rubbish school award - what does this mean?!

[whizzylala]

Just had prize giving for my two, my DD is 6,and is on an academic bursary at her school so I am pretty sure she is bright and all that, she has been given class award for "excellent speaking and listening" .....what the f????? I don't expect her to win all the time and am quite happy for other children to get the cups etc and for her to learn about not being top but speaking and listening.....??? What on earth does that actually mean? She is not daft and is seriously unimpressed as am I quite frankly. It could have been for being helpful, or smiley or art or enthusiasm- you get the picture, anything quantifiable perhaps. The others were for french, maths, writing, reading......
Anyone any ideas what the point of this might be?
Thanks!

I'd assume it means something like "paying attention speaking when spoken to/appropriate and not mucking around"?

There are a lot of 6yo children who struggle with listening and speaking. The ability to speak clearly and logically, to think through and plan what you want to say is a very real skill. Listening is also not an easy skill to learn, lots of children fidget or rush off before hearing the end of an instruction or chip in with their own thoughts while someone else is speaking.

Rewarding someone who is acting as a role model for the rest of the class, seems like a good idea to me.

BTW, I think that listening and speaking are assessed as part of KS1 curriculum... but might be wrong.

Speaking and Listening seems quite a valid award TBH. It's all part of literacy and that. It is a skill that is very useful, and something many little children find difficult. Be proud of her for it. She is picking up on your annoyance at it.

Why is speaking and listening less valid than one for reading or writing?

OK, maybe I have been harsh, I can assure you though that I have shown her nothing but praise for it! She has no idea I am stumped! I just can't quite get my head around it. I know she listens (to her teachers, not me) and has always been very good at speaking, I feel there are masses of other things she could have been more obviously praised / encouraged on!

I think to be verbally articulate is huge...with that sort of skill you can go far in life. Trust me, I'd trade it for my O-level French any day.

But why would those other things be better than one for speaking and listening?

Amd yes I think Speaking and Listening is one of the 3 Enlgish stands, the other two being Reading and Writing. So S&L is equally as valid as a prize for reading.

Perhaps your DD was the only one in her class who had earned the speaking and listening award?

Perhaps she already gets lots of praise for all the other things she does, and her teacher felt this skill had been overlooked and desereved a special reward?

If you are concerned, and still feel that your DD deserved something "better" than this award, then please talk to her teacher.

I'll give you "rubbish school award" - dd2 got a special sticker and presentation for managing to put her tights on by herself after PE.

She was four at the time, but really wasn't hugely impressed.

Because a 6yr old can understand being the one getting a certificate for french, or writing, because that is part of their curriculum but I am struggling to understand what they actually mean by speaking and listening, let alone her. Trying to big up her prowess has been hard, her brothers were much more obvious, to her and him. I compeletely agree that being verbally articulate is great and she certainly is so I shall just be proud, even if I didn't quite "get" the point of the certificate! I know, its Yr 1, no big deal! Nice to hear your thoughts - family were also unsure what it meant!

Speaking and Listening is actually levelled in a primary school, so she obviously did well with her level.

Here goes....
A link to the Speaking and Listening requirements as part of the KS1 curriculum.

As you will see, it is assessed seperately to Reading and Writing and is considered to be a skill in it's own right.

I don't understand what you mean when you say it is not part of the curriculum?

You and your family were unsure what a certificate for "excellent speaking and listening" meant...?

That's a brilliant thing to get an award for! Especially the listening bit - lots of bright children are seriously bad at that at 6!

oh thanks piprabbit, that helps a huge amount! I honeslty thought it was a cop out because they couldn't think of anything else - reading your link has made me realise that from a teacher point of view there is meaning to this - just a bit abstract to us perhaps! I have never heard reading and listening mentioned as a part of the curriculum/ parents evenings/reports or general chat before! Good old Mumsnet!

Yes lymond, it doesn't really mean anything day to day - we all speak and listen don't we, it is generally expected, she has never had any problems with it and I have never heard of anyone being awarded for it before....I don't think it is that odd to be unsure about it!

Speaking and Listening is assessed as part of the GCSE English curriculum for some (all?) exam boards by the way - it's worth 20% of the exam my current year 10s will take next summer! So don't judge it too harshly - that talent may make the difference between an A and an A* one day!

My pleasure whizzylala, hope your DD feels shes achieved something very special.

Glad you've been reassured - I should think that a 6 year old who is excellent at speaking and listening (especially the latter) is a rare wonder among inattentive mumblers.

Oh, and MrsDepp - my DD got her form prize last year but at 11 she still takes socks in her PE bag so she doesn't have to wrestle her tights back on. I'd be ecstatic if she came home with a sticker for that

A bit sad that you call it a "rubbish" award - she's 6!What were you expecting, declaiming Greek verse??

I'd be very proud if ds (6) got any sort of award saying he had excellent listening. His speaking is excellent and that is the nub of his problem...

Just because we do something day to day, doesn't mean its not something that should be commented upon when we do it well (or especially well, as it may be in your daughters case). In fact, quite the opposite is true!

Does your DD's school do English Speaking Board further up the school? My DD got a distinction in that in year 2, which is all because of her excellent speaking and listening skills

Today in sports day she got nothing, so I bought a book I knew she wanted and made a certificate, and did our own family awards ceremony afterwards, presenting it to her for achieving "a personal best" (Which she did - she wasn't disqualified for running out of her lane this year!)

If there is something you think your DD should have been rewarded for, that she wasn't by school, then award her something yourself. But speaking and listening sounds brilliant to me.

No, no greek verse, just something with an obvious meaning to us all like her peers!Maybe I am a bit old fashioned and like things like spellings, reading, french, maths, kindness, being helpful.....speaking and listening just seemed a bit nothingy to me, now I know better.

My son got a sticker for writing his numbers to 100 and then got a target in his report 3 weeks later to "read, write and order numbers to 20" Now that's rubbish!

Speaking and listening sounds like a good award for a six year old.