What is your P1 child doing in school, especially if they are 'playbased'?

[thefictionalcrown]

I am definitely not speaking to the teacher at this point in term but this has been niggling away at me for a while now.

DS is number 3 so I thought I knew the script by now, but everything's changed. They have 'must do tasks' which they show they have completed by putting a stick in a jar.

Learning seems to be very, very slow- they have only learned up to the sound o and numbers 0-10. The whole class seems to be working together whereas DDs were definitely in groups by this point and reading quite nicely.

He is quite capable academically but also quite capable of mischief... he has told me that he puts his stick in the jar without actually completing the task. I was very firm with him that I want him to complete all these tasks when he is given them, but whether that is happening or not I don't know.

There is no regulatory body? Are you sure?

There is a inspection service, my childrens' school was last inspected in 2010.

Jolly phonics 1-7 have really nice workbooks on Amazon with stickers and colouring activities. You can pick up songbirds and Oxford reading tree if you've got any second hand bookshops near you or also online.

Good luck op - regardless of the theoretical merits, I do understand your worries. It's so hard to know whether things are right for your child or not, and what will be ok and what won't be.

I do feel for teachers - as far as I can see they struggle even in normal times with so many constraints.

OP, I am beginning to doubt your work ethic.

School inspection reports
Last updated: 22 November 2019
Education Scotland carries out regular inspections on Scottish schools and nurseries.

And again...

Choosing a school
As a parent, you have a right to request a place at a school other than your local catchment area school and education authorities have a duty to meet such requests if there is space at the requested school. However, the local authority does not have to grant your request if the school is oversubscribed.

Usually, parents make a choice about which school a child should go to when the child is starting primary or secondary school. However, you can ask the local authority or school for a place for your child at a different school at any time.

These inspections are useful for parents who:

may be looking at schools for their children to go to
have a child who's already at school and want to see how their school is performing
Visit the Education Scotland website to view its school inspection reports. You can search by:...

And straight from The School Run

An overview of the Scottish education system
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How does the school education system work in Scotland? What are the differences between the National Curriculum and the Curriculum for Excellence? We explain how students are assessed within both systems in the UK.
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Scotland has its own qualification framework that is separate from the one set for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, but each one is recognised around the UK. England and Wales follow the National Curriculum (with the exception of the Foundation Phase in Wales), Northern Ireland follows the Northern Ireland Curriculum and Scotland follows the Curriculum for Excellence (also known as the CfE) for nursery, primary and secondary schools.

Children in Scotland complete seven years of primary school, starting in P1 (the equivalent of Reception classes in England), going up to P7 (the equivalent of Year 7 in England). After this, they do six years of secondary school from S1 to S6 (equivalent to Y8 to Y13 in England). Secondary schools in Scotland are also known as high schools or academies.

It's. All. Right. There.

I wish you well.

I'm beginning to doubt yours, Cookie, because none of that answers my questions, does it?!

In closing...

Visit the Education Scotland website to view its school inspection reports.

15 seconds on google.

There is a lot of support out there, honestly. Stop complaining and go get it.

lol

You're incredibly lazy.

You claimed you can't choose a school in Scotland. You can.

You claimed the School Run couldn't help you because you're in Scotland. Proof that it can but yes, your job to go and read it.

You claimed there are no Ofsted reports and no way of choosing a school that suits you. You can read the inspection report and act accordingly (see my first point).

You've dismissed other attempts to make the case for play based learning and shown absolutely no empathy or interest in how this may be impacted by a global pandemic. You clearly have no interest in supporting your child or you'd be off looking up some of the websites that have been suggested to you.

Not my child, not my monkeys. However I've offered a great deal of options to you which you're clearly not interested in as it would involve expending an iota of effort

The school inspection report is from 2010. They were not learning like this in 2010. Thus, the inspection report is useless.

You could try not complaining and answering my questions from a teacher's point of view?

I could, and I have.

I will leave you to the delights of The School Run.

No you haven't. I'll list them again for you, because there are no answers on that fucking website you must have shares in it.

How should tasks be checked?
How are all those important skills like making letters out of playdoh and not monsters reinforced while the teacher is with another group?
Is it common for children not to complete the tasks?
How are those children monitored?

@thefictionalcrown

No you haven't. I'll list them again for you, because there are no answers on that fucking website you must have shares in it.

How should tasks be checked?
How are all those important skills like making letters out of playdoh and not monsters reinforced while the teacher is with another group?
Is it common for children not to complete the tasks?
How are those children monitored?

These things will all be up to individual teachers - there are a range of different approaches. Some teachers will go for an entirely "in the moment" approach with no planned tasks to complete at all.

No, there isn't an adult present. The teacher SITS AT THE TEACHING TABLE and calls children over to her.

^*
The other children play and are supposed to be completing their must do tasks, except DS has managed to suss that it is quite easy to keep on painting and put the stick in the jar anyway*^.

If the teacher isn't checking it then it's not really a 'must do task' this is just learning the self regulation that will take longer for some than others and give the teacher who needs help with that. It's an important skill to introduce . The teacher will ensure they are doing the real 'must do' 1:1 and will be on to the ones who aren't doing what they say they are. Is your teacher actually the only one in the class too? Most have a TA who will be keeping an eye on this also even if they have other 1:1 responsibilities

I think that choices in some parts of Scotland are as illusory as they are in some parts of England, you're just guaranteed the not great school that is your catchment school rather than the rubbish one on the other side of town. I think 3 or 4 of my surrounding schools had under 10% successful placing requests, at least one had zero successful placing requests, most are 1 form entry locally.

Our "desirable" high schools are about 10% success for placing requests as well, and we're not rural ..

If the teacher isn't checking it then it's not really a 'must do task' this is just learning the self regulation that will take longer for some than others and give the teacher who needs help with that. It's an important skill to introduce

Ah, ok. Different way to look at it, and maybe something that will be enforced more strictly after Christmas.

Is your teacher actually the only one in the class too? Most have a TA who will be keeping an eye on this also even if they have other 1:1 responsibilities

There is sometimes, but not always, a support worker. DS says they take another group out into the corridor when they are there, so yes, it seems that the teacher is mostly on their own.

cookie the op is correct on school reports. A statement that there is an inspectorate doesn’t mean that a recent inspection had taken place. There are only reports available for approx 30% of Scottish schools. Many schools have not been inspected for more than 10 years. So it’s not as simple as looking at the report.

Yes you can go out if catchment but only if there is space available which is often not the case in many large town/city schools. For rural schools the distance to the next school is prohibitive.

I can’t comment on the current stats of play based learning in P1. But I did notice a marked difference on achievement in the space of 6 years once the c of e kicked in.

Our school has very traditional teaching in P1. One of the neighbouring schools has been completely play based for P1 for the past couple of years. My friend who teaches P2 has noticed a bit deterioration in what the children can do since this as feels she is having to teach 2 years of work in one

Wow this thread really kicked off!
Everyone here really needs to remember they are talking about 4 and 5 year olds.

I think you should be careful of how much stock you put on what your 5 year old says about his school day. I find my 6 year old has a very selective memory. They often forget what they've been learning and with who. In P1 I was repeatedly told they did not have their time with the teacher, when I knew they did.

I would ask myself why you are so worried about the difference between your DS and DDs. Did you worry that they all crawled, walked, talked etc at different times?

Also given that the explanations you got from some of the teachers here didn't reassure you, maybe talk to the other parents and see how their kids get on. Maybe perspective will help? I found it quite reassuring in P1 to see that my child was pretty much same as all the others.

Did you worry that they all crawled, walked, talked etc at different times?

They more or less did, actually, I have been very, very lucky with my DC.

You make a good point about talking to parents- we really haven't been chit chatting in the same way this year and maybe I have missed that more than I have realised.

@thefictionalcrown I’d raise your concerns directly with the teacher (though perhaps not on Monday and Tuesday since they’ve just been shafted by the latest announcement!)

We had parents evenings where the playbased way was explained and it was reassuring and I was happy with the evidence and arguments. Unfortunately it was not noticed that my child need support and was falling behind. Whether that’s a risk with this method or because the teacher and two support staff were shite, I don’t know.

I’ve had the same staff teach my other children and they were dedicated, hardworking excellent staff. But the fact of the matter is my child did not excel or reach their potential and is way behind their peers. They now, at the age of 7 feel stupid, are aware they are behind, lack self confidence in their abilities and are not the same happy child that went into P1. I’m actually gutted writing this. They were so happy to be going to P1 where they’d learn to read and write stories, and now in P3 they still can’t.

we had the same experience mrsamaretto, it definitely wasn't all in our minds, the school were telling me my DC was behind, couldn't do things I knew she could before she even started P1 and when we moved her to a more structured place she absolutely flourished. I had many helpful parents pointing out that it was all our anxiety and if I had a pound for 'children learn at their own rates'. And sometimes, sometimes the play based implementation is not well done and not suited to your child. You have to identify which as a parent if you can.