Informing parents of ages and stages?

[green hippo]

Hi,

We've just completed all our initial assessments and had our parents evening but was wondering if others in school settings inform parents of the age and stage that their child is working within? We have always informed parents as to whether children are at, above or below the expected level but we don't actually show them anything that has the ages and stages written on apart from some obs in their learning journals. I realise that this is common practice in private settings but should we be doing this in school? I know that others have said that showing parents the ages has caused confusion as especially in Nursery they expect their children to be working within the 40-60 months if they are one of the older ones?

Thanks,

Green Hippo x

[Guest]

In Year R we do share this as part of parents' evening in a 'this is what we are going to do next' conversation. Setting this baseline has been useful in preparing the grouond for IEP conversations later in the year. We take care that we do the calulation of children's ages in months so age-appropriateness is clear.

It's harder in nursery with the months bands overlaps, so we only do this if we have concerns there.

No idea whether this is 'right' or not, it's just what we do!

[Guest]

i'm in a school in nursery and very few are in 30-50 band. really only ones who have been with us for 2 terms. some start at 16-26 months and most 22-36. by end of nursery majority are 40-60 emerging. apart from sen or children with poor attandance or pse issues. so we don't say or write it on anything but do flag up weaknesses. x

[Melcatfish]

i'm in a school in nursery and very few are in 30-50 band. really only ones who have been with us for 2 terms. some start at 16-26 months and most 22-36. by end of nursery majority are 40-60 emerging. apart from sen or children with poor attandance or pse issues. so we don't say or write it on anything but do flag up weaknesses. x

 

We are similar. Ours is a school nursery with most children starting significantly below the stage you would expect based on their chronological age. I do not refer to these bandings at all and instead focus on specifics of what they can do and what their next steps are.

 

Mel

x

Edited October 19, 2012 by Melcatfish

[green hippo]

Thanks!

That's what I do: we pick up on ages and stages where there are significant problems which we want to highlight to parents otherwise we just communicate weaknesses through learning targets, things to do at home etc and inform parents if they are 'above the expected level'.

Thanks,

Green Hippo x

[Guest]

Hi I was wondering if to share this info on parents evening but if some are 30-50 and they are aged 60 mths which a lot of mine are dont the parents get upset / argue this (this will be my 1st parents evening next week), this does make sense tho I think I will show the parents this because they need to know if they are really behind..

[Guest]

i would talk about how they have settled in, which is the most important thing and what they can do. when i had reception they wanted to know they are happy and have a friend at the start. it is depressing to hear your child is behind and you can do lots to help them catch up or close the gap by summer, so why upset them and as you say risk them disagreeing with you. presumably you will set lit and maths targets, if your school does this, then you'll be telling them where they are without mentioning being in band below where they should be! and you can say where they are in other areas without saying band. i tended to point out things that would get in their way of achieving their full potential e.g. lack of independence, lack of concentration, speech issues, not able to work in a group etc, and how we could both help x

[thumperrabbit]

I work in a pre-school, but we have always been told that we MUST tell parents what age & stage they are, and how you are going to help them achieve where they 'should' be - I personally don't like it and it can cause a lot of tension.

Although sometimes it creates lots of 'wow' messages on the parents page, which is better than the usual blank pages by most

[Guest]

OK thanks for the info, I dont' think I will show them I will discuss targets and anything that is an issue because I think it will be better to see progress, I could show them next parents evening so I can say this is where they started and this is where they are now, as a parent my main thing I would want to know is what is their targets and what can I do at home to help them, if my chidlrens school told me my child was not where I think they are I would have to argue this and this would cause friction but parents always see their children differently, you have to trust the teacher... interesting to see others opinions on this too? I just don't want them starting with any negative feelings? but then I dont want to hide things either, so tricky!

[Guest]

that sounds just great. you go with what suits you and your parents/children and also avoid negativity which helps no one x