Reception - they've got to be kidding me...

[emy72]

I have just received DD's school profile. They assessed her in all 6 areas of learning in October and then again now, showing a wonderful progress from 2s and 3s to 6s, 7s, 8s and even a 9. Well it's absolute TOSH.
I am fuming. There is no way she was a 2 and 3 at the beginning of reception, looking at all the descriptors - and I have her nursery report to back it up (from the same school!), she was at least a 6 and 7 in everything. So what I am saying here is that she has made very little progress although looking at her report the school looks fantastic having brought her on so much...
This is an absolute farse. What am I going to do about this? It's really alarming as I already suspected that my DD had learnt very little - ok she is having fun, but she is the sort of girl that would have fun anywhere given a room full of children - I just get the feeling she has been left to fester, academically speaking - she has been on ORT level 2 since the beginning - not gone up a level at all, despite reading most books at home - and number work has stayed the same too since the beginning. I am absolutely fuming, what would you do?
Sorry for the long rant xx

Nursery could have over-estimated and/or she could have regressed slightly after the summer holidays. Or Reception could have under estimated. It happens.
Don't worry too much about the book level. As long as she is improving. Same with numbers.
She could have had a huge jump in nursery and plateaued for a bit. Children don't progress in smooth curves despite what the Government and OFSTED would like them to do.

The numbers will be submitted to the LEA so the school can get shouted at for being to generous or too mean. That's all they're used for. The Year 1 teacher might read them but that will be the last time they're looked at.

What would I do? I would take a deep breath, be pleased my child is happy and remember she's 4, not a uni student about to take her finals.

Or five even!

In most schools reception is all about getting them used to being in a school environment with lots of free play. I think that they usually knuckle down in Year 1.

However if you're not happy then make an appointment to see her teacher and discuss your concerns with him/her.

If you're worried about her lack of progress in reading then perhaps you could bring in a book which she is reading at home so that the teacher can see just how good she is.

I'm not saying that this is the case with your dd but some girls in my dd's class were able to read mechanically but didn't actually understand what they were reading. Do you feel that she understands the story?

I would really just go and talk to the teacher and find out what is going on.

Sorry I'm not much help.

I would make a picnic and go and feed the ducks after school today.

Very funny seeker. Except it is not your child who has completely wasted a whole year of their education and my feelings are of amusement to you (

I wasn't laughing at you. I was suggesting - gently - that your child is 4 - 5 at the most, and there is more to Reception than academic work.

She has not wasted a whole year

She has learned how to operate more independently than she would at nursery
She has made new friends, and settled in to a new environment
If she is like DS she will have learned about dinosaurs, animal habitats, some geology, a little bit of spanish, how to climb monkey bars and do headstands, what a policeman does, and a whole bunch of other brilliant stuff.

I am astonished by your frankly Dickensian approach to education.

If you wish to support your child's further development in reading and writing, I suggest you meet the teacher to discuss a strategy for her. Calmly, politely and in knowledge of the broader context of the aims of the Foundation Stage.

Yes I know that and I have been fully supportive of that principle. I just got very annoyed as the school is sending me something to sign which is obviously intended to make the school look good and bears no reflection on my DD. I feel like they are taking the mickey frankly. The school report for example suggests my DD couldn't get dressed with support of an adult or count to 5 - when she could do both since she was 3. That she couldn't sing a song, when she has been singing songs at nursery and even did a show. That she couldn't put together movement to music when she has been going to ballet since she was 2 and a half.... and so on all the way through. What's the point in showing me something so false? They might as well have saved the paperwork and spent the time playing with her. That's why I am so annoyed! x

Is there a section for your comments? Could you not express your surprise at the initial assessment they made of your DD at the beginning of the year?

ah now she may have been be able to do that with you but in a larger group without your support or prompting she may have found it tricky

Certainly make an appointment to see the teacher, and put these points to him or her

Don't sign it then.

Or make a note that indicates that she had achieved all these things earlier. And attach a copy of her nursery report.

I can see why you are annoyed - I have heard of schools doing this to make themselves look good. It is ridiculous but the whole education system is based on results so some schools do play this game.

maybe they didn't have any evidence she could do those things at the beginning of the year. they do now.

fishie, that's a very good point. I hadn't thought of that at all. Thanks for that, it's calmed me down immensely! Sorry for appearing stressed out, I need to calm down, I know, but it's just wound me up a little as some of the stuff was slightly ahem ludicrous.

I have made an appointment with the teacher next week and I will give her the opportunity to explain this properly to me. I suspect it will be what fishie said, ie they didn't have evidence etc I hope so anyway! You'd think they would read the very ahem comprehensive nursery report though!

apparently ds learned to count to 20 last week! well he has been doing that forever but obviously not in front of teachers.

i can see their point, if they have to measure progress they need a starting point. it does seem ridiculous that they don't take it from the nursery, but i suppose not all children will have the same assessment ie may not have gone to nursery.

I lost count of the times we got 'today we have been doing numbers to 10' when DS was quite happy operating in 100's and 1000's .

That said, in order to rank her somewhere, they have to have 3 (I think) documented 'proof points' at that level, which they now have but may not have had at the beginning of the year - but you're right, given that nursery were assessing against the same framework, it would be reasonable to think they would take the nursery assessment as a baseline and focus on assessing those DC who had not come into school with a complete assessment.

I would comment at length before signing it, IIWY.

I live in Wales, so the system may be slightly different, but I know when my children went from nursery school to reception (my DD is doing this now) they were assessed before leaving nursery school as to whether they could do a certain list of things. These include: counting to 5, recognising numbers up to 5, writing their name, using scissors to cut out a circle and a square, threading beads onto a string, building a tower of blocks, copying a picture of a cat. MY DD can do all of these and more, but she will only be assessed on these things. So for example the fact that she can recognise numbers up to 20 won't be noted, just the fact that she is able to recognise those up to 5. Once she has been in school for about 6 weeks (and so had chance to settle in), she will be assessed again, in similar areas. Then, before she goes into Year 1, she will be assessed again in slightly harder areas.

Sorry, this is turning into a bit of a waffle, but what I'm trying to say is that if she is assessed now to see if she can recognise numbers up to 5 it will be ticked off that yes she can, then in a year's time if she is assessed to see whether she can recognise numbers up to 20 it will be ticked off that yes she can. So on paper it will look as though she learnt to recognise 6-20 in reception, when she didn't in reality.

At the end of the day though it is is just a bit of paper.

My eldest two learnt far more than just the academic stuff in Reception, and I'm sure my DD will too.

I think some of you have been a bit harsh to the OP.

At the end of the day the report she has is talking about the 3Rs and her daughters progress so clearly even the EYFS does have some focus on this.

If other children in other schools are making progress in reception with their reading, writing and numeracy (even if it's in a fun, gentle way), why shouldn't her dd?

It is about fun and learning to be at school yes, but that doesn't mean she shouldn't care at all about the other stuff.

Here it was partly explained through over generous nurseries, but also and more importantly (and much to the teachers chagrin), they can only put down what they see and have evidence of, so when assessing your dd and she is asked to do something, and she refuses etc, they cannot put it down, even if they are pretty confident she can... pretty much why the whole thing is almost a waste of time... ;-)

Also I have found children can be so different at school to home. Apparently DS's weakest area is math - he won't stop doing sums, counting, shapes etc at home. He loves it but by his own admission he doesn't like maths at school. He says it's because he doesn't like the school numbers - doesn't know what to do with them

I can partly see why you are annoyed, but lol at a 5 year old being left to "fester academically" - SHES FIVE fgs!

McDreamy: that is so true. I remember when my middle DC was in Reception his teacher told me that she was concerned he couldn't use scissors. I actually laughed (I couldn't help it) as in that case I was interested to know who had been covering my kitchen floor with little bits of paper as he cut up every magazine and catalogue he could find! On the other hand his teacher this year has told me how enthusiastic he is about maths, which was news to me as he told me that "maths is stupid and boring!"

I think this stuff is bound to happen given Gov targets etc and you will change nothing by going into the school on full rant.

I had a similar reaction to your's at the Reception report, I went into see the Reception Teacher and expressed exactly how I felt. A few years down the line, with the benefit of hindsight, I realise it doesn't really matter, they are aged 4 or 5, learning the school routines, to make friends etc is more important that the ORT race. Incidently when your child leaves Year 1/Year 2 the race is over they can all read - and we all become much more relaxed. I just wish I'd had more perspective at the time before I went rushing in to make a big deal of it.

In the nicest possible way I would urge you to take a deep breath and move on, choose your battles carefully!

Hello, thanks for all your useful comments.
I have taken a deep breath and been to see the nursery manager who is also head of foundation at the school and a very experienced teacher. She volunteered to sit through the report and explain it in depth. I think she agreed that the initial assessment was not a true reflection of my DD but that this doesn't have to be. She says it's just a baseline for them to understand that they have covered the basics and that the teacher needs to provide evidence of those observations, so would be always on the safe side and go for the basics. She also explained what each level means etc...I suggested maybe the report came with a note to explain it all as it isn't that self explanatory. I thought it was worth goimg through that with her, and I also have a meeting with the class teacher tomorrow. I realise that by the time I get to dc4 I will be merrily skipping through these, I guess ut's all a bit daunting for parents of first children....

remember emy that these levels are given 80% on what they see so at the start of the year if your child was quiet or simply not presenting these things they cant possibly mark them down as 6,7,8 and 9's. No teacher imo would push children of 4 barely 5 into doing some of these things in that first term as its all about them settling in. The first assessment in reception is always based purely on observations only in which many will come out alot lower than they would in their own environment because children obviously feel safer in their own environment than in a classroom .

Now they are reaching the summer term assessments become much more focused and teachers can ask a child to do something if they havent observed it as they will have spent all those months building up a relationship so the child feels comfortable.