Year 6 levels downgraded due to moderator review

[Cadmum22]

Hi,

My daughter is in year 6. Her attainment levels throughout primary school year on year for reading and writing have been ‘exceeding expected levels’.

She passed the kent test with a score of 360. Maths 112 English 126 Reasoning 122.

Her year end 5 CAT scores were Verbal 116 Quantative 118 Non verbal 132.

i do not yet have her SATS scores.

i received a call from her teacher today to say that they had used her writing work as a sample for moderators and they have downgraded her from ‘exceeding expected levels’ to ‘attained national average’. He said they appealed the decision as they could not believe it but the appeal was overruled and that’s that she will be downgraded. He was unsure if her secondary school will be informed.

My question is does this mean that everyone in the class will be downgraded the same for writing or just my daughter? It seems incredibly unfair that seven years of attainment is completely wiped away. Surely seven sets of teachers can not be wrong? She will be very upset once the report comes out.

if anyone can shed some light on this for me
I would very much appreciate it.
Thank you.

It's very very difficult to get a moderated greater depth in Y6 writing. It depends massively on the moderator and how pedantic they are too; much like Ofsted inspections, despite there being very specific criteria to inspect, too much comes down to individual judgment. I grade the top writers as GD when I teach non-Y6 years knowing it will never be looked at in any level of great detail. Unfortunately, to get a Y6 GD you really have to play the writing-by-numbers game for all but the most exceptional writers to ensure you've ticked off all the criteria. I doubt a lot of university educated adults would get a GD if left to their own devices because they'd not know they needed to show use of the past perfect or subjunctive or whatever.

I know I’m focusing on the report thing but surely the envelope is addressed to the parents? I’ve never known of a school address the child’s report to the child. In my kids school they do get given the report in the envelope to pass to parents but they aren’t allowed to open it because it’s not addressed to them. I’m in wales though and there’s no final mark to look at for my kids so they aren’t bothered and just hand them to me. Maybe it’s different in your school.

I don’t think you’ll know if all the kids have been downgraded. Hers could have been an outlier or maybe lots of the kids were scored higher than they should have been and so they will have relooked at the whole year group. It sounds like the teachers have been a bit too generous with their marks. It doesn’t matter though, it’s only year 6. Focus on all the good points in the report and look ahead to high school

Written reports sent home via the children is not that unusual in primary school.
@Cadmum22 no one can tell you the answer to your question. It’s possible that the moderation has required several of the children’s attainments to be altered. Some may even have gone ‘up’ from working towards to at expected. The moderation process is quite thorough and can be quite harsh. It could be something as simple as her handwriting that has changed the outcome. Her teacher should be able to explain what the moderator thought was lacking from her work. They can’t discuss other children’s outcomes though.
It sounds like her teachers still believe her to be a hardworking and able student. Please try and encourage her to see it from that perspective. Explain the process and that it is not a detraction from her excellent year.

Thank you. The teacher said that totally disagree with the outcome but there is nothing they can do. He didn’t give me any reasons to do with her work as to why it happened.

It sounds frustrating I agree. However I'm afraid I agree with pp that I would make light of it. I wish I'd done that with my DS who has always been very academic. Then a difficult time during A levels meant he completely fell apart when he realised he'd done badly in a test. Resilience is just as important as good grades as they get older in my humble opinion.

A teacher who is not sure why the moderator has moved work down a level is perhaps not a teacher who understands very well how Y6 writing is assessed - which may be the issue. It is, as a previous poster has said, largely a ‘tick the boxes’ exercise, and so a teacher who really understands what is required is critical.

I'm amazed that attainment scores are being externally moderated when there are already SATS to judge schools on/predict GCSE results and CATS for deciding on sets at secondary school. What's the point if the attainment score have no implications beyond what is written on a report? Just sounds like a way to put even more pressure on Yr 6 teachers.

Your dd's a star OP, tell her that her teacher thinks it's wrong and you agree with him. Cross it out and write exceeding if that would make her feel better/laugh. It's good that you're aware in advance so you don't have a shocked/confused reaction, you can just be relaxed and be clear that it's no big deal.

They are probably comparing it to other submissions they received. For the school she might be “exceeding expectations” but nationally she might be scoring “average”.

SATs consist of:

Test assessed: Maths, Reading, Grammar /Spelling /Punctuation - all externally marked.

Teacher assessed: Writing - internally teacher assessed, some moderated.

For moderation, the moderator will visit the school and look at a sample of work, then more sample if the initial sample reveals an issue.

Thank you. Yes I agree it’s all irrelevant but unfortunately won’t be if she’s see it! I just need to get in the envelope and remove it before she sees.

But that is the thing, the reports have always said based on national data. So not exceeding just in the class but nationally. The exceeding bit is irrelevant. She equally could have been at expected for seven years and then downgraded to below expected.

No it’s a typed report in an envelope addressed to parents but given to children to bring home.

My ds was downgraded on moderation from exceeding. While disappointing at the time, and teachers were frustrated (his was to do with a technicality connected to Sen) it has really made no difference to his life! GCSE target grades are based on SAT results so his target grades were a little lower than they could have been, but that can be a good thing!

Thank you. I’m not sure, he really didn’t want to discuss in any detail. He said he believes the school assessment to be correct but there is nothing they can do.

I fear that she knows too much about it.
My kids school obsessed by bloody SATs. I made it very clear in front of the children and their teacher every single parents evening that I wasn't interested in their SATs. My kids got exceeding in most things but I didn't make a big deal out of it. No "treats" for doing well and therefore no lack of treats for not. I did always give them I love to praise for doing well for effort .
You just need to be very breezy about it. Same with GCSEs and A levels take the pressure off

That’s lovely to hear, thank you

The thing is, although a nominal ‘level’ is given in eg years 3-5, it is only in Y6 that there are nationally agreed teacher assessment standards and exemplification material.

So in Y5, for example, the school will have been drawing only on its own internal expectations, whereas in Y6 there are much more formal standards and examples.

Beth216, the writing grade is combined with the SATs results and used in the setting of GCSE expected attainment.

OP, I'm both a Y6 teacher and a moderator. Before being moderated, Y6 teachers must rank the children from strongest writer down, along with the teacher judgement grade. The moderator selects a sample and reviews them to check the accuracy of the teachers judgements. In your child's case, they either found that there wasn't enough evidence of the "Greater Depth" criteria or that the teacher's understanding of "Greater Depth" wasn't secure and he had incorrectly graded her. They then changed her grade. This would have then involved looking at a wider sample of children to see if other judgements were inaccurate and make sure the boundary between "Expected Standard" and "Greater Depth" was set in the right place.

If the school has appealed, that means a lead moderator will have come out and reviewed the same work. A failed appeal means the lead moderator agreed with the original moderator. If they have appealed again, a lead moderator from another authority will have come to check. Again, if it failed, it's because that moderator also agreed with both previous moderators.

However, in most cases, all of this would have been completed by June 28th, as that was the deadline for writing submissions. Your child's teacher could have spoken to you about this before. They've also had your child's SATs results since Tuesday 9th July so should have already shared these with you too.

You’re right she does know too much. It doesn’t help that the kids open the envelopes sneakily before leaving school and discuss their grades. So long as I can remove them from
the report before she sees all will be well.

Standards - note Y6, none for Y3-Y5 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-assessment-frameworks-at-the-end-of-key-stage-2

Exemplification - again, for Y6 only
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2018-teacher-assessment-exemplification-ks2-english-writing

The moderating is so strict they will downgrade for the repetition of a word or a tiny error. It’s ridiculous really.

Thanks. Yes they have left it till the day before the report comes out to tell me. I will also get SATS results tomorrow. He’s an experienced teacher of year 6 and would have done this many times over. He said they appealed but it wasn’t even looked at/they wouldn’t have any of it.

I'd say that it's worth noting that any change in attainment grade is not due to an error on the part of the child. It's as a result of either the teacher making a judgement that he didn't have the evidence to make or due to an inaccurate understanding of the criteria on his part. So, if she does see it, it's important for her that she understand why the change was made (and not just a rubbish 'the nasty moderators did it' story).

He said they appealed but it wasn’t even looked at/they wouldn’t have any of it.

I'm sorry but that can't happen. An appeal is an official process and, once made, has to be carried out according to the structures provided by the local authority and the Standards and Testing Agency. The work would have to have been looked at again. The only way it wouldn't is if the teacher/school disagreed but didn't formally appeal.