Early KS1 questions

Key Stages 1-2 and SATs advice

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mm23292
Posts: 446
Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2010 10:57 am

Early KS1 questions

Post by mm23292 »

DD2 has just started year 1, having had quite a turbulent reception year with ill health and a lot of missed time off school. She has also had hearing and sight problems, and is a summer baby so one of the youngest in her year. She hasn't got off to a good start this year either, as she came down with a kidney infection and pneumonia, within the first week. She is back at school again, and I am confused as to where she should be at this stage. Given her 'issues', I get the impression she is seen as a child requiring 'extra help', and she is seated at a table (with a slow animal name) with a couple of the children that I know are SEN. However, I am not sure what format this approach might follow, and the teacher seems cagey on discussing her ability or where she is at.
Even though she has had a lot of time off and many spells in hospital, she loves reading, and is very proficient. She brings home green band books and finds many of them a bit repetitive. But still we read them and pop the appropriate comment in the reading record, as you do! As for maths, she absolutely loves it, she has always shown great logic, and is very adept with numbers. She confidently adds double digits for numbers upto a 100, subtracts, is able to calculate halves and some quarters, and is generally just good with numbers. However, she seems to be bringing home very very basic stuff in relation to numbers, like filling in the blanks of numbers upto 10, learning to write the numbers upto 20 etc. Things she has long been able to do. So my question is, what maths should an early KS1 pupil be learning? And do children get labelled in some way, as some of the parents I know have insinuated...slow named animal etc etc!
To me she is certainly not slow, she is shy, so probably not very forthcoming, but I would hate to think she is not being challenged in the same way her 'less disadvantaged' friends are, or is this type of work pretty normal for early Year1??
Guest55
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Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: Early KS1 questions

Post by Guest55 »

What were her Foundation stage profile results? Did she reach 'a good level of development'? (you don't have to post this information!)

The new Primary curriculum is here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collectio ... key-stages" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This will tell you what Year 1 should be doing.
yoyo123
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Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:32 pm
Location: East Kent

Re: Early KS1 questions

Post by yoyo123 »

Have a friendly word with her teacher. It is relatively early on in Term 1 and teachers are getting to know there classes and finding out what they are capable of, their stengths and weaknesses. I know we have information and figures passed up, but that does not give the whole picture; KS1 is very different from EYFS and children work differently for different teachers often. Perhaps the teacher feels that they are inching her back in slowly?

The vast majority of teachers are approachable and want the best for their class. Better to have that friendly discussion now.
mm23292
Posts: 446
Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2010 10:57 am

Re: Early KS1 questions

Post by mm23292 »

Thank you Guest55, very useful. I have never been one of those to badger the teachers at every opportunity, I waited for the planned parent teacher evening to ask about her progress last year, primarily because we had more worrying issues in hand, but the feedback was, and still is, very restrained! She's doing fine,...but relative to what? That is what's frustrating. She ended Reception bringing home the same pink band books for months on end, yet gets pushed upto green on her first assessment back into Year 1?? Something must have been amiss somewhere!
Yesterday I spoke to her class teacher,...and I got the same feedback, she's doing fine. I appreciate it is early days, and she's already missed some school, but relative to the feedback I hear my friends with kids in prep school getting, it all seems very uninformative! It is almost as if they are keen not to say too much, for fear of some playground parent competition running rife! Afterall, that 'slow animal' group already gets a good enough gossip as it is! :lol:
Manana
Posts: 710
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2011 3:22 pm

Re: Early KS1 questions

Post by Manana »

Don't worry too much about the slow animal group. I teach Year 1 and my class are in mixed ability for quite a lot of the time so far-it probably doesn't mean a thing.

My best readers at this stage are on Orange book band-so only just one on from you. Keep reading, keep playing fun maths games-telling the time, counting out money, weighing, counting in 2/5/10 at home etc and as the teacher will get to know your child, they'll see what she can do. Have a quiet word if you're still worried though :)
mm23292
Posts: 446
Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2010 10:57 am

Re: Early KS1 questions

Post by mm23292 »

Thank you Manana, that is good to know. The book band she brings home doesn't worry me in the sense that she has many other books at home she likes to read, but their assessment of her and the 'labelling' as such, most certainly does. Having had a poor experience with DD1 for different reasons, I learned the hindsight lesson too late, and simply because I trusted what I was being told. And DD2 is one of the very youngest in her year, not long 5 while a large majority of her class are already 6, or are turning 6 this term. I imagine that must pose a huge disparity between children at this stage, I know it all pans out eventually, but those early 'labels' can be very hard to unstick! Thank you for your comments :)
Daogroupie
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Location: Herts

Re: Early KS1 questions

Post by Daogroupie »

If the band books are too easy for her then she should go onto the next band. I used to go in and read with KS1 students and was allowed to move them up following a set of critieria on their understanding of the book. Teachers and TA's are busy and it is easy to miss that a student is making progress. When my younger dd was in Y1 they forgot to put her in any reading group so she went a whole eight weeks not doing any reading at all at school with me writing in the book every night and nothing at all from the Teacher or TA. Finally I had to go in and only then did the Teacher realise. In my opinion students do best in state schools when the parent is actively involved. Your dd should not have spent months on pink bands last year and should not be spending months on any band this year especially as she is doing lots of reading at home. DG
Stroller
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Joined: Thu May 17, 2012 9:39 am

Re: Early KS1 questions

Post by Stroller »

If you are reading other material outside school, why not mention that in the reading record too? Adding colour and detail in the diary gives the teacher another perspective.

I'm a huge fan of reading real books rather than artificial stories constructed to fit in colour bands. You can do the banded books for a quiet life in addition, but supplement them with more interesting stories.
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mm23292
Posts: 446
Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2010 10:57 am

Re: Early KS1 questions

Post by mm23292 »

Thank you for your comments. I was beginning to get more concerned, because having been assured that children would be reading to someone once a week, every time I asked DD if she had read to anyone that day, I always got the same answer, No, she had not read to anyone since the first read in week 1. So I casually asked about it, and lo and behold she comes home the same day having been moved up to orange band. Is there an average time span between moving book bands in year 1? How quickly should children generally move from one to the other? And will 6 year old readers generally be much stronger than summer born 5 year olds? Or does that become irrelevant quite quickly throughout year 1?

As for the ability group gossip on the playground, I am not sure what the relevance of her 'slow animal' group arrangement is, she sits in that group for lessons, possibly because it is close to the front and her hearing / sight issues would explain that, but then appears to be going into different groups for maths work etc... so perhaps the other parent comments are not quite founded after all. Anyway, am feeling a bit happier about it now, as you rightly say Daogroupie, a spot of active involvement is key.
guest201
Posts: 484
Joined: Mon Aug 31, 2009 4:04 pm

Re: Early KS1 questions

Post by guest201 »

I know at our school there are a certain number of books a child has to read before they can move up a band, it doesn't matter how well or badly they read these books, they have to be read. I suspect this is the case in many schools, in our school it is the TA who gives out the books not even the class teacher, I have in the past had many conversations with teachers either face to face or via reading records regarding my DS reading, and have always been fobbed off. I came to the conclusion that the best thing to do is go through the motions with the books you are given at school (he read well was the comment I always put in his reading diary) and read you own stuff at home, eventually the teacher will catch up with your child's level. Remember it is not a competition, it doesn't matter if other kids are reading higher bands what matters is that your child learns to enjoy reading and to read for pleasure not just read to beat another child.
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