to suspect that people whose children have higher than average SATS scores.....

[seeker]

....post on here asking for "clarification" of this bizarre, bewildering numerical system starting at 1 moving up in steady increments while anyone whose child has lower than average scores finds out everything they need to know with a simple Google?

Migratinh I think they used to but now they can only get a level 5 tops.

wow Fabby Chic, well done your son - my dh took his maths o'level at 13 (the year they phased them out) and his math gcse at 14, and he passed too, but he didnt go on to do maths at uni as it wasnt his love. (oh lordy that so isnt meant to be a brag! pmsl)

bonkers20 - you can go higher than 5 in my son's school, as a few of the v. bright will be tested at level 6 in year 6.

:) OP!!!!

I'd love a link to secondary school expected levels. Their primary school didn't do sats or use levels so I have no idea what levels they should be working at.

Ds got 5 in everything.

That's for yr 6 -

A score of 5 or 6 ( 6 is the highest ) is above the national average.

DS1 got a level 3c for nosepicking, a level 4 for fiddling with his willy and 3b for annoying his younger brother/the dog. Is he G & T?

at misbeehaving!

My sister who teaches year 6 was really upset on sats day as she believes the results-particularly for English were wildly inconsistent and did not follow the marking matrix. (poorly performing children graded well, children who perform well graded poorly and so on)

So even if your child is supposedly a genius (yeah yeah aren't they all) may not be proper reflection of true picture.
Having pissed all over the bonfires here I am making a hasty exit --->!

[hwink]

papermate I didn't realise that. I thought it used to be the case that schools could test higher than level 5, but that this was recently scrapped. Do the level 6s count in the league table results then?

SATS annoy the hell out of me. They are purely for school league tables and to create calculated grades at higher levels (ie. GCSE). More hoops for schools to drag children through. Less learning; more learning how to pass a tests - pretty much a summary of the education system in this country these days!

SATs are a load of shit and any honest teacher, having had a not particularly huge amount of vodka, will tell you that.

This is from an honest teacher (with no vodka today, I might add!) x

Good on you MrsMusic, but I do recommend a swig of Absolut before commencing marking.

SATs scores exist to make a school look good, and for some parents to worry about. In terms of making the school learning experience interesting for a child, they are useless, and even counter productive.
I am now very opposed to targets for schools and children, in fact, for people in general (like "performance reviews" at work), because half the time they are subjective, or no one pays attention OR they set a target which, those who can achieve it easily get bored, those who can't achieve it get demoralised and a small number in the middle get there and feel they have done enough and switch off as well. In terms of helping to turn "potential" into "actual" achievement they do bugger all.

bonkers20 - I have no idea - my son is in private school if that makes any difference?

Hear hear Miggsie

The secondary school my ds is going to in September encourages competition - through sport mainly but it has a very competitive ethos, ( work bloody hard and you will be rewarded ) I love that, as life is all about winners and losers and the sooner children learn that the better.
And as for league tables - as a parent I take notice of them as I want my son at a brilliant school with motivated pupils and teachers - I deal in facts ( Sat's results etc ) if you haven't got the evidence to back up what you're saying you can blag anything.

"life is all about winners and losers and the sooner children learn that the better. "

And devil take the hindmost?

Just hope my kids don;t meet yours at any point during their lives!

i deal in facts sounds like something from the boardroom in The Apprentice...are you one of the contestants?

SATS were the main reason I left the state system and chose to teach in independent prep. I really hope state schools go through with abolishing them.

No way am I going to spend all year teaching to a prescribed curriculum with such narrow outcomes. With the right teaching an averagely bright child could get a good SAT result - it doesn't make them good, independent learners, it means they have been taught to answer test questions.

One silly little anecdote about how levels have come to rule teachers', parents' and children's lives:
I marked a Y6 boy's story. He wasn't very academic but had tried really hard and done extremely well for him.
My comment: "Very well done X, I enjoyed reading this. You have used full sentences and your story has a clear beginning, middle and end. I am impressed. Next time try to use more adjectives to help you describe."
His reponse: "But is it a Level 4?"

YANBU at all.That's what I think too!

Boaster: My DD is in primary school but is working towards her maths and physics GCSEs. Is this normal?

Collective MN: Yes, perfectly average or maybe slightly above, my child was on A-levels by that age, they will be crap at other things anyway and will resent you for pushing them, but they don't sound overly bright. Now piss off

DingDong