Have concerns about the boys school & not sure if its "normal"
I have had concerns about the school my kids go to for some time but due to our locations & lack of support from DH (who is now starting to feel the same way)about it I have just kept plugging along doing my best to kept tabs on things & support the kids as best I can at home.
First of all Evan, who is in yr 2 has not enjoyed school at all from about the last half of kindy. He seems to have improved a bit this year though. We felt he was struggling with the basics. A little while back I had him assessed & his IQ results were a little alarming. The lady who did them was shocked that his level of reading was so low & even more so that IMO what she was showing me as the average reading level for his grade seemed to be at the level that the kids in his class who are "above" average would be reading.
I didn't agree with this women in other area's & discontinued seeing her (child psychologist, that we were seeing for his anxiety & behaviour issues). Since then He has gotten glasses & along with some other things, seems to be improving a bit. More in confidence I think.
Now Glenn who is in Kindy seems to have no idea at all especially with reading. I know he is only kindy & only just turned 6 but he really seems to be behind.
The thing that concerns me is being such a small school it is likely that Glenn will be in a kindy/yr 1 class again when he goes into yr 1. Which will mean he has the same teachers again and I also know that the kindy group next year will be mostly 4yr olds turning 5. So I am concerned that he will be with a younger group of kids & continue to fall behind rather then get the help to come up to level.
I have spoken with several parents who have expressed the same concerns with their kids. That they have found they fall behind & get no real help to boost them up OR even have it mentioned that the kids need extra help. The reports & teachers comments are always "Oh he is doing fine" . I was getting the same comments about Evan until I sat down with the teacher/principle & school counsellor & really hammered it in that NO he is not doing fine. .
Other parents who have older kids so have been at the school longer then me feel that the school has lost its "spark" that special something that drives them to get the very best they can from the students. They don't "care" im sure they do but YKWIM. I just keep getting "That's {insert school name here} for you" .
Another thing that concerns me is I was told that the school had some of the kids not do the naplan tests so that their results didn't pull the school average down?! Is that allowed? How much truth is in that I don't know but its a concern.
So what I would love to know, is is there somewhere I can go (dept of Ed website maybe?) where I can get an idea of what level my kids should be at? just an average guide KIWM? We have no idea & keep getting "Oh he is fine" from the teachers which I really think is crap.
Changing schools would be a big deal as we don't actually have any other local schools. Its this one or travel 40 min one way to another. But how do we know if we do that things will improve?
It sounds like both of them could do with some remedial reading programs. Yes it is normal for some schools to have kids sit out the NAPLAN, but usually only if there is a good reason, such as a disability etc. Our friends have a boy on the spectrum and he sat them out this year because he just wouldn't have been able to do them properly. If you have been to see them several times and you are still not happy, and they are still not making any real effort to help them, then perhaps it is time to seriously consider a new school. I know the distance is a big issue, but sometimes it is just what we have to do kwim? Especially if we know the school they are at isn't meeting their needs. I'm not sure if there is information out there that you can read to see where they are supposed to be achieving at - Mrs Mac or someone else may be able to tell you more.
Thanks trill. Makes sense that kids with disability's would sit out. This could be the case here & the person who told me didn't realise.
But yeah we don't seem to get much in the way of useful feedback & our concerns seem to fobbed off. I think what bothers me most is i know of 3 other parents who have the same concerns. So just hearing others feel the same way is a bit alarming.
We would travel. Just need to make sure its the right thing to do. Its hard having school age kids!
It is hard and we've been so lucky that we've not had problems, but I know not everyone is as lucky as us. Would you be happy to leave it for next term, perhaps look at getting some tutoring for Evan to try to help? Next year might be better to give both boys a fresh start at a new school. With the readers that my kids get from school, they look at having them on a level 15 by the end of Kindergarten (we're in NSW too so the readers should be similar) and on 25 by the end of year 2 I think.
see I wouldn't even know what level they are on? They don't tell us that sort of thing. One thing I do know is this term they offered only to yr 1 (all of 5 kids.. yep small school) a reading recovery programme & one of the kids (parent I have been talking too) was only on level 3, she said she should be on level 20... I wonder if the readers he brings home have any indication on them what level he is reading.... be back..
Oh & yeah I wouldn't do anything till the new year I think. Other then suss out the best options as far as other schools.
Yeah, the little readers that they bring home should have on them somewhere what level they are - either printed on it as part of the book itself or written on it.
hmmmm Ok, They bring home the Reading a-z leveled readers. Gelnn (in Kindy ) brings home the level A books & Evan in yr 2 brings home the level G books. Im just on the website for the readers trying to work out the levels.
Have concerns about the boys school & not sure if its "normal"
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