Early Years Education (i.e. Nursery)

apples1

Hi,
Just a quick answer to your question 1).....

You can't get them into school early. My daughter was born right at the start of Sept and I am in the same boat (only a year ahead of you). All her friends started school a couple of weeks ago and she has another whole year to wait. I work at a local primary school for a few hours each morning and checked with the head there, the LEA and anyone else I could think of and the answer is no, there is no way round the system!! My daughter is now the oldest child at the pre-school nursery she attends each morning. She is also very advanced and I actually shed tears of fraustration over the situation during the summer.

Once I just had to come round to accepting the situation couldn't change I have just made very sure that our afternoons are as enjoyable as possible for her. We have started swimming lessons one afternoon and do a ballet class another - both of which she LOVES! The other afternoons we read lots of books, do lots of craft, go to the park and collect things for making pictures, count everything we see everywhere we go, notice words, numbers and letters together as we are out and about - road speed signs - anything!! Best of all we often have lovely girlie chats in the coffee shop in town!

Find the best nursery/pre-school that you can. It doesn't matter about where she will eventually go to school. Your school place in in no way determind by which nursery/pre-school she attends. Then you do the rest yourself. That way she is getting all the benefits of the "early years" curiculum plus your excellent one to one tuition!!

I know EXACTLY how you feel. Good luck

thriftychick

I am a Nursery Teacher at a private nursery which is a feeder to one of the local schools but this has no bearing on whether a child will get into the school, you just need to put your favoured school as first choice on your LEA form.

The Reception year operates on the Foundation Stage Curriculum you can look on the QCA website to see the Early Learning Goals, your child sounds like they have already completed the goals for that. The National Curriculum starts in Year 1 of infants, it offers a wider breath of subjects.

I would think that your child will be moved up a year group as soon as they the teacher has done a basic assessment in Reception year. The school will not hold back a child or let a child be bored. The nursery should do letters of the alphabet, numbers, shape, colour recognition all as part of play as well as more formal writing if the child is ready.

I would hope that any Nursery Teacher would be only too happy to help your child progress, have you been in to discuss this?

rio

Have you considered a Montessori school? They do more structured work based around the child's individual abilities. We sent our son to one, like your daughter he is extremely advanced for his age, and it was the making of him. There is loads of info about them if you 'Google'. My son went for 2 1/2 hours five times a week, which was coved by his Nursery vouchers.

apples1

Hi Rio,
It sounds like you have found a really good Montessori school. I looked at the report for our nearest (which is not that near!) and it was shocking. I expected much better. They were below average in every area and the only academic area they seemed to do well on was for children with SEN. It clearly stated that work was not in anyway challenging enough for a lot of the pupils. Whilst you cannot judge a school just by its inspection report - it was so far of the mark I didn't see it as worth pursuing. It obvioulsy catered ok for those with less than average ability but not well for those at the other end of the spectrum.

Mrs_pbradley936

If I were in your position I would make an appointment to see an educational psychologist privately. It will cost about £150 but if you wait for your son to be assessed by the state system you will not have any joy until he reaches double figures or beyond. It takes for ever to get a child assessed for statmenting (a term used to see what if any special needs provision the child requires). The psychologist comes to the child’s home and speaks to them with you there and then without you there. They administer several tests to assess verbal reasoning, I.Q. reading, shapes and so on. They want to come to the home so they can see the environment the child lives in. They write you a report and make suggestions for the future education of the child.

Rachie_B

pbradley936 wrote:

If I were in your position I would make an appointment to see an educational psychologist privately. It will cost about £150 but if you wait for your son to be assessed by the state system you will not have any joy until he reaches double figures or beyond. It takes for ever to get a child assessed for statmenting (a term used to see what if any special needs provision the child requires). The psychologist comes to the child’s home and speaks to them with you there and then without you there. They administer several tests to assess verbal reasoning, I.Q. reading, shapes and so on. They want to come to the home so they can see the environment the child lives in. They write you a report and make suggestions for the future education of the child.

i guess it depends on the area / school ?

my son was asessed by an educational psychologist at age 5 via the school,our experience of it was very good i have to say

there was a bit of a waiting list but not hugely so

Mrs_pbradley936

Rachie_B wrote:

i guess it depends on the area / school ?

my son was asessed by an educational psychologist at age 5 via the school,our experience of it was very good i have to say

there was a bit of a waiting list but not hugely so

Waiting lists seem to be af act of life unless you pay twice, once via your taxes and again to actually get seen. I even had to pay the pest control man because the free Council service would be a six week wait. When I said I would pay the £25 the man was there within the hour. It was the self same man he had the Council contract!

Zziggi

pbradley936 wrote:

If I were in your position I would make an appointment to see an educational psychologist privately. It will cost about £150 but if you wait for your son to be assessed by the state system you will not have any joy until he reaches double figures or beyond. It takes for ever to get a child assessed for statmenting (a term used to see what if any special needs provision the child requires). The psychologist comes to the child’s home and speaks to them with you there and then without you there. They administer several tests to assess verbal reasoning, I.Q. reading, shapes and so on. They want to come to the home so they can see the environment the child lives in. They write you a report and make suggestions for the future education of the child.

Thanks. Am I right in thinking you are referring to my DS Re: ?aspergers and not my DD?

Actually DS has had an assessment after only a 3 month wait on a waiting list. He had his assessment at just 4 years old and the doctor was only happy to say suspected aspergers because of his young age (which is fair enough). The school & LEA are happy to accept the "diagnosis" of only suspected aspergers. The fact that he has been assessed, is 'in the system' and some problems have been highlighted is enough for the LEA & school (well this is what they are saying at the moment, but then again DS doesn;t need anything so they may be happy to say this currently simply because it isn;t costing them any money!). At the moment he does not need any real help just understanding and minor adjustments within the classroom and structure of the school day.

I take on board your comments pbradley, and if needed I would find the money for a private assessment. My area is very poor at some things but very good at others. Maybe assessing young children is one thing they do do well.

Mrs_pbradley936

Yes, I was talking about your son. I am very pleased that he has been seen already and you have the wheels in motion if he does need any help in the future. You daughter probably just needs extra stimulation and I can recommend a book for you called Reading Reflex. It costs about £20 but order it from the library first to make sure you like it. It gives you help and info about what you can do to help a child with reading (child should be at least four). I helped my neice with it when she was struggling to read at 11 and it did help her but I just wish my sister had noticed earlier that she was not progressing. If they know colours, numbers, shapes and letter sounds they leap ahead at school. If not they can lag. It is nothing to do with how "clever" they are, just a matter of whether they been introduced to such things.

rio

apples1 wrote:

Hi Rio,
It sounds like you have found a really good Montessori school. I looked at the report for our nearest (which is not that near!) and it was shocking. I expected much better. They were below average in every area and the only academic area they seemed to do well on was for children with SEN. It clearly stated that work was not in anyway challenging enough for a lot of the pupils. Whilst you cannot judge a school just by its inspection report - it was so far of the mark I didn't see it as worth pursuing. It obvioulsy catered ok for those with less than average ability but not well for those at the other end of the spectrum.[/QUOTE

I have been told that a lot of nursery schools call themselves Montessori, as they think it sounds well with middle class parents; even though they don't actually follow Montessori ideas re play and development, so yes you do have to be careful and obviously take note of the OFSTED report. If anyone visits a Montessori they should be able to show you a wide range of mathematical equipment used to work out shape, size, area ratios etc, which are hallmarks of the Montessori way of learning. I was given two very detailed booklets one about the school and one about the Montessori method. My little boy was invited to attend for three morning sessions to see how he took to it, and how I felt about the school.

They hold a founders party every year for those that have left and have gone on to primary school, great fun for the parents as well as the children - I think things like this indicate a caring happy learning atmosphere.