P.E. assessment.

Surely in this context "below expected standard" and "below average" are pretty much synonymous?

Not in the UK, but PE is graded by the teacher's assessment of key skills needed to succeed in the sport being played each term. So serving, back hand returns and sustained volleying for tennis, for example.

Ours assesses on the sport they have done that term.
Dd who has Dyspraxia had done baseball so had no chance.
Her report commented that she could sometimes be found eating biscuits in the corner of the pe changing room.

She is fit and healthy and does sport out of school so I'm not worried.

You're quite right OP, average and expected standard are very much not the same thing and you explained it well - all can achieve the expected standard but obviously all cannot be average or above!

I really wouldn't worry about this as you say she is fit and healthy, unless she is planning to do GCSE PE, in which case you need to look carefully at what sports she would do.

None of mine achieved expected standard in art, or textiles, I don't suppose, but it wasn't really an issue as they all planned to drop those for KS4

There are very definite age related standrdas
She sounds as though she hasnt met them in the sports the school is doing this term.

As others have said one of my dcs came second in great Britain at one sport but got below average at school when they did dance and gymnastics. It didn't bother her, me or the teachers!

I, like others, really think you're finding problems where none exist. My DS is below expected standard in art and drama, I'm not bothered in the slightest and it would make no difference if it said below average instead. I assume she's year 8 so choosing options soon? Is that why this is so important?

Hadn't seen your latest post when i typed that

Ours get a mark out of 9 for attainment and then graded for attitude to learning same as the other subjects. We used to get comments on the report but they stopped this. I assume there are criteria they use to give a grade like the other subjects although i don't know what this is. What did they say at parents' eve?
I think it would be fine to email and ask what your dc needs to do to improve their performance

So it's the words expected standard you don't like? To be fair I think they mean the same as average and it wouldn't bother me but you can only ask the school to change it. An age related expectation would be based on average achievement at that age.
What are you hoping will happen?

So, you need to ask the teacher - please can you tell me the sorts of things that DD is not doing / not doing well enough in order to be at 'expected standard'.
Then you need to ask the school whether they can provide support to enable this, or decide what you will do out of school to support this.
Would you & your DD actually be willing to do extra PE to get to 'expected standard'? If not then the whole discussion is moot.

Kids get extra support for Maths and English because getting passes in those at GCSE matters tremendously to their future. Not being able to play netball very well, frankly, does not matter one jot.

Ok well you need to ask for extra support. I actually think pe does matter. I agree that below average and below the standard expected are not the same, but both re possible, no?

If most of a group were below standard someone might be above average in that (weaker) group!

OP I don’t think anyone is suggesting it shouldn’t be complained about just gently trying to suggest that maybe your daughter is below the expected level for that subject. That doesn’t mean she’s not fit, healthy or good at swimming and dance but it does mean she’s not hitting the standard for what is being assessed!

Agree with others. I taught MFL and if a year 9 child didn't use three tenses in a written piece (just one example) that would suggest they were below the expected standard.

Seems like this is your DD but in PE. You say yourself, not everyone can be good at sport. Well quite. Does that mean that despite this, they should all be assessed as achieving the standard? PE is an examined subject like most at school and as such has to have levels to assess. PE teachers look for a range of skills, just like English teachers or Maths teachers. What's the issue?

BTW dance is sometimes taught as a separate subject (was at my old school) and swimming is tricky if school has no pool.

Fresta I genuinely think you are finding problems where there are none! You yourself say she’s not coordinated or good at team sports. That sounds below expected standard. My ds represents his school at national level in a sport where they are one of the best in GB and my dd represents school in a team sport which she also plays at regional level. Both get very average (definitely not above average ) grades for sport. This is how school games assessments are. What are you looking to achieve with the school?

Have you not discussed it at Parents Evening?

It just bugs me that school are labelling her in this way as every term she's told she's not an expected standard for her age which makes it sound as if she's failing in some way.

But so what?

Is your DC otherwise high achieving so you aren't used to be being told she isn't so good at something?

I was told in my DD's y6 SATs that she was 'not at expected standard' for maths and SPaG. (It wasn't news to me). Now at secondary she is 'below expected standard' at English and Tech and PE and MFL. We live with it. We know she struggles but tries hard. We praise her for trying hard, and she has a tutor for English.

If you are told the criteria the school uses, then what? Will you try to improve her PE - or just try to prove that the school is wrong (as wrong criteria or assessed child wrong)?

Team sports dominate at school PE as it's probably easy to teach a group playing cricket than individual sport like dance.

My son is in y7 and PE sets were determined by everyone doing fitness tests like the Bleep Test and splitting them into 3 sets based on results (240 in a year) He gets an attitude and attainment grade. This means that the kids who are good at say football but have tantrums when people don't score have that reflected in their report. I assume that attainment is relative to the group but I've not discussed this with other people so no clue.

not the best at team sport skills or the most co-ordinated

I think this answers your question- these are tge skills they’re assessing and, despite your dd having other great skills that’s not what they’re looking at.

It’s a bit like saying I know she can’t speak French but she’s great at Spanish so why isn’t she getting top marks in French.

Not all people are good at everything. My ds for instance competes at his sport at National level but would be marked well below average in football, cricket or Rugby.

If she isn't good at team sports and not coordinated then that will affect her attainment. She may be amazing at dance and swimming but she can only be assessed on what the school see.
There is a benchmark that children are assessed against and if she doesn't meet the benchmark in 3 team sports but does in 2 individual ones then, on average, she's not meeting it.
I'll be honest and say I'm not sure why it worries you so much. Is it GCSE pe?

The assessment grade will be for the sports covered in that period of assessment. For instance my dd (also 12) has been doing cricket and tennis this half term and her grade will reflect her ability in these sports.

I don’t really understand your upset- you say she’s not very good at tge sports they’re doing yet seem surprised she’s below average? She’s getting a good mark for effort which is great. I’m assuming her school stream for games? Which stream is she in?