Now SATS are gone how does your school 'score' work? I don't like the new system.

[CFSsucks]

I liked SATS style scores, it was easy to understand, you could see if your child was above or below average therefore understand where they were in their work and you could compare to the previous year and see how they had progressed.

Now SATS are gone, our school said they will get emerging, expecting or exceeding. I don't really like this. If a child was previously quite low in, say maths, and continues to stay low but within their capabilites, they would get expecting because they are working at their expected level? If a child was a high achiever and continued to achieve highly, surely they too would get expecting so unless they do spectacularly badly or amazingly well even when they are normally high up, they will all end up with the same scores/results ie expecting. This just seems a bit crap and doesn't really tell you anything.

DS is fortunate and one of those who is fairly good at all his subjects. So (I imagine) that they will be expecting him to continue doing well and he would get expecting. To get exceeding would be quite difficult for those who are already at the top, imo (I may be wrong so if a teacher wants to explain it, I'd be very happy to hear it).

Now DD has started and I have no basis, I have no idea how good she is or if she'll need extra help. SATS style levels would tell me this but the new way doesn't.

[user789653241]

I think SATS hasn't gone, just old NC levels are gone?

[CFSsucks]

Are they not? I'm sure DS's teacher told me that his year 2 class was the last ones to do SATS and the old curriculum and when he went up to year 3 they would effectively be a year behind because the rest of the school had been on the new curriculum for the past year but years 2 and 6 were on the old curriculum.

Maybe I've got confused and SATS are still there and it's just the curriculum and grading system that has changed.

[CFSsucks]

Ah I've Googled and SATS are still there but they are more rigorous to reflect the new NC and will be marked with an actual score as well as something else and told whether they have reached the national average.

Still interested in if anyone has the emerging, expecting and exceeding scores for tests.

[user789653241]

I agree, old system was easy to understand for me too. I haven't got a clue with new system, looking at report really confused me.

[sunnydayinmay]

I think they are focussing on age related expectation. So, to get "expected" a child would have to be at the expected level for that school year, at that point in the year. To get "exceeding", a child would be above the expected level for a child in that year at that stage.

It actually makes more sense if the class is plotted on a graph. You can see the band of expected levels, and a group of dots (the children...) either on, above or below the band.

Certainly, in our school, the graphs are for teachers and governors and show trends very clearly. It is easy to see a child whose progress is not what it should he.

[user789653241]

That really doesn't make sense to me though, my DS got level4 for maths last year for teacher assessment(YR2), but his recent report said most of his attainment was expected. He knows most(all) of the things he is learning now in YR3. If they score against age related, he should be exceeding for most of things? And some of his target is set to something that was same as 2/3 years ago?( Like place value, it was set to his target in reception, now again in YR3. And in the past, he got a report saying he knows his place value to decimals.) I'm really confused.

[mrz]

There aren't any SATs in Y1, Y3,Y4 or Y5 (there never has been) only at the end of each Key Stage. Levels were never meant to be reported in these year groups but some schools started using them this way (I suspect part of the reason they've been scrapped) and levels were split into sub levels (they never actually existed in the national curriculum) in order to demonstrate progress over the year.
In the new curriculum there are tests at the end of each key stage and each school is free to adopt their own assessment system.

[CFSsucks]

mrz our school did use SATs style levels for the other years, I looked at DS's year 1 report and compared the levels to year 2 so I could see how much he had improved over the year. This is why I found it helpful.

[mrz]

Many schools did use them OP the point is they were never intended /designed to be used that way.
Progress was meant to be measured over a whole key stage rather than termly as children don't learn in a nice linear fashion but have spurts and periods of consolidation (in the same way they have growth spurts). But in this age of accountability they became distorted.

[bojorojo]

Very many schools are having parents' meetings to explain how the assessment of children will be reported to parents. Ask the questions of the SLT at the school, because they will be able to tell you how children progress and how their progress is assessed and then reported to you.

Some schools will have waited for their LA to bring out a scheme and others will have continued to use a computer program for assessment which has been adapted by the manufacturer to reflect assessment without levels, eg Target Tracker. Ask for a meeting if there is not one in the pipeline and ask the parent governor(s) if nothing is forthcoming pretty soon.

[Morebiscuitsplease]

I agree with OP it is not really informative, and very difficult to track progress from one year to another. We have a system where they tick boxes in their books to show they can do stuff...will be looking at that to see where any gaps are. Think teachers and parents are still feeling their way with this one.

[Buttercup27]

The new NC expectations are much higher than the old curriculum. So children that were high achievers on the old curriculum are now at an expected level. Where as those that were average have catching up to do to reach expected.

[user789653241]

Buttercup27, for those children who achieved level4 end KS2 in old NC level is expected level for YR3 now? If they are, most of children have lots of catching up to do.

[CFSsucks]

Wow that's quite harsh really. So high achievers "well done, now you're average, average achievers, now you are behind"

[Buttercup27]

Yep pretty much. If really is a massive hike in expectations, especially with things like spag and maths.
It generally equates to everything they used to need to know by the end of y6 they now have to know by the end of y5. The stuff they needed to know before the end of y5 now needs to be learnt by the end of year 4 and so on.

[CFSsucks]

Ah, I remember DS's year 2 teacher said DS would effectively be a year behind when he moved up to year 3 because of the new curriculum. This is why then. I hope it's not too much to catch up as at the moment DS is adamant he wants to do his 11+ but he'll ha e to be doing really well to be ahead in a new, harder NC.

[user789653241]

Buttercup27, my previous post was wrong. I wanted ask level4 end ks1, not ks2.