Am I wrong to be not impressed?

wisheswerekisses

Hi all,

I dont generally post in this section of the forum, Im usually in the other sections. More to do with moneysaving and I have posted under a different username as I dont want people to know about this.

Right I am currently pregnant with my second child so maybe this is why I am more upset / annoyed.

I have just been to school to pick up my five year old who is in year one. When I got there the teacher asked me to come in for a second. She handed me a letter and said can you sign this please? Ill tell you what it is in a minute.

So I waited for her to let the other children go, and asked her to explain what it was. She said oh its for him to go into a small support group to help with his spelling and reading, then turned around and started arranging pots on the window sil.
I asked her if this was because he was behind and she said no not behind as such just not as far into the class as they would like. That was it no other explanation.

Now when he was in reception he was always top of the class and being praised for the good work he was doing and he was in the top reading group.
I dont always drop my son off at school, but about a month ago I took him and watched him write his name and do his numbers and was appalled at what I saw. His writing was disgraceful and numbers all over the place. So I took him home and made him some work sheets from the pc and made him write them all out and not joking at all his numbers and letters were perfect. So I put it down to him being distracted that morning after a busy weekend.
But we carried on with the worksheets. And I just wanted to also add I read with him or rather he reads to me every night and any other work he needs to do is done and I have never noticed a problem with it.

So Im angry that if he has a problem why have me and his dad not been brought in to chat about it before now not that we have, my son has just been dumped into this group and why can he do these things at home but not in school? I am not naieve I know kids can mess about but I have some other issues;
He doesnt have the same teacher all week sometimes his regular teacher is only there for two days a week and the its teaching assistants.
Another time when picking him up one of the mums let all of the children out and seemed as if she was the only one with care, now dont get me wrong Im not saying she is incapable but how long had she been the one in charge.
I ask my son after school every day what have you been doing today then and I get - drawing, playing with toys, pe, painting making this....I ask him did you read? No we had a story but didnt read. Did you do any maths No. Did you do any writing No - Ok so not every day but at least three out of five.

So Im asking shouldnt I have been brought in if a problem was suspected with his development and why does he not seem to be doing as well in school as he does at home?
Am I right to be a little annoyed? Would I be wrong in considering changing his school?

Sorry if its a bit ranty I am just a little shocked and I am also angry and upset and typed all that out in a rush, please direct any questions to me!

Thanks for all replies in advance

alwaysonthego_2

Maybe you should book a meeting with his class teacher to talk properly about it. If that does not help the next step is the head teacher, then the governers. i really would not take him out of school until you have gone through the complaints because he will have made attachments with his friends. He is only 5 years old and at that age they still need to play. They learn quite alot out of play. I also wouldn't be overly concerned with his writing skills neither because they will develop properly when he is ready.

bunty109

I think you need to clarify what the situation is with teaching in the class. I would not be at all happy if my child was being taught by a TA for 3 days a week as a permanent measure, but I think you need to make sure that this is the case.

I'd be reluctant to fully believe a 5 year old that they haven't had maths or literacy as sometimes when subjects are topic-based they might not always realise that the lesson they are having covers more than just learning about that topic (something about history could involve them reading or a science topic might incorporate maths for that day).Having said that, maths and literacy are taught in separate chunks on our Yr 1 and they are taught every day, so it would be strange if this wasn't the case most days (to me, at least!)

You really need to speak to his teacher and ask some questions about the teaching (is it topic based? how do they teach maths and/or literacy?) and express your concern in this sudden drop in his work. As alwaysonthego says, if you then aren't happy then speak to the Head.

Good luck!

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

So you are considering taking a 5 year old out of a school which is offering extra help without being begged for it, which is acting as soon as possible, isn't hiding that there is something he would benefit from and is taking his teaching ratio down to that of a private school?

I'd say thank you very much and let them get on with it.

wisheswerekisses

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

So you are considering taking a 5 year old out of a school which is offering extra help without being begged for it, which is acting as soon as possible, isn't hiding that there is something he would benefit from and is taking his teaching ratio down to that of a private school?

I'd say thank you very much and let them get on with it.

There is no need to be funny in your response, I am more concerned that he can do things at home which he then cannot do at school. He is left with mums that go in to do reading and a teaching assistant for at least half of the day upto three times a week. He has confidence to read books at home which have been read almost word perfect then comments like 'try harder next time' come home in his reading diary. Not constructive. I am also concerned that I have picked up on this a month ago got his writing back to a standard that it was before and beyond and now and only now has a problem been pointed out.

wisheswerekisses

bunty109 wrote: »

I think you need to clarify what the situation is with teaching in the class. I would not be at all happy if my child was being taught by a TA for 3 days a week as a permanent measure, but I think you need to make sure that this is the case.

I'd be reluctant to fully believe a 5 year old that they haven't had maths or literacy as sometimes when subjects are topic-based they might not always realise that the lesson they are having covers more than just learning about that topic (something about history could involve them reading or a science topic might incorporate maths for that day).Having said that, maths and literacy are taught in separate chunks on our Yr 1 and they are taught every day, so it would be strange if this wasn't the case most days (to me, at least!)

You really need to speak to his teacher and ask some questions about the teaching (is it topic based? how do they teach maths and/or literacy?) and express your concern in this sudden drop in his work. As alwaysonthego says, if you then aren't happy then speak to the Head.

Good luck!

I understand where you are coming from with the 'not fully believing a five year old about what has been taught that day, but it isnt quite as black and white as I typed it out. I ask him other questions to establish whether a maths element could have been in there ie shapes, and counting with blocks and so on. At least three days a week it seems as if he has done nothing that could even come close to writing.
I will book an appointment for asap with his class teacher and see where we go from there.
Thanks for you help;)

onlyroz

You're complaining that you haven't been told that there might be a problem - but isn't that exactly what the school is doing? Offering to give him extra help with his reading and writing is surely a good thing?

ceebeeby

When you go for your meeting with the teacher, it might help to take along some examples of work you've done with your son at home, to show the comparison with school work.

You might want to ask if there is anything she's noticed, that might be distracting him?

Also, you've quite a lot of queries - it might help if you were to right them down (I remember when I was pregnant, I used to go to meetings, and half the time forget why I was there!!!), especially as it's quite emotive.

I do agree with a previous poster, and at aged five, a lot of learning is achieved through creative play, listening to stories etc. Is this his first year in school, how long has he been in school?

Try not to worry, it's good that both you and the school are proactively addressing this so quickly.

Best wishes

back2square1

I have encountered exactly the same with my youngest son when he was 5yrs old ie small support group.

The vital part is that it is a SMALL group and your son will benefit from this and will soon pick up speed if he is behind in anything.

My son is top of the class and a very bright boy, his problem was that he found writing a very laborious task and decided that he no longer wished to take any pride in his handwriting.

The small support group is not intended to single your son out as being not very bright. It is there to help them cope with everything that is expected of him at the correct speed (my son's handwriting was slowing him down).

Lunar_Eclipse

wisheswerekisses wrote: »

Am I right to be a little annoyed? Would I be wrong in considering changing his school?

I am just a little shocked and I am also angry and upset and typed all that out in a rush, please direct any questions to me!

Ok, I think you need to take some deep breaths.:)

Your feelings are all totally understandable if your son has effectively gone from being top to bottom of the class, although you have no reason to believe this is the case. I would want clarification as to why, what and how. The reason the teacher was probably so blase about this information is because from their point of view it is an everyday occurance.

There are always children who need extra help. Most parents can't get enough small group help for their children so it's a good sign on the school's behalf, honestly.He will make a huge amount of progress due to the low teaching ratio.

And whilst it's not good that the news came as such a shock, I wouldn't consider changing schools because they have spotted a way to help your son progress further.

Also, I'd check with the teacher about what your son is doing in school. I would be very surprised if he isn't doing Maths at least 4 days a week. And the same for Literacy.

It's always a shock to hear things aren't going well when you think they are, but try not to worry because it's not necessarily a bad thing.

bunty109

wisheswerekisses wrote: »

I understand where you are coming from with the 'not fully believing a five year old about what has been taught that day, but it isnt quite as black and white as I typed it out. I ask him other questions to establish whether a maths element could have been in there ie shapes, and counting with blocks and so on. At least three days a week it seems as if he has done nothing that could even come close to writing.
I will book an appointment for asap with his class teacher and see where we go from there.
Thanks for you help;)

I see where you are coming from and it would concern me too so I'd really go and see the class teacher just5 to clarify how things are taught (good advice about writing down questions etc): it really could be the case that he is getting taught maths/literacy as he should. I have 2 DSs and neither of them are overly forthcoming about what they do at school, even if I use cunning questioning!

I think there's 2 issues: who is teaching the class/ is the curriculum being taught properly and what you see as a deterioration in your son's work. I understand what other posters are saying about there being no shame in being put into a small group and that the school have been quick to identify a problem. However, it does seem that it you are concerned that it could be the case that who is teaching the class and what/how the children are being taught may be impacting on your son's progress (or lack of).