RE: child started in secondary school

I know this has been resolved but just a few points to note:

If a child in our current yr7 had a 4a, they would probably be set 3.

We take pupils from 3 main feeder schools along with several others. We know for a fact that 1 of these schools does the ks2 exam after a normal year of teaching, another does nothing but practice papers and exam coaching for the 6 months before the test. The last school actually teaches a topic then picks out the exam questions relating to it and gets the pupils to do them before putting the papers away until the end of the next topic. Guess which school gets the highest and the lowest results?! There is absolutely no way that we can set using ks2 data when it is generated in this way.

Lastly, we always get calls from parents to say that pupils are finding it too easy at the start of term. This is because we put the easiest topic first, in order to avoid worrying pupils at the start of high school. It's a way of helping them to feel settled and confident about their Maths.

Hope that helps.

I don't discuss my children's academic performance or reports in front of their siblings as it is none of their business. Children are entitled to privacy.

I would be complaining about the unprofessionalism of asking your son to pass messages about your daughter and even more so of giving him info about her scores. That is not on. What if they didnt get on and he used that information to bully her? Sorry, but either that isn't true or you are not thinking it through. The issue here is no longer about the set, its about misconduct.

Can you please define your use of set? Do you mean band
as said above 4a is not a high score. 35% will have got at least a level 5 or more. Unless this a very poorly performing school this does not make any sense.
To put this in perspective when my dd started in secondary she got a 5a (before level 6) in her sats. She was not put into top set. She was a bit upset. I told her to go out and prove herself. She did by getting top marks in the class and was moved up in year 8.

I agree with amck5700

A teacher spoke to your son about your daughter? I wouldn't be best pleased if I were in your shoes. What set your daughter is in is really nothing to do with your son. Neither is he meant to be a substitute for the school speaking to you.

Glad all is sorted, but I wouldn't be happy with that.

DS's (very normal) primary got 15% level 6 maths, and other schools which feed into the same comp had similar levels - so even if the picture nationally is of smaller percentages, locally there were enough for a full top set (If the 7 sets are of similar size, then about 14% would be in the top set - so it is numerically possible for the whole top set to be level 6s.)

Perhaps a few top 5as who scored 6s on the initial year 7 test were added, too, because it is likely that the top set will be bigger than the bottom.

DS just reported that the teacher started the lesson with 'well, because you all got level 6s we'll be starting off by consolidating ...blah'

Only 3% nationally scored L6 in maths at KS2 this year, so unlikely 'whole' top set have level 6 in any school. Highest performing LAs had around 5 or 6 %, although one primary school local to us is putting forward a figure of 12%. Still not enough to fill a top set except perhaps in the most selective of grammar schools.

I had the opposite problem OP when I started secondary. Put into set one, and struggled like mad for a couple of weeks til my DM asked why they put me in the top set when I clearly was struggling only to be told I got 100% on my entrance exam.

Needless to say I was soon moved down a couple of sets.

Im sure your dd will be moved around soon according to what she is acheiving now she is there.

From what DS has said about Maths sets (of which there are 7), set 1 is almost all children who got Level 6 at the end of Year 6. 2nd set and some of 3rd set got 5s, 4a would put a child firmly in 4th set, or possibly 3rd if they performed well (ie got a 5 or above) in the initial maths tests they did.

This is in a good comp / secondary modern (as in we have superselective grammars locally so the very top children are not in his school).

It's been made clear that there will be lots of shuffling, but i would say set 3 for 4a sounds about right.

Yes, I hope it works out too.

I tend to agree with the last post. DS is currently in Year 8 and was a level 5a in his KS2 SATs (probably higher given his progress last year but not tested) he absolutely needed to be in the top set, having cruised at primary for more than a year. He is a natural at maths in a way I could never be!

DD (new Yr 7) achieved a 5b, a good mark but she is not the maths whizz that my DS is or ever will be, she's a hard worker though.

Had she been put into the top set I would have complained!! Seeing the work set last year, it would have knocked her confidence immensely. For me, the belief you can do something is key.

I am sure it will work out, it's early days. Better to move up a set. There's lots of fluency of movement in sets I think. The work wil progress I am sure. Although, our school ONLY sets the 5a's and above and the children who are really struggling (based on SATs and primary teacher assement) in Year 7. Is it possible that the set is mixed ability anyway?

Parents phone up all the time banging on about sets, by the way, and if one kid gets moved because their mum says that they're good at maths then that would really open the floodgates - this would hopefully explain why the head of department isn't interested in hearing what set other people reckon students should be in and is instead relying on the school's assessment. Not that mistakes don't happen (they are usually picked up on and rectified by the school), I'm just trying to explain her response.

This is an interesting thread and one that I hope the OP gets sorted out. My time is short at the moment (got to pop out in a min!) but just wanted to add this to many useful replies.

I feel that there will be a lot of 'juggling' about within the first few weeks of setting. Teachers know that tests are not the only way to assess a child.

It is far more beneficial (in terms of self-esteem) for a child to move 'up' a set, than to be struggling and be moved 'down'.

Teachers are humans and can make mistakes! However, they will also professionally assess the ability of a child.

At the end of the day, we all want the best for our children. Hope all goes well with this issue.

1. check that they haven't muddled up the two students with the same name

2. ask for a copy of the test that your DD did at school 'so that you can go through her mistakes with her and do some extra work with her at home'. Then it doesn't look like you're checking their adding up, that you're willing to help and simply concerned and if your DD has messed up then you can see where they're coming from. Then sit tight and let her prove herself in the set she's in.
   If there has been a mistake you should then also be able to pick up on it.

Did they do CAT tests?

A level 4a wouldn't make top maths set in my school, we have loads of kids coming in with level 5s and now several with level 6. So set 3 doesn't seem completely unreasonable, especially if she performed poorly on the school's own assessment.

Maths is also a spiral curriculum so you do do the same topics each year, just at a higher level each time. The teacher needs to make sure that the foundations are solid too by revisiting easier stuff before tackling the harder topics.

If she is in the wrong set, then I imagine she will be moved up when she has proved this by coming top of the class in the next assessment.

do you know what reading test was used in primary to score her reading age?

mmmmmm - I am also a bit bothered about the repetition of lower grade maths stuff - I thought secondary were going to "hit the ground running" as we were told - but apparently, they are "consolidating and building firm foundations" - so despite being in the top maths set, revisiting x10, x100, x1000.

It is frustrating, but I do understand - if everyone knows it thoroughly, the foundations become firm enough to build on (to borrow the metaphor)

Given the two mistakes (or at least 1), I'd be asking if there was another child with the sameor similar name and are they getting the two confused?