Education - SATS- Government Policy

[lottysmum]

Can I start by stating that I don't fully understand any of the funding/grading/added value.....BUT

from a child's view (and me the parent)...I'm annoyed.... we are in 3 tier system...DD leaves lower school report 4'A s/B's....July 11

information evening after 2 months at middle school...told CATs were very good...on non verbal reasoning 1 mark off G & T ...reading age 13 years...

report....three weeks later dd has gone down 2 sub levels in English and 1 in Maths.....

two weeks later - parents evening ...told that lower school over estimated levels...query...well Cats stated the same as lower school....informed the grades on the report are correct...

two weeks later C is told that she is working at level 4a in English (diary entry confirming this and target for end of year 5b)....hmmmm very confused....

Science tests...last week...DD is marked level 5b....so only 5 weeks ago she was deemed to be level 4c at science and now she is 5b.....

These are all numbers/grades 'but unfortunately" child who is bright understands the numbers/grades...

So why is the system "as it appears to me" so corrupt for added value.....

Just don't ask and pour yourself a large G&T (alcoholic not gifted and talented).

The incomprehensible muddle of levels and targets DD1s senior school comes up with is bad enough, but throw in transferring to middle school

The primary's talk up grades to get their value add. The senior school talks them back down so Y7s appear to make progress.

Teachers are expected to award sub grades for small sections of work which is a nightmare. Grades go up and down like yo- yos dependent on whether DD likes a topic or remembered the test.

Honestly, I don't think I'll actually know what grade she's at until she gets her GCSE results in two and a half years.

One test shouldn't be the basis for the overall Science grade. Last ween my DD got a 7c, a 6a and a 6b in different Science tests, in the last two months she has had reported grades of : 3, 4 a etc. The poor teacher has to come up with a consistent grade from this, some are bacause she didn't write up clearly enough (and actually the teacher had had enough from trying to mark others in her classes work), others depend on whether she revised, or fully understood the material first time, or it was repeating something she has already done.
It is really really hard to decide consistently what national curriculum levels mean, the best schools get groups of teachers (usually from one subject) to look at samples of work and ensure they are levelling the same. With different schools, and subtle differences in the standards for those levels from key stage to key stage, it is very hard to be consistent.