Great comments from teachers but not so good grades for dd

Apoorna- those are very good levels for a year 7!

aporna the attitude expressed by queenofthemountain is that of her own school (maybe) certainly not a general grammar school attitude. As I said, it certainly isn't the attitude at my DD's super selective highly performing grammar school. It's inevitably true that complete exam grade stars are praised because, you know, who wouldn't praise that, but these are neither the only children nor the only achievements that are valued.

Well, at my DD's school - which most people acknowledge does pretty damn well at GCSE - that's not the attitude. Thankfully.

"Yes sorry, my DC are at a grammar school and youDO lose a bit of perspective of what is normalI suppose many schools consider an A good but at this school a result less than A* is mediocre"

If I was your mother, I'd send you to your room and tell you to think about what you posted and not come out til you could explain to me why it was so wrong and insensitive. And I have a child at grammar school!

sorry meant to say 'they only praise' not 'only mention'

Yes sorry, my DC are at a grammar school and youDO lose a bit of perspective of what is normalI suppose many schools consider an A good but at this school a result less than A is mediocre.The school only mention those DC who get more 10 (academic subjects) or more at A

"The reality is that although everyone wants there child to be a ' swan' , most of them are going to be geese and they can't change that."

But those are really good- on track for GCSE A grade- levels for year 7!!!

She has got 1s for her effort grades.She is trying her best, you can't ask more than that.
You say you want her to get all A*s at GCSE but that is a lot for her to live up to.The reality is that although everyone wants there child to be a ' swan' , most of them are going to be geese and they can't change that.

In some schools, a lot of the levels for non-core subjects are sometimes based on English/maths/science expected progress...sad but true.

Wouldn't worry about the levels at all if the comments are good, your child is happy, working to the best of her ability, developing healthy peer relationships, has a range of inspiring extra-curricular interests and is enjoying learning! These are the real skills that will get her through life . (And levels are going to be 'old hat' for the new curriculum anyway, so feel free to ignore them!)

When it comes time to choose her GCSEs, who knows what particular subjects will really take her fancy? She will be well advised about choices that give her the best chance to show her potential in a few years when it is time to choose. Self motivation is a student's best friend.

Also, progress is not 'linear' and children sometimes plateau and sometimes seem to rapidly improve ( or, like mine in one certain subject with a certain teacher this year, go backwards!!!)

I think we all want our children to do their best, but I'd hate to think my own DC would not choose a certain subject at GCSE that they really enjoyed but were not particularly good at, just because they might not get a top grade! I would be furious if their school suggested that they should only choose subjects they would get the best marks in. I would also see it as slightly pointless for them to choose something at which they excelled but didn't particularly enjoy...(no matter how frustrating that would be for me as I bemoaned the waste of talent....!)

It is only Year 7 and the start of her senior school journey...keeping her engaged and keen on schoolwork during the delightful upcoming teen years will be the best challenge of all!!

Enjoy a relaxing and fun filled Summer break.

I think it's a typo in her report & those are supposed to be end of y9 targets. You need to ask.

My end-of-yr7 DD has a 6c target in catering. FFS. She doesn't even especially like catering! I swear they just pick them out of a hat.

I agree with PP, the issue is not her grades but the targets.

4a in French is higher than any of my yr 7s achieved and not IMO realistic for a L4 Eng at end of KS2.

She is doing v well OP :)

I agree. Those end of year targets are unrealistic and ridiculous.
For some reason that I don't know, when we report the end of yr 6 levels they are given only as a 3/4/5 no sub levels involved.
No idea why.
If she is getting 1 for effort and her levels have improved since last year especially in literacy and maths then I think she is doing all she should.

Then the problem isn't her progress, it's her wildly optimistic target grades. From a 4 to a 6b in English (for example) in one year is a bit bonkers for most kids.

A lot of schools have a two year key stage and start KS4 in yr 9.

I think those targets must be for end of year 8, otherwise her effort grades are totally wrong and she's massively under performing.

As it is, it looks like she's had a great year and I'm glad her teachers are so pleased with her.

6b seems a bit of an optimistic end of Y7 English target for a child who was level 4 at the end of KS2.

I don't think they are end of key stage targets unless she has a two year KS3 in which case they make sense, as her Maths which is a level 5 so target at the end of year 9 will be a level 7 and therefore a 6a target for the end of year 8 is about right. Schools vary widely as to how they manage their target setting with often all subjects given a target based on English and Maths KS2 results which really doesn't work, sometimes teachers are allowed in other subjects to baseline and then target set. If you have a parents evening/report comment slip you might want to ask how the targets are worked out and are they end of year 7 targets or end of KS targets. But if you look at English and Maths she is making fantastic progress. The other subjects seem fine for year 7 with maybe humanities being slightly on the low side compared to her English.

Yep, I think those are end of Key Stage targets-so for the end of Year 9.

The targets in brackets look like end of key stage targets to me.

There is something really odd about this- are those her end of key stage targets? Why would they target her a six for English if she got a 4 in her sats? Two levels of progress over one year?!

Do you know her CAT scores?

This info doesn't have any meaning without the data of whether she's progressing to her targets- how did she perform in relation to what they hope she will do?