At the start of the year do teachers assess what a dc can actually do or just to a certain point (yr1)

[mychatnickname]

So would they look at whether they can use numbers up to 20 at the start year 1 and then stop or if they could do up to 20, carry on to 50 and so on until they reached the ceiling of what they could do?

Surely it should be the latter? I'm suspecting in ds' class it's only the former.

They are assessed continuously, and no ceiling is placed on their learning. Hopefully.

Ditto what Feenie said

However in reports they may just list things like 'can count to 20' because they are describing a level they have reached.

But that doesn't mean that that is actually what they are doing in school.....

(Well, that has been my experience)

I think they were assessed over the last few weeks though - not in a formal sats way but to see where they are at. The problem is it seems they were only assessed at quite a low level so surely their targets will not be stretching?

The teacher will be constantly assessing to see where they are and what progress they have made - this will very rarely involve testing in Y1, if at all.

I know it doesn't involve any formal testing at all. My question is, is there a ceiling where some teachers test to and then stop. I don't think there should be but suspect there is in ds' class perhaps because the teacher is over-stretched. Is this normal?

I would be very surprised if there was - most teachers delight in allowing children to learn ad infinitum - it would feel very alien not to teach them 'any more'. What would you do with them?

I think most teachers are aware of the upper limits of a child and do assess in their various ways. However, (from my personal experience) they only report to parents that the dc has achieved the expected targets for the year.

So, even if your child can count to 20 or 100 and is competent, the target is knowing number bonds to 10 and thats what is reported.

Most teachers do give children work to match their abilities. This does become more debateable as the child progresses through the years, but it does entirely depend on the teacher and the school policies

Should a teacher have done all the assessments by now?
It's nearly half term and ours said she hasn't done them for one subject yet which seems strange. How can she set targets if she hasn't even assessed the kids?

I think it would be weird for a teacher to just stop at counting to 20 (or whatever). DS2 is in year one and on the top table for numeracy with some very bright kids. The teacher certainly does extension work with them.

The kids are streamed in numeracy and literacy so they can do appropriate work. I don't know if all schools stream.

I've found out since the op that they haven't actually assessed them yet so that is why it hasn't gone further than the basics maybe.

Any teachers on here? Shouldn't they have done this by now?

At the end of reception the eyfsp is completed for all children. The primary purpose ofbthis is to inform teaching in y1. The reception and y1 children discuss the children.

There is no formal testing in y1 (unlike r and y2). Some children may continue to be assessed against the eyfsp if appropriate for part of y1. Others will move onto the nc. There will be nc targets set for the end of y2 based upon the typical progress of a child from their starting point. Some children make more progress and some less. Childrens learning is not linear. Most schools will look at progress tom then end of y1 and set targets- this is slightly more random as we have no national end of y1 data.

There is no direct link between eyfsp and u2 sats ( they don't measure the same things). In feb 2010 the dcsf produced chances correlation based upon the 2007 eyfsp and the 2009 ks1 sats.

Usually during the 1 st half term the teacher will decide where each y1 child fits into the nc levels. This will not be done through formal testing. It may be that your child wrote a sorry or read a book tom the teacher and this was used to assess where they are.

If a school was formally testing children at the start of y1 in would be concerned.

Can't spell (on iPad)

U2 is y2

Nc is national curriculum

Eyfsp is early years foundation stage profile

It might be that I've used the word 'assessment' wrongly but I am absolutely not talking about SATS style assessments or tests. I know they do not do that and am happy they do not.

What I mean is checking where the children are at individually. The teacher explicitly said she has not checked/ assessed their levels in one of the three subject areas yet.

I am wondering how she can set targets if she has not checked what they can actually do already. She seems very haphazard so hence I am wondering if this is something which would normally have been done by now?

They were assessed at the start of July. She will have used that as the starting point and then will be constantly informally assessing the children. Being able to recognize numbers is only a small part of the y1 maths. A child may recognize numbers to 1600 but may not be able to add 3and 2. Some children can count out loud but can't recognise written numbers.

I do understand that re numbers - it was just an example.

mychatnickname, fwiw my dd is also in year 1 and her teacher has assessed her against the nc levels, and she is getting appropriately differentiated work. So it clearly happens in some schools.