Reading levels

[squirrel996]

I am so proud of my dd, she is one of the youngest in her year (august birthday) and last week got a level 5A in a reading test which is the highest in her class and the highest in year 6 (90 children) quite a few children got a 5b.

Did I read correctly that is the expected level for year 9?

[Dottymum2]

What year group is your dd in? Yes I think that is roughly what is expected for yr 9. Wel done ur dd :)

[EvilTwins]

Not really the expected level for Year 9 any more. A child getting 5b at the end of year 9 would have left KS2 on a 3b.

6b is more "expected" progress for Yr 9.

[PiqueABoo]

I've got a Y6 summer-born DD much like that and yes I think that is worth celebrating.

They're all different of course, but mine went through quite a lot of summer-born effects/expectations, especially at the start, so it feels like a significant victory now we're close to the end of primary school.

If only we could do something about the budding teenage-tempests: I'm convinced there's a correlation between Reading (essentially a measure of analysis and inference etc.) and the force of those more frequent stroppy arguments.

[Idratherbemuckingout]

Level 5A at KS2 is supposedly not the same as level 5A would be at KS3. So I'm told. Children leaving Year 6 at a high level, then get assessed at the start of year 7, and appear to have gone down a level or so, which is distressing for them, and is apparently because the criteria are different.

[EvilTwins]

That's not true. Strictly speaking, a 6 is a 6 is a 6.

[Iamnotminterested]

I would guess that levelling writing would be more accurate than reading as its teacher assessed in year 6 SATs, no?

[Idratherbemuckingout]

Might be a 6 is a 6 is a 6 in English, but it's not in Maths!

[richmal]

What is meant by reading levels?

Obviously as a child learns to read they go up in book bands, but once a child can read any words they meet is it more a measure of their comprehension? In year 9 is a reading level and a level in English literature the same thing or are they measured separately?

Is there a list showing what is expected at different levels for English which will make this clearer for me?

[ISAmum1]

Hi

By reading levels, they mean comprehension. That is reading a variety of texts and being able to answer questions. The questions call for different skills, ie, finding the answer in the text, inference etc...

Btw, I also have been told that a level 6 at primary, is not the same as a level 6 at secondary. By that I mean the criteria for marking it against is different, because Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 are different.

[ISAmum1]

Squirrel

Sorry I should be said, a 5a is very good. This should mean your dd will be in a strong position going towards secondary school. A level 6 in reading is very very rare in primary school, approx. 1% of the year 6 children.
With regard to expectations re year 9, if your child was a level 5a at the beginning of secondary (year 7), it would be expected that she would make two levels of progression, meaning she would expect to get a level 7a at the end of year 9.

[EvilTwins]

If levels were different across key stages then there would be no point to them. My personal views on levels are irrelevant, but as a secondary teacher there would be no point in having levels running 1-8 (or 9) if they were different for KS2 & KS3.

[ISAmum1]

Don't worry, levels as we know it will be disappearing soon.

[richmal]

ISAmum1 , thanks for explaining. I have no problems with maths and science, but how English is taught I'm less certain about.

[gardenfeature]

I tried a Google on "English APP Assessment Criteria" and found this for example:

www.essex.gov.uk/Business-Partners/Partners/Schools/One-to-one-tuition/Documents/A3%20APP%20assessment%20criteria%20%E2%80%93%20Reading%20and%20Writing.pdf

[richmal]

Thank you. That's just what I'm looking for.

[MirandaWest]

For those people who think levels are different for primary schools and secondary schools, what do you think happens in middle schools which go from year 5 to year 8? Do the same teachers teaching the same children suddenly start using different criteria? Seems unlikely.

[natellie1970]

My DDs high school teacher said the problem with level 6 (only do maths at our school) is that they don't teach enough level 6 to make is relevant, only what they need to pass the SATs. Might be different in different areas though.

[CocktailQueen]

For those people who think levels are different for primary schools and secondary schools, what do you think happens in middle schools which go from year 5 to year 8? Do the same teachers teaching the same children suddenly start using different criteria? Seems unlikely.

My dd is in Year 5 in middle school and afaik the levels are the same everywhere - it doesn't matter what school you're in. That would be crazy, wouldn't it?

And dd's school will continue to use APP and levels to assess the kids - even though the NC is changing and they don't have to any more.

[richmal]

My DDs high school teacher said the problem with level 6 (only do maths at our school) is that they don't teach enough level 6 to make is relevant, only what they need to pass the SATs.

How do the schools know what will be on the level 6 paper and therefore what parts to teach?

[natellie1970]

Don't know but I'm sure the teachers know approximately what type of questions are on the test same as any exam.

[Martorana]

"Don't know but I'm sure the teachers know approximately what type of questions are on the test same as any exam."

Yes they do- Level 6 ones!

[natellie1970]

I'm only saying what I've been told, by much better qualified people than me. If I'm wrong though that's fine.

[PiqueABoo]

My Y6 DD has been taught the one and only KS3 L6 maths material. We could debate how secure she is at any given part, but she has touched all of it now.

It's L4/L5 where there is currently a discontinuity between primary and secondary curriculum. They fixed some, possibly all of the gaps in the new curriculum e.g. primary will have some basic algebra (more or less the algebra DD was taught for KS2 SATs L6).

Obviously a KS2 SATS L6 pass doesn't mean you know all of the L6 curriculum, just enough to have got to to the threshold mark in an exam asking a limited number of questions. That's the same as most exams of course.

[natellie1970]

PiqueABoo thank you you put it much better than I ever could xxx

[PiqueABoo]

Some official DfE blurb on KS2 SATs L6 maths:

"The test samples the key stage 2 and key stage 3 programmes of study to determine if children are working at level 6, rather than whether they are fully secure at level 6."

"The test includes questions which assess levels 5 and 6 of the national curriculum. Questions that assess level 5 will typically be drawn from the upper end of the level. "