Have concerns about the boys school & not sure if its "normal"

[*Efjay*]

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?

[Trillian]

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.

[*Efjay*]

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!

[Trillian]

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.

ETA - I just realised that you could look at the syllabus for NSW schools. Here is the link for the parents guide http://k6.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/...ents-guide.pdf and this is a PDF of what the learning outcomes are for each stage http://k6.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/...6_outcomes.pdf

[*Efjay*]

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.

[Trillian]

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.

[*Efjay*]

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.

[Pretty Butterfly]

To be honest, I would be worried about a whole grade, even 5 kids, was given the reading programme... its designed for students with reading problems ,and those who fall behind.

To give it 5 kids from any grade, even in a large class would be a lot, but 100% of the class??

[*Efjay*]

Exactly! Mind you I think out of this 5 kids only 3 are doing it as the other 2 are above average kids. 1 is new to the school only started here a few months back so came from another school. The other her mum has had tested & came back as "Gifted". Her older brother is also very smart.
See this is what worries me.. These kids are on the 2nd year with the same teacher(s) (they have 2 for K/1) & if what I hear is right about the classes next year Glenn will be stuck with these 2 AGAIN. I feel this was a big part of Evans problem as he also had the same 2 teachers for Kindy & yr 1.

Eta - See & even the "Gifted" childs mum gets "average" report cards & comments even though she is clearly well above average & she questioned the teachers at the p&t meeting she was told they don't like to "talk the kids up". She said thats crazy as the reports are for the parents to read not the kids (even though her daughter could read & fully understand teh report LOL)

[JellyBean]

Hi,

This may seem a little out there but are you in a position to consider homeschooling? My next door neighbour has started doing it this year with her 7 & 5 year old and she says they are now starting to blossom in areas they were struggling with at school. I understand its not for everyone of course. However school can be a 'one size fits all' approach and some kids just don't seem to fit. Something else to consider is the Steiner approach to reading/writing etc. They focus more on the creative aspects of learning in the early years and don't begin reading until the age of 7. They catch up to the others soon enough...
I worry about the amount of pressure on young children to perform to a set level these days - it just seems so rigid and arbitrary.
I'm sure your child has strengths in other areas that the system is not adept at focusing or developing....
I hope you can get the answers you are looking for. Just thought I'd offer a different perspective.

Your sig made me laugh by the way - congrats on all those years breastfeeding. Thats admirable!

[*Efjay*]

dont worry homeschooling is something I have thought of a few times now.

[*Efjay*]

Spoke to the school today. Glenn is on level 1 & should be around level 6. Evan is on level 15 & should be around 24.
I found Evans teacher to be rather defensive but the school has a guy in atm doing a reading recovery programme for the yr 1 kids & I spoke with him for about an hour on way to help the boys. He said not to worry to much with Glenn just yet as he will do the programme with him next year but I should be worried about Evan. He gave me some great tips that we will try & put into place over the holidays. He thinks if we can stick with it & get Evan keen to do it we should have him up to level 26 where he should be by the end of the year.

I can't believe he is on 15 & the school thinks that is ok. He is a whole year behind FFS how is that ok?

[Trillian]

I have been thinking about this today and I think that the way he feels about school is directly related to the way he is being taught. Kids will thrive if they have teachers that have passion and are determined to help the child learn, but when they totally lack those qualities it shows and it makes the kids not want to learn too. If they can be so blase about where he is at academically, then he needs to be in a new school.

[mrsmac]

Best start requires kindy kids to read at level 8 based on reading recovery levels by the end of kindy. Some of my class are still on level one sadly and they are doing extra work with a teachers aide to help with their reading and phonics.

I know which school your kids are at and have a friend who is at another school kind of in the area so i will ask her what she has heard about your school on the teachers grapevine.

[*Efjay*]

Thanks Mrs Mac. I kinda think (could be wrong) that all the small schools in my area are the same. Too small to care.
I just find it so frustrating that the teacher is obviously telling us what she thinks we want to hear. We get oh he is doing fine, he is being good. BUT then she told the reading guy that she wasn't able to do the reading assessment on him just recently as he was misbehaving too much?! So this either tells me she isn't telling us what we need to know OR she is passing the blame on to him. Surly if his behaviour was that bad we should be told. She knows of the struggles we have had with behaviour at home I have expressed my concerns he will start pushing it at school yet she tells me he is fine. BUT then it seems to be a different story for others.

The hard bit too is I can't even go well lets see how yr 3 goes, new teacher etc. because chancer are he will have her again! Some kids have her for 3 years straight! GAH I so hate we moved up here. We moved up here with the main reason being to go to this dam school!

[mrsmac]

My friend is at a 2 teacher school , sometimes 3 and she is an awesome teacher who loves the kids and works really hard. She has K-2 so has them for 3 years but I bet they love her. It would be too far for you to go though- think a major road which is popular with motorcyclists (her school is on that).
I have worked with teachers who don't want any conflict with parents and will tell them only good and believe me its a PITA being the teacher after them cause I tell it like it is and often they are shocked. This year cause I have kindy I have asked a few parents to get their child's hearing and vision tested and we are working on a few kids to find out what their needs are because as I say to the parents its better to get it sorted now before they fall too far behind.
If you like I can send you the list of outcomes we expect kindergarten to achieve by the end of the year ?

[*Efjay*]

It would be too far for you to go though- think a major road which is popular with motorcyclists (her school is on that).

Gotchya But I would actually pass that one to get to others that are further away. Assuming I have the one you are talking about right. Its about 20 mins from me. Its probably the next closest one to me apart from the one we already attend.

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