have been in any of those 5 areas!