Wow, I just heard of a boy getting level 4 in his year 2 SATs ....

[verygreenlawn]

.... probably not using the right terminology, but he's now in year 3 (year above my ds1) and got level 4 in mathematics assessed in the summer. Which to me sounds amazing!

I haven't even got the comfort of pretending the mum was bragging about it, she was utterly modest and really quite shy about it. Oh and he's bilingual and a lovely little boy too.

Isn't this amazing? Or are there hoards of you out there all thinking "pah! So did my dc ...."

[Kelloggs36]

No that really is amazing! Trouble is, that they can only ever get to level 5 by the end of year 6 so they will have to do lots of additional things with him to enrich his experience rather than push him further up.

[Honeybarbara]

Maybe he has Aspergers? being clever is not the be all and end all...

[LilyBolero]

You can't get level 4 in Y2 SATS. Do you mean he was assessed separately?

[Feenie]

Not so, Kelloggs - this particular child will have been teacher assessed at level 4, and at Y2 this is outstanding. But the same could (and should) occur in Y6 - he can be teacher assessed at a level 6.

Teacher assessment has equal weighting with the tests at the end of KS2 - although you wouldn't know it, because the government aren't interested in using this data for league tables, even though the teacher assessments are collected and reported to parents/high schools.

[Feenie]

Y2 levels are reported as a teacher assessment, Lily, made up from lots of sources of evdence, a small part of which are the SAT tests.

The test only test levels 2 - 3, but children can be teacher assessed above and below these levels.

[Feenie]

The tests

[primarymum]

I had a boy in my Yr2 class last year I assessed as Level 4 in reading and just in case anyone didn't trust my assessment ( which is based on lots of activities and evidence over the year) he sat the Yr 3 Optional SATS paper and was a level 4 on that too!

[atworknotworking]

Can anyone tell me where to find what levels children should be at / working to at what age / year group?

And also what tests children do at what ages?

TIA

[clop]

It's too boring much for me to explain, atworkNW, but I will bump if someone one else wants to have a go.

[atworknotworking]

Thanks clop

[primarymum]

For Key Stage 1 most children are expected to work between levels 1 and 3 with an "average" at the end of year 2 of a 2B. In theory, children then move 3 sublevels every two years ( so 3B end of yr4, 4B end of yr 6) As you can see, yrs 3 and 5 are slightly tricky, children "should" be 2A/3C end of yr3 and 3A/4C at the end of yr 5) officially children are "tested" at the end of yrs 2 and 6, most schools undertake "Optional SATS" each year from yr 3 onwards.
Mind you, if someone could find the "average child" I would be very grateful! Each is an individual and will progress at their own speed!

[ElaineFiggis]

lol, my 6yo got high 4s in the Y6 SATS in science, literacy and numeracy last year in Y1

He has Aspergers and is a boffin

Now all we have to do is get him to put his own pants on and stop eating clods of earth when nobody is looking

it is NOT the be all and end all

[ElaineFiggis]

Riven, they didn't consult me either - and I would have said no if they had

[atworknotworking]

Thanks primarymum.

DD is 9, just started year 5, she was 4 something at the last tests in yr4, but 3 something in maths which she struggles with, but really should I be concerned if she should be around the 3's anyway.

She is getting quite upset about it as teacher keeps saying but why can't you do it, which makes her more worried and she just goes all to pot, and cries as soon as maths homework is mentioned.

We try to re-assure her that people are good at different things and to ust do the best she can but teacher thinks as she is ok with other subjects she should be able to manage maths as well.

How would you teachers on here handle it?

TIA

[DadAtLarge]

The problem is that the SATS system dictates that children are graded to a ceiling of 3A in Y2. That's it! OFSTED / the government / The DCSF / the LA - nobody - is interested in knowing anything about who exceeds 3A and in what subject/s.

If all the more able children are routinely assessed to see how far they really are, there'd be lots and lots of L4s, a few L5s (and a lot of very annoyed teachers and Heads).

Further, there are many children who are far more able than the tests show, and they have abilities in a wide range of areas very few of which are tested.

As a nation we underestimate and underutilise the intelligence of a large chunk of our kid capital. That's so teachers can concentrate on bringing the slower ones up to the 1s and 2s in KS1 and the 2s and 3s in KS2.

Riven, evening out isn't an inevitability, it's a product of the system.

[Feenie]

Dadatlarge - the SATS system does not dictate that children are graded to a 3a ceiling. The Y2 SATs only test children working at level 2 or level 3. But they are only a small part of the evidence required for teachers to arrive at their final teacher assessment (which is the one reported to parents, the LEA and the government, not the test result.

It is perfectly possible for a child to achieve level 4 in all other aspects the teacher assessment, and for the final TA, therefore, to be a 4c, 4b, or whatever.

[MrsGhoulofGhostbourne]

The bilingual thing may well be relevant - it used to be thought that bilingual children missed out on other areas - but research now shows thatit boosts their neural connections (?), or summat, and is a Good Thing.