What can you expect of reception year?

[HoveDad]

My daughter went to pre prep before going to an ofsted excellent primary school. She was reading Peter and Jane by the time she left pre-prep and we've continued this at home which she enjoys. We told her teacher this when we went for an introduction and she was amazingly rude in her dismissing of us as pushy. We're now a term and a bit in and her reading books don't have words in! There has been no academic development driven by the school at all and I'm really hacked off. What should I be entitled to expect?

We moved her from South Africa where kids only start school at six so my daughter at five could not read yet.

She got a place at a state primary school in January 2007 and they tested her reading then started sending reading books with sentences home in the first week. I thought they were mad! But within a few weeks she was reading.

So you should be expecting more than that yes!!

Hmm tricky one. Part of me thinks that if you choose the state primary route you can't expect the pace to be the same as in a pre prep. Round our way the pre preps work a good year ahead of the state primaries on the whole.

The other part of me is indignant and thinks god why on earth shouldn't your dd be challenged and learning and progressing and it makes me angry on your behalf.

I think you need to try and have another chat with the teacher. If that doesn't work, speak to the head.

Yes reception is about playing but surely there's an element of learning too?

Why don't you have a look at this and see if the school is doing what they're supposed to be doing. Then you can go in and speak to the teacher about it. You will probably find that they are following the EYFS, as set out by the government. It would be a shame if she lost any love of learning, but you may well find that the school she's in now is simply doing what it is expected to do. There's nothing to stop you from continuing to nurture her reading abilities at home though.

Actually thinking about it more I am more of the second part of my message. It's not on that she is still on books with no pictures at this stage when she can read. There isn't any underlying reason is there e.g. she learnt the Peter and Jane stuff by whole word recognition and didn't know her phonics is there?

Sounds dodgy! DS couldn't read at all when he started reception, but was on ORT stage 3 or 4 by this stage of the year. Ask to meet with the teacher and get her to explain exactly why your DD is still on the picture books.

I am a bit that a child who could read in Sept is still getting books with no words tbh.

There is an amazing range in FS2. In the class I was helping in in Jan (older children so they were all 5) there were a couple of really good readers. They were on ORT Magic Key books and rightly so.

Equally some of the pupils (often the younger ones) are still on "Is it Biff? It is Biff" etc.

Any good teacher should be able to differentiate the curriculum etc. I would raise this with the teacher. What else is she doing? It is about learning through play in FS2 but still, if she is reading then she needs more of a challenge.

There might be a reason, so I'd ask what their philosophy is. For example in our reception the kids can bring back as many books as they want to, but there is no reading scheme. With them it's to foster a love of books. They push reading in Yr1 and the progress across the year has been incredible. It wasn't that they were stopping kids reading, as if they could they encouraged it. More that there was no pressure to perform every night. Have to say though it does seem a bit odd to give her wordless books if she can already read, but you still might find there is a good reason.

I would try to approach the teacher and get her take on it. Some teachers (like my DD's)can be very defensive ..

My daughter also left a very good pre-prep school to enter the goodish state infant school. She could read/recognise her words and sounds from day 1 and she started off in the class with no-words ORT/Bill and Biff books but she has been graded and put on a higher reading level ... The other thing was that the pre-school was also using a different phonetics/letterland and so it was also an adjustment for her

WRT expectations, I would talk to the teacher about it - sounds mad to keep her back but you are entitled to knowing the reasoning behind it.

Sounds a bit unusual not to have books with words in yet. However, in the long run it won't matter.

Our school puts children on books that suit their level so some children at this time of the year would still have had books without words whilst others were on book band turquoise.

And this is a school that is definitely not 'posh' but seems to differentiate the work well.

I disagree with Harveytherabbit; if state primaries don't stretch children they are seriously taken to task.

Around us, most people wait until school to start their children reading; very few pre-schools (even the ones attached to public schools) did formal stuff in the pre-school year.

My dd started reception with nothing formal behind her (other than four enjoyable years at home) whereas other children had made a start at home. This did not prevent her teacher from enabling her to learn at her fast pace.

Thing is I've seen the curriculum lists for local pre-preps for reception and seen the EYFS and there's quite a big difference in what's taught.

Not saying all private pre-preps are ahead of all state primaries/ teach at a faster pace but round here a lot do.

Not saying I agree with it being this way but it is.