#16 The most important schooling a child receives is at home

This week, I have put my Year 6 class through the joys of sitting the 2014 SATS assessments, just so we can gauge where they are at. Whilst most of the children accustomed themselves very well, there were one or two who really struggled.

One child in our Year 6 simply cannot read and write at the level need to pass in the SATS. Although this child has been through every intervention going, there remains the sorry prospect that they will leave our school, after six years of education, as illiterate. This is my nightmare scenario and I often wake up in the mornings with this child on my mind. I've trawled the Internet for what to do next, but can't help but think we may have missed the boat.

It's a well known fact in education that a child is at their most receptive to learning in the early years and as they go through up school this capacity to learn gradually reduces. The truth is that before a child has even set their foot in the classroom, a crucial stage in their learning has taken place.

Parents have a huge responsibility to ensure that their child is ready for school but many parents take the view that at 5, that responsibility ends, and passes over to the school. This is wrong. Parents and schools are involved in an unofficial partnership. Together, they are responsible for the learning journey of children.

My 5-year old daughter comes home from school with books in her book bag every night, and every night my wife and I try to make sure she reads to one of us. Usually, she enjoys reading, but sometimes it is under duress! She is aware though of the importance of mastering this basic skill. As a teacher, I'm fully aware that good readers become good writers, so we help her with her spellings; encourage her to write short stories at home; make comments about her handwriting and suggest ways in which she could make her work better. All the time, we lavish praise on her, and as a result, her confidence and enthusiasm is growing in her reading and writing.

This learning at home goes beyond reading and writing. In fact, there are more basic building blocks that we need to be intentional about. In the acquisition of new language skills, children listen, then speak, then read and finally write. So how can we improve our child's speaking and listening skills? It's simple. I don't want to come across as a smug parent, because I know there is an awful lot I get wrong, but one thing I get right is that I ensure that my family and I sit down together at the table for an evening meal. However busy it is at work, this time is sacred. It's family time. Half an hour a day. We've got into the habit of taking it in turns to talk about our days and question each other on the things we've been doing. The children (I have two girls, 5 & 3) love this. Once we have done this, we play a few games, such as going round the table thinking of different flowers or animals or something. It's like Mallet's Mallet, but without the mallet. Sometimes we play 'Who Am I?', or 'Guess the animal.' These are simple games which entertain us, but are also vital to the learning development of our children. Sometimes I think that half-an-hour we have together each day is their most valuable learning of the day.

For parents who take the opposite view - that schools are responsible solely for the learning of their child, I have a message:

There is no-one in a school who loves and cares for your child as much as you do. There is no-one in a school who individually spends as much time with your child as you do. So use that time well - talk to them, read with them and encourage them to write. They will thank you for it one day.