Report effort grades

[gillybeanz]

looking for some perspective, please.

What would you personally expect your children to achieve, considering any variables you wish. e.g teacher/ child personality clash, absences, etc. Would you expect all to be 1's with the odd 2 or just some subjects.
I'm a bit lost and need perspective, friends all say something different.

1.Has worked outstandingly well throughout the year

1. Has worked well throughout the year
   
2. Has sometimes fallen below the standards of efforts we would expect from a student
   
3. Has often fallen below the standards of efforts we would expect from a student
   

I'm saying 1's and the odd 2. Friends expect 1's and nothing short of this.

[Daffodils8]

I'm a teacher and we use a similar system. I give the majority of students a 2 - they follow instructions and do what is expected of them. I only give 1s to a few students - the ones that ask for extra homework or always tell me as soon as they have finished their work and ask for feedback so they can improve or for a piece of extension work.

I wouldn't be upset at 2s on a school report for attitude, as long as it isn't that their attitude is below expectations.

[Phantommagic]

Same as poster above. Majority are 2. Meeting expectations but not more. Certainly fine though.

[HamishTheTalkingCactus]

I'ld expect 2s with hopefully a few ones in favourite subjects. I'ld not be bothered by all 2s. I'ld expect a good explanation from my dc for any 3.

[noblegiraffe]

2s with a few 1s in best subjects. In my school 2 is the default for good students, to get a 1 they have to impress.

[lljkk]

tbh, I only look for problems (3s & 4s) and plan to talk to my kid about why that happened & how I can make them happier to try harder. I don't care about the numbers otherwise.

[JuliaSevern]

Dd gets 1s and 2s. I think 2s are fine.

[TeenTimesTwo]

I would also expect mainly 2s with the odd 1.
Our school has this system.

[mrsglowglow]

I have issues with effort grades. In the subjects my Son finds easier and get good marks and is on target he has been given 1 and 2. In the 2 subjects he struggles with and is well below his target he got 3 for effort. Personally I can see he has put more effort into these subjects watching him take a long time to complete his homework due to difficulties writing. I've been to speak with his school but frustratingly the teachers are so sure he could do better if he tried. We are having assessments done so hopefully he may be shown more understanding next year. It's been a very difficult start to high school.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

We have 1-3. To get a 1 you have to be consistently exceptional effort. So mainly 2s with the occasional 1 is normal. DD has some expected 1s this year and a few 'surprise' to me 1s which have been highly praised.

[Bombardier25966]

In agreement with @mrsglowglow. Effort is subjective, someone could be doing their best but still struggling and marked down because the perception is that they're not trying. At school I would get a low effort grade in PE, despite the fact I was trying far harder than those that found it easy. It later transpired I have Aspergers and strong dysoraxic traits.

[TeenTimesTwo]

Effort might be subjective, but I think it is helpful to know if the teacher thinks your child isn't trying, because then it gives the opportunity for a conversation with the teacher and potential uncovering of issues.

[Witchend]

It does depend on the teacher. Dd1 had once where she got 2s in 2subjects she felt she'd worked harder. She took it up with her form teacher to ask why they'd felt she'd worked hard and they discovered that one teacher had given 2 across the board however they'd worked and the other teacher had only had them for a week (teacher on long term sick and replacement bought in) before they had to do reports so felt they couldn't give 1s (or 4s). They'd assumed the main teacher had done them before they'd gone.


But I don't like the way those are laid out. You've got "excellent, good, poor, very poor" which means there isn't a okay, which I don't think's fair.

One of the schools had that-I think it was:

1. Always hands homework in to a very high standard
   
2. Always hands homework in completed to a very good standard
   
3. Usually hands homework in completed to a very good standard
   
4. Rarely hands homework in and not always completed.
   
5. Never hands homework in or never completed.
   

There is such a huge gap between 3 and 4. They then proudly said they'd only given below a 3 to about 2% of pupils. I think they had a number of people pointing this out because they changed it. (although I was told by a member of staff that they were then also told they couldn't give a 4 or 5 without checking with the head first and he usually refused it, which kind of made a mockery of it too)

[azaleanth90]

I'd expect 2s with the odd 1. Otherwise 1 wouldn't be outstanding.

[gillybeanz]

Really interesting. Thank you very much for the responses.
Mine has what I consider an attitude problem to learning, and is hard work atm.
Mostly 2's no 1's and one 3, which I know the latter is not acceptable.
Just wanted to know what other parents expected, had a hunch most would say 1's so am surprised at those saying 2's.
It's obvious now though, that 1's wouldn't be outstanding if they dished them out all the time.
Many thanks, back to working on the attitude.

[JuliaSevern]

I think 1 sort of means that they've gone above and beyond and impressed the teacher whereas 2 means they've done what's expected and behaved themselves.
Ours is Outstanding, Good, requires improvement and unsatisfactory.

[mummadave]

We had a similar system when I was at school, but only 1-3. I made it my goal to get A3s.
Turned out ok, 11 A* at GCSE and 4 A at A-level. First choice university to study a very competitive subject. I did leave school over 10 years ago though.
Don't be too hard on your kids!

[rainingcatsanddog]

Some teachers are stingier with 1s than others. (and I know which ones to expect lower effort grades from as my kids have moaned about their strictness)

I'd expect 1s and 2s from my NT kids with no behavioural issues.