I think people haven’t considered the kind of school and system this family have their child in.
It sounds like a Prep which is attached to a selective senior school. Children join such Preps on the understanding that progression to the selective senior school depends on meeting certain standards. One of the ways this is measured is through CATs but that won’t be the only way.
For the staff, it will become clear that some children just won’t be at the standard required by the selective senior school. They will gather and look at a range of evidence including CATs and if it really isn’t the case that this child is going to pass the entrance exam or be high a bulity enough to get a recommendation from the Prep (sometimes used by attached Preps instead of sitting the exam with external candidates) then the parents do have to be armed about this. And it never goes down well.....but this is the system the family have chosen to be in.
It doesn’t help a child who has CATs of 92 to go to a senior school where the average might be 125. It would be a soul destroying experience.
On one hand, you say the teacher told you gently. That’s good and right. Sometimes some pretty honest and hard hitting information is needed for parents to understand, especially if the school has tried to raise the issue before and parents haven’t been listening. CATs can not tell you categorically what GCSE outcomes will be, but they are a very good indicator.
So an issue is that some selective senior schools have non-selective Preps. The children come in at 4 and the families are hoping to proceed to the senior school. Most probably will and although it’s known there’s no guarantee, people can feel that the fact their child is in the Prep means they must be up to the standard of the senior school or it is the job if the Prep to get them there. But in reality, children of lower ability just won’t be suited to a highly selective senior school. Some seniors will take a broader range, but some are hugely selective and have many many external children sitting the entrance exam and need to give the places to the high performers, not to those from the Prep who really will be significantly below the standard. They probably cut the Attached Prep children a bit of slack....but only to a point.
So it is a hard thing to hear and it can sound like the school isn’t interested in your child and only in the clever ones. But the reality is, that when you choose a school like that which is selective, you know this is the reality. Some children will be told they should be looking elsewhere.
When this happens, (and yr 4 or 5 is the right time because there’s enough information and also time for parents to think about alternative senior schools) many families move their children almost immediately to another Prep. Sometimes it’s because they are offended and feel badly treated and sometimes it’s because they feel that continuing to the end of yr 6 or 8 (whenever the Prep ends) will be too hard if the child knows they aren’t going where most will go, plus they are likely to already be finding the work too difficult. Some will stay on until the end and then move to whichever senior school is found to be suitable. Regardless, the Prep has a duty to help the family find a suitable new Prep or Senior for later...and most will be very willing to do this, although parents often feel that support isn’t available.
It’s never easy to hear your child isn’t at the standard you’d hoped and it is hard with a 9 year old to feel they are written off. I do t think it is writing off, but recognising their path isn’t that of most of their school peers and that a different path needs to be found.
Some of the less selective senior schools or those that specialise in lower abilities or SEN do a fantastic job and get their students to a good number of GCSEs and some to Uni too - they can often add far more value to such a child than a selective school ever could.
So I think all the outrage is a bit misplaced really. This isn’t an all-ability state primary telling a child to leave or that their trajectory isn’t good. It’s a school the parents chose in the knowledge it feeds a selective senior and they always faced the risk that their child might not make the grade. It’s hard but a reality of that choice.
Op, I’d sleep in it and ask for a further meeting with school to clarify a bit further. They should be able to give you a break down of your child’s Scores across the different skills and to be able to talk you through all the options in a helpful way. Wait until you’ve had a chance to think and absorb the info and try to take the emotion out if it and be a bit objective and focus on looking at what might be best for your son, rather than any knee jerk reaction. Best of luck....when you can pay fees, you can always find a good school to suit your child.