Should I be really concerned?

[katetee]

Hiya
I think I am just wanting to hear what I am thinking so please bear with me here!! DD2 is in Yr5, when she did ks1 SATs she was a level 3 for reading and science. I saw her teacher last week for parents evening, and she said dd is doing really well "she's a level 3a for reading !!!! and science" her writing is good but could benefir from reading many different texts etc etc. Anyway, when I returned home these fact began to sink into my tired brain, what has dd been doing for three years that she hasn't moved on?? Do you think I should see the teacher again and voice my concerns or just let it go?

Thanks for listening.

yes.talk to the teacher.i would.just to put your mind at rest.

Our primary school gave a talk on this subject. As far as I can remember, at ks1 level 3 is not sub-divided, and is the highest grade you can get. By year 5, it is (into 3a, 3b, 3c with 3a being highest before 4c). On average, children advance 1 level per year but this is only on average. Individual children can race ahead one year, then stall for three years, before making another leap forwards. Progress is rarely uniform. They showed up several examples of different rates of progress.

As DD's teacher said she is doing really well, I am sure there is no issue. However you should talk to the teacher for further reassurance.

I'm not sure you should necessarily assume that there isn't a problem if the teacher says that your child is doing really well. Some teachers only worry if a child might not reach Level 4 in the KS2 SATS, which may be an inappropriately low standard for some children.

However, I wouldn't be too worried yet - there have been other threads on here about the discontinuity between the assessment of level 3 at KS1 and KS2. The lack of progress in science could be simply through not the school not assessing any levels higher than level 3 - my DS1 had a hiccup over that!

I would talk to the teacher to ask what is going on. It may be helpful to ask her what your daughter would have to improve in order to be at level 4.