To be worried about ds year 7 English level?

[House4]

My ds has finished year 7 with an English level of 4a. This is what he started the year on. He has officially made no progress throughout the year. His end of year target was 5c.

The reports were given out on the day before the last school day so not enough time to digest and ask the teacher. It's playing on my mind now.

He has either met or exceeded levels in all other subjects. He has achieved a 6c in Maths (and has always been in the top set).

In year 6 SAT's his Writing level was 'working towards' so I had asked the Year 7 English teacher earlier in the year if he needed extra help and she said no. He doesn't particularly dislike teacher or lesson and was given 'good' for effort, behaviour and homework.

I will obviously speak to the school as soon as they start again in September but should I do anything now? I.e. Have him assessed independently or start to look at private tutoring? I do not want it to be 'too late' to get help by the time he is sitting his GCSE's.
Any advice appreciated.

[TeenAndTween]

I think those of you who say he 'can't have started on a 4a because that's not how SATs are', are (possibly) wrong.

There is nothing to stop the school having assessed in the first half term and pegged that assessment to their internal definition of a 4a. In the same way that History, PE, Music, whatever probably do some starting assessment for their subjects.

[BertrandRussell]

"My school are following the above and insist only a 5 or higher is a passing grade."

So you school is ignoring government guidelines?

[noblegiraffe]

Full photo, that one had the bottom missing for some reason.

[Whatsername17]

That just goes to show how confusing everything is! Going to steal that and see. D it to our deputy!

[GreenTulips]

It isn't about government guidelines though is it?

Why insist a child will pass when they won't know how they perform on the day? Surely a secure 5 will be more likely to pass than a shaky 4?

[BertrandRussell]

I am pretty sure that Ofqual has said definitively that a 4 is a secure pass.

[Whatsername17]

Send*

[Whatsername17]

I think that is my schools rationale, Green. Puts a lot of pressure on teachers though.

[GreenTulips]

I'd like to see DS taken out of French and/or German for booster sessions in English - I think 3 years of French lessons he's hopeless at are pointless

[noblegiraffe]

I don't think schools went around saying a C wasn't a pass and that a B was, which is effectively what this school is doing.

[BertrandRussell]

Incidentally- a couple of suggestions for pretty painless English boosting.
For kids who like music, get them to think about (and perhaps explain to you) the lyrics of their favourite artists. And maybe have a go at writing something in the same style. And get an anthology called The Rattle Bag, and get them to read a poem a day. It's unusual because it's in alphabetical order of the first line, so it's a sort of lucky dip of poets and styles and dates.

[GreenTulips]

They aren't saying a C isn't a pass - they are referring the grade to a shaky 4 child - whereas a secure 5 child has a good chance of passing.

No point feeling a child will pass to her a rubbish grade on the day

Of coarse all schools want all kids to pass but we are talking grades teachers are graded on

If Mrs Jones insists 10 kids will pass and they don't - questions will be asked

[LiveLifeWithPassion]

Op the best thing you can do is help him get his confidence back.
Get him reading. Read with him. You read one chapter out loud, he reads one.
Ds (just finished yr7) has got back into reading now that he can read some Young Adult books. He loves horror and zombies and there's plenty out there.
I get him reading some news articles. I sometimes pick up First News out shopping or sometimes just from the BBC site. We have a chat about it.
Ds likes to write his own stories on the laptop.
Try some workbooks. I used some comprehension ones last year to help ds learn how to answer questions.

[Whatsername17]

It's not so much ignoring government guidelines as it is pressuring us to achieve higher grades. By telling us teachers that a C is a 5 they are telling us not to aim any lower. Our expected grades have always been ridiculous. For example, if a pupils FFT data suggested they should be expected to achieve a C, they are given an expected level of a B and a target of an A. 'Because we are an outstanding school'. To be honest, we often achieve those grades. I've been on mat leave since Jan and I'm only just about to return. It's possible my school have reworked this from September.

[BertrandRussell]

"Today 09:31 GreenTulips

"They aren't saying a C isn't a pass - they are referring the grade to a shaky 4 child - whereas a secure 5 child has a good chance of passing."
Am I being thick? I don't understand that at all.

[Whatsername17]

I'm referring to the information we are being given as teachers, not to what is shared with parents. Parents just get expected progress grades. Teachers are the ones who are being told to aim 5 or above.

[noblegiraffe]

a shaky 4 child - whereas a secure 5 child

And what do they say to the secure 4 and the shaky 5?

By the way, we have no idea what a shaky 4 or a secure 5 looks like.

[BertrandRussell]

So you are setting aspirations al rather than realistic targets? Why?

[GreenTulips]

Ok

DS is a 4 at the moment - so will pass if he did well on the day

However - if the questions aren't in his favour - he will fail

If I'm told he's a secure 5 and he has a great chance of passing - then the questions aren't in his favour - he will fail

I would be asking questions about how secure his grades were in the first place

Move to teachers view - Mrs Jones decides she's a brilliant teacher and grades all her students as secure 5's she is targeted on the whole class passing the exam in her yearly review and target meetings

Turns out - she's a rubbish teacher and graded all the students too high and sat back and did nothing all year - confident everyone would fly through the exams

Only they all failed - so she now has some explaining to do - school pass rate has fallen - Ofstead are asking questions - parents are furious

Alternatively - she could say 30% of her class need extra lessons and bolster sessions and are struggling with comprehension or handwriting- X child is Dyslexic and needs a scribe etc

Results day - and only 2 kids fall outside predictions - teacher is happy and parents aren't disappoint as they knew a true picture rather than an inflated one

[Whatsername17]

I am doing nothing of the sort. Slt are though. Why? I've no idea. We seem to get results though. Particularly in the core subjects. I'm going to bow out of this thread now because I think I've perhaps led it down a path that has nothing to do with the ops original post. Debating the way my school are doing things isn't helpful to the op and, as people have pointed out, isn't really in line with what other schools are doing.

[noblegiraffe]

DS is a 4 at the moment - so will pass if he did well on the day

There is no way anyone can tell you this about any student at the moment.

[GreenTulips]

Yes I agree - everyone jumps on the 'it's all changed now' 'how will we know'

As I've said - DD is a secure 6 DS is a shaky 4

I know he needs help - I'm doing my best to support him

Whether teachers know the outcomes of the new exams or not is irrelevant to a struggling child -

English exams aren't going to change much - they still mark on comprehension reading writing grammar etc

OP try and push gently from your end - get some work books - there's loads out there -