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Original poster

DC being "top of their class"?

70 replies

CruiseSpeed · 23/02/2019 10:42

I read this on MN a lot, posters stating that their DC are very bright and are "top of their class" and it's always confused me. British schools don't have such a system in place, surely? And certainly not one that is publicly shared with parents.

Are there actually primary schools around that routinely rank their pupils in terms of academic performance and then inform them of their position in this?

I'm sure the teachers have a very clear understanding of their pupils' relative strengths (academic and otherwise) but this isn't something that they tell parents about is it? Obviously they report to parents about their own child's progress, but would it not be hugely unprofessional to discuss that in terms of how this relates to their peers?

OP posts:
TooDamnSarky · 23/02/2019 10:52

My kids know where they are in the pecking order, at least for things like Maths.
They do tests that are marked and these marks are often shared.
And they know who gets picked for extension/g&t activities.

I've always known whether my kids were 'top', at least for maths.

DisplayPurposesOnly · 23/02/2019 10:56

It doesn't necessarily mean a ranking order. It's often just a generic term for 'doing very well'.

Idontmeanto · 23/02/2019 10:57

It’s easy enough to look at kids’ targets and the “expected progress” values. I think a lot of people use the phrase to mean “above average” or “I have no concerns about my child academically but...” on here.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

General education
TansyTree · 23/02/2019 10:57

Dd always knows who beat her in exams and by how many marks (secondary) They both get an overall grade for the subject and would know whether this was a top, average of low grade

StinkyCandle · 23/02/2019 10:58

most parents think their kids are very bright and "top of their class" - the teachers wouldn't usually agree with them, and realistically 25 kids are not going to be "top of the class" in a class of 30 Grin

pinkhorse · 23/02/2019 10:59

My ds tells me his test scores and that of others after every test so I get an idea from there. I don't ask him and I'm not remotely bothered, he just tells me.

GregoryPeckingDuck · 23/02/2019 11:01

My sons teach once said something halo g the lives of ‘he’s one of the top students at x’. I think a lot of parents here sonething like that and think it means their child is the best and the teacher only isn’t saying it outright because it’s not allowed.

StopMakingAFoolOutofMe · 23/02/2019 11:03

When I teach Year 2, they're very aware of test scores, the more able groupings for maths etc. It's hard to avoid sometimes, especially when pushy parents are involved in trying to find out how their PFB is doing in relation to others.

Whatififall · 23/02/2019 11:06

DD is Yr4. They’ve been grouped by ability since Yr1. They all know that Purple group are the “top” group.

JassyRadlett · 23/02/2019 11:08

Yes, my eldest is in year 2 and can tell you which groups rank where for maths, literacy, etc, who is the best within his individual groups, who did well on the spelling test and who is in the challenge group for spellings, who has which times tables badge, who is on which book band.

Kids are all over this stuff.

Yabbers · 23/02/2019 11:09

Of course it’s not a grading system, but ridiculous to suggest kids need a grade to know where they are academically. DD is in the most advanced group for every subject. I would short hand that to top of the class if I ever felt it necessary to be discussing it.

MoBiroBo · 23/02/2019 11:09

In a class with differentiation work it is fairly easy to tell who is doing the "mastery" sheets.

Even when you label tables by colours or animals the children know who is the more able at this stage in the game.

If the children know, then the parents know. By year 6 you can guess which children are applying for the selective grammar school.

zod1ac19 · 23/02/2019 11:10

When I was at secondary we were ranked against each other for every test and exam. So you’d get your mark and then 9/30 for exeample which meant it was 9th in the class of 30.

Every single test was the same.

Thankfully it’s not like that now but kids do work out very quickly who is more able and less able and which group is which.

CheerioHunter · 23/02/2019 11:11

When I was in school, and any mention of classes since its always been that the year is broken in to groups on ability.

In primary school the year was broken in to Red (top group), Blue (2nd) etc.

Each term it was reassessed but changed little.

In secondary school it was similar but done on a subject basis. Ie. The year was broken in to forms (which was assigned randomly, or maybe for social cohesion? I don't know, but was mixed ability) but you wouldn't necessarily be with many people for each subject which was split in to separate groups based on ability in each.

So knowing how the groups work, along with test scores etc you might not know they are number x in class but you'll know they're top/middle/bottom etc

TeenTimesTwo · 23/02/2019 11:13

Agree. 'Top' often means 'in the top grouping' rather than 'top top'.
Kids share scores, 'tis life. Plus they can also recognise who is good a sport, draws well, etc.

Alexandra2018 · 23/02/2019 11:14

They do say at parents evening my DD is top? I wasn't sure if they said this to all the mums my TA friend as said they don't

abcriskringle · 23/02/2019 11:15

I work in a normal comprehensive secondary school and we rank the kids regularly, mainly because of the setting system in place. The rankings aren't made public but kids at the bottom are sent warning letters that they might move down and kids at the top get postcards home to congratulate them. Plus if parents ring up or kids ask during mentoring, we can tell them where they are. I can't say I hugely agree with it as it can be very demoralising for those at the bottom of their sets despite working hard but that's how it is.

Foxyloxy1plus1 · 23/02/2019 11:25

I do think that children generally knowwhere they are in the pecking order. What I would hate, is the situation I knew of in an independent primary, where there were weekly tests and the rankings were posted on the noticeboard outside.

winsinbin · 23/02/2019 11:29

We certainly always knew where DC were in class ranking in primary school because they knew. Children chat and share info and grades and know exactly who is top and who is bottom. At the top end there was a LOT of competition, the ones not at the top never seemed too bothered ( My DC spanned the spectrum from very bright to lower end of average).

At secondary school we were regularly shown lists and charts at parents evenings showing our DCs placement in that particular subject and told either they were doing well or alternatively, they could be doing better.

Pishogue · 23/02/2019 11:30

Yes, my eldest is in year 2 and can tell you which groups rank where for maths, literacy, etc, who is the best within his individual groups, who did well on the spelling test and who is in the challenge group for spellings, who has which times tables badge, who is on which book band.

Mine is Year 2 and is exactly the same. He has a very acute, alarmingly internalised sense of the pecking order already.

SoupDragon · 23/02/2019 12:00

It's not a specific thing, no, but the kids all tend to know. DS2 was one of a handful who did extended maths at primary so I assume he was one of the "top of the class" for maths. It's not a position held by one pupil, just a generic term.

BearSoFair · 23/02/2019 12:13

I haven't noticed it so much in primary but in secondary the 'rankings' were definitely well known. Not necessarily publicised by teachers but the pupils certainly shared their marks amongst themselves and knew who was 'top' and who might have been struggling. DS1 was generally middling, second set for most subjects but top set in science and picked as one of 4 students to represent the school so definitely considered to be 'top of the class' amongst his peers for that.

Foslady · 23/02/2019 12:21

Yes - in year 11 and has been aware all the way through from KS1 (and subsequently upset and pushed herself harder if she considered herself dropping).
I find it a difficult area - for children like dd it worked to motivate her, for others it demotivated then

RedSkyLastNight · 23/02/2019 12:24

Children don't always get it right! DD's year 1 teacher called her groups 1, 2, 3 .. in no particular order. Virtually everyone assumed that group1 must be "best" (and some DC started working harder or gave up dependingly)

Equally in year 2, the red and blue groups were of equal ability according to the teacher,but the DC all insisted that red was better.
Mixed ability teaching in junior school worked much better. Didn't realise so many primaary schools still used ability based groupings!

Redcrayonisthebest · 23/02/2019 12:25

My ds' class has been ability grouped from Reception and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out which group is which. He's year 1 now and will routinely tell me that blue group are the top group, yellow group are nearly there, red group are the (in his words) naughty table that always have somebody with them. (SEND group perhaps)

So I presume posters that say that have been able to suss out which group their child is in and make assumptions based on that?