My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

Primary education

Is school doing enough in your opinion?

4 replies

littlemiss06 · 07/03/2014 09:47

My little girl year 3 almost 8 ended yr one on level 1C across all subjects so just slightly behind, in yr 2 they put her on school action.

End of year two

1b in reading

1A in maths

2C in writing

I disagreed with the levels as 6 weeks previous her headteacher pulled me up to say her end of spring levels were 1c in reading and 1b in maths and writing all so she was doing brilliant, yet school said she had made 2 sublevels progress in 6 weeks in writing which I doubted very much and felt personally that school had done it for their benefit, they didn't agree but I thought time would tell by the end of yr 3.

Start of year 3 parents evening her teacher told me she was

1b in reading

1A in writing

1A maths

Parents evening earlier this week, her results are now

1b in reading so since end of year one now near end of year 3 she has made 1 sublevel progress

1A in writing, was apparently 2C at end of year two which I doubted very much so now looking like shes gone back even though they never made any comments on this.

2C in maths so 1 sublevel progress so fine there although just slightly behind.

She receives 20 minutes phonic support each day, is this enough or expected for a child whos at level 1b and only made one sublevel progress in almost 2 yrs? Should we expect more, we do a lot at home, her reading itself is progressing, its more her understanding and predicting what she feels will happen which is apparently holding her back.

Also the level 2c that's now 1a in writing, should I be worried about them over estimating her mark last year making it now look like shes going backwards.

I know yr 3 tends to slow down in progress but to go backwards or make as little progress as her reading, what would you think?

I know levels aren't everything but im just a little concerned now especially with her reading, just to add we read every night at home

OP posts:
Report
PastSellByDate · 07/03/2014 10:00

Hi Little Miss06

This sounds so similar to my DD1s progress through KS1 and Y3 in KS2. I was chomping at the bit about why the school weren't doing more/ giving us advice on what we could do at home/ etc....

In the end had a rather nasty conversation with HT (after complaining to teachers) and was told that 'What you need to understand Mrs. PSBD is that your DD1 is just a bit dim'. They'd basically written off DD1.

Our school was only interested in teaching to NC L4 (things have changed since progress on low/ middle/ high achievers is now tracked) - and they were confident she'd attain that by Y6 (possibly with a bit of help in school) so didn't feel much need to do more.

In the end, because it bothered me, that DD1 was struggling to read, hated reading out loud (a bit of a stutter) and could barely add & subtract we went our own way.

  1. Reading more at home. - Nightly reading - often with DH or I reading with DD1 whilst the other bathed DD2.

  2. Literacy workbooks (Highly recommend CGP workbooks - teaches grammar but also a lot about spelling rules).

  3. On-line maths tutorials - there's tons out there. We had success with mathsfactor/ but others have used maths whizz/ mathletics & Komodo maths to great success.

    In essence by committing to roughly 3 hours extra work across a week in reading/ literacy/ maths - and faithfully putting the time in week after week - we've seen our DD1 climb the tables from bottom table in all subjects to top table between Y3 and Y6 (where she is now).

    We've just come off parents evening to be told she'll sit L6 SATs in Reading & Maths and that they want her to do it to ensure she's placed in top sets at her senior school (which initially organise students by KS2 SATs - but retests shortly after arriving in Y7).

    We're thrilled she's doing well, that she now enjoys school and that she is no longer frustrated, annoyed or intimidated by school work - but it took years of regular, steady work on our part.

    You'll know your own schedule -but my advice is use 'dead time' productively - that 1/2 hour in the morning whilst you're making lunches/ getting ready to go; waiting to pick up a sibling from their club/ whilst another child is bathing/ before going out to swimming/ club at the weekend.

    We've built in a routine of doing maths/ reading work or workbook pages which fits our lifestyle and comings/ goings and means that work is steadily getting done - without everything having to be suspended for it.

    HTH
Report
littlemiss06 · 07/03/2014 16:08

Brilliant advice, we do read every single night but the other ideas might be great to try with her.

She does have some problems though that are likely to affect her ability to reach a high level but we can try our best with her.

OP posts:
Report
Artandco · 07/03/2014 16:17

I don't think you can ever rely on just school for education. I would say max 50%

Can you get her a magazine subscription so she reads that on top of reading every night.

Do you have a grandparent/ friend/ relative they can email? Like a diary but more up to date I suppose. Get family/ friend to email back in long writing if possible. Then she will get to read and write there at least once a week

Story CDs/ downloads

Go to museums etc, they always loads of info boards about what's what they she can read with you/ alone, but doesn't seem like work

Report
littlemiss06 · 07/03/2014 16:29

Brilliant idea, yes we have family abroad so that would be a great idea :)

OP posts:
Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.