Year 1 report / KS scores - does this actually matter for anything?

[purplearmadillo]

DD is in year 1 and we have just had a report for her. It consists of nothing other than a score in reading, writing and maths for her current level and the level they expect her to achieve by the end of the year (eg, 1a, 2c etc).

I find it confusing - DD has finished all the book bands and is a very good free reader. She has been scored 1a mid year, and also been given a target of 1a for the end of the year . In maths, she is also scored 1a but has been given a target of 2c.

I cannot understand why she is only 1a on reading, but I assume they are scoring on something other than just the book bands and I don't know what they are assessing on. But forgetting that, why is she not expected to improve in the next term and a half, and why do they think her reading should be a lower level than her maths at the end of the year?

Cynically, I am assuming that this is to do with the school being able to show an improvement, so not ranking her too highly now. Is ths right. Also, does it even matter? I am happy that she is doing well, will these scores ever have any impact on her in the future. I don't want to raise it with the school if it is irrelevant.

Thanks.

They don't think her reading should be lower than her maths - they think it will be. Obv maths can be higher than her reading, they are not related skills.

If she is currently a 1a it makes sense that she is targeted a 2c in Maths.

Not sure why she isn't targeted a 2c in reading also, or why she is a 'free reader' if she is only reading at 1a - can she read chapter books independently?

But most of all - no it doesn't matter. Your DD will improve her reading over the next term and a half, regardless of what level she is targeted at.... And she will be assessed again at the end of the year (and the start of the next year) and she will be given the appropriate grade for what she can read then...

Indigo, she can read chapter books absolutely fine. Her reading is excellent. I wondered if maybe it was wider stuff, like comprehension etc, although they seem to be fine to me as well.

I guess time will tell, but it seems quite negative to me not to anticipate any improvement and also to only rate her at 1a when I know she is reading most of the year 2 children in her school too (I know because she's in a mixed class and because I have spoken to some of the other mums about it).

If you're puzzled, the best thing to do is to ask the actual teacher why she has set that as the target. But none of it "matters", as the scores she gets in school reports will not be seen by anyone but you and the school.

I suspect it's just a mistake. If she's reading chapter books, like Roald Dahl's, she's not a level 1a.

A level 1a pretty much means 'not quite reading independently' - and normally equates to orange band books.

Purplearmadilo - I have a similar situation with my dd1 also Yr1. At parents' evening back in October they said she was "generally a 1A". She is a free reader, happily reads Roald Dahl, Rainbow Fairies, Secret Seven etc to herself with good comprehension.

We had a parents' evening last night. The teacher wasn't going to give out levels but I asked and she said "1b all round". I know this is not accurate, especially regarding her reading, but didn't think it would achieve anything by challenging it - after all, she can do what she can do, and she has definitely improved not deteriorated since October.... After saying she was a 1b the teacher went on to say, "she's above average and is in the top groups", so the two didn't seem to correlate. I just wonder if sometimes she's a bit too quiet in class, and maybe doesn't make her abilities obvious. Or the more cynical side of me thinks they are maybe keeping the scores down to show greater improvement..? I'd be interested to hear from teachers as to whether this actually happens.

DS's levels were reported at his recent parents' evening. He had a score of 1a for writing but his teacher was keen to point out that this was because she had insufficient evidence for 1 point at Level 1, and she could not mark him higher than 1a until she had it. But once that point was "ticked" off his NC level would rise rapidly as he'd already satisfied many "higher" criteria.

Wondering if something similar is in play here - your DD may be missing some "key" evaluation at Level 1 and the teacher is not stressing about ticking it off just for the sake of it (as NC level is pretty meaningless except for stats at end of Y2) - if she is making progress I would say that is the important thing.

I have got similar too. Apparently ds is currently a 1a despite the fact he reads gold books very easily and needs to move to white. He can read Roald Dahl etc, although doesn't always understand everything in those - the finer details.

It seems his teacher rated him a 1a based on an assumption he was on turquoise though as the teacher explicitly said 'oh he's on turquoise' and looked surprised when we said um no he's on gold. Bit that the teacher didn't know which band he is on.

One point the teacher mentioned was that he had wondered about 1a versus 2c (this was before being corrected about him being on gold btw) and went for 1a because maybe ds wouldn't be able to answer written comprehension questions. I think he probably could and they actually just haven't asked him to. Should the ability to answer written questions come into it anyway?

I know the levels shouldn't matter but it does annoy me and makes me think it gives them an excuse not to differentiate for ds.

I'm curious about parents who seem certain that their child should be at 'x' level and that the teacher (a professional in the field) has incorrectly assessed the level a child is at in writing, reading etc. Do these parents compare what their child is capable of against the National Curriculum descriptors for each level as teachers have to or do they have their own view of what a level 2a reader 'looks like/can do'? In my field I would be somewhat taken aback if my professional judgement was dismissed as wrong by someone not trained in the same field.

I'm a parent and feel confident in my understanding of NC levels generally but not in great detail so would not challenge a level for my child without first arming myself with all the facts - NC descriptors and what my child is actually producing in school rather than at home - a very different environment.

A fair question Whitenap.

In my case the teacher based the level on the assumption ds was on a completely different reading book level to be fair. He brings home gold books but the teacher thought he was on 2 bands lower by mistake (slightly worrying as I say!)

I have looked through the level descriptors too but then again I am very aware that I am not a teacher and therefore would defer to their judgment on that.

In my dd's case she was initially assessed as a higher level than they now say 5 months later, although she has clearly progressed in the meantime. This is why I say the score was "inaccurate" - either the first time round, or now. I don't care what level they call her as long as she is happy and progressing, which is why I didn't challenge it at the time.

Levels don't matter (in general, but especially at this stage).
Your child may read chapter books perfectly but comprehension will be the reason for them still being 1a.
You can help this by asking child to talk to you about
-favourite / least favourite parts with reasons.
-summarize the story.
-make references to other similiar stories (it's a fairy tale because...like red riding hood / its a myth like hercules etc)

Similar situation here.

My DD absolutely loathes noise though and gets terrible headaches/terribly distracted in the class when there is a lot of noise (so almost always).

Not saying this might be the same in your case, but performance in the classroom could be worse given distractions and other similar issues.

Just one small element to consider.

i would say that they have based her NC level on the reading tests they do in school which we dont know the results of unless we ask, rather than what book band she is on. Hence the 1a. It is a bit strange that they dont give her a target to work towards but you would have to ask the teacher her reasons for that one, she must have them.

i would trust what the teacher says they are the ones who are trained and know the criteria for each level.

Well I'm not feeling particularly trusting given the teacher genuinely didn't know what level ds is on.

tbh i would be really concerned if the teacher whilst having a conversation with me said that dd was on a different band to what she actualy was. She has 26 kids in her class so i would forgive her getting muddled up during conversation. as long as she came home with the right books.

Thank you everyone, there are lots of interesting points on here.

I think that the two things that jump out at me are the comprehension point and also the point about there being different tests for the levels which do not necessarily equate to the book bands. I need to chat it through with the teacher to find out. I think I have been a bit lax with her reading, because she does so well and is so enthusiastic, I've kind of let her get on with it. With maths, we have had sheets home with things to work towards, but not with reading, so I will ask what she could work on.

Sillyness, I think your questions are a good idea, I do ask her to summarise the story sometimes, eg now she is reading quite long chapter books, I ask her to tell me about the bits she has read in school so that I can catch up with the story and also to see if she is understanding it. She is able to do that. Not sure about written questions on a passage though, not sure she's ever done that.

Runoutofideas my DD reads pretty much exactly the same stuff as you describe. It seems very strange to me that she could be a 1b.

Indigo - if 1a is not quite reading independently, that definitely isn't right. I will ask the school for an explanation of what the writing targets are for the various levels.

Whitenapteen - I completely agree. I don't feel I can second guess and don't want to be rude, I don't really understand save that I had understood that it was unusual to be a free reader at this stage in year 1, so I was surprised that they still only think she will meet the expected standard at the end of the year, not exceed it.

Overall, I think my biggest concern is why they don't expect her to progress. I don't think it matters what level they are on as long as they are progressing, so not expecting her to progress seems odd and negative to me. I want the school to encourage her academically, not let her sit at her current level while the rest of the class catch up.

But the NC level was also based on this - I would understand too if it had been a momentary slip of the tongue on the night but the teacher has obviously gone through the whole levelling process with this assumption.

oops when i said i would be concerned in my previous post i really meant would not.

i cant type!

This is from the QCDA website:

Attainment target 2: En2 Reading

Level 1
Pupils recognise familiar words in simple texts. They use their knowledge of letters and sound-symbol relationships in order to read words and to establish meaning when reading aloud. In these activities they sometimes require support. They express their response to poems, stories and nonfiction by identifying aspects they like.

Level 2

Pupils' reading of simple texts shows understanding and is generally accurate. They express opinions about major events or ideas in stories, poems and nonfiction. They use more than one strategy, such as phonic, graphic, syntactic and contextual, in reading unfamiliar words and establishing meaning.

Don't worry I guessed you meant that 2pink.
As I say though, it wasn't just a momentary mistake so would that still not concern you?

it depends, im pretty sure that the levels are not just based on book bands more on reading tests and what the teachers have observed in the class. she must know what book band he is on or he would not come home with the right books.

He doesn't change the books though - the parent volunteer, TAs or reading specialists do.

Sorry but I'm still struggling with this. How can a child who easily reads and seems to understand gold books only a 1a? That's two sub-levels below what would be expected for that band. I can understand one sub-level below e.g. if comprehension is lacking but not two.

Thanks for that info Indigo.

On that basis, I think that DD would be a 2 rather than a 1. The book she is reading tonight is about 100 or so pages long and its a story about a little girl who is obsessed by farms. In what she read to me tonight, DD understood what the story was about, could tell me what had happened earlier in the story and relate it back to the bit she was reading. She could work out words she didn't know from the context and from phonics. Some examples of words she was able to read which I was impressed with:

cobblestones
velvety muzzle
miniature
generously
horrified

Having listened to her with all this in mind, I think she needs to work a bit on her reading out loud, I think because the book is harder she had lost some of her expression, and she probably needs to work a bit more on comprehension of the more subtle points in the story, but then the extract suggests that at level 2, they are working on simple texts and get the major issues, and she is certainly doing that.

Anyway, I don't want to get too worried about all the scoring stuff. She is reading well and loving it - she's reading to herself now. Having a love of books and stories is the main thing I think.

Download this document nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/node/153537 to have a closer look at how we assess reading as being level 1 vs level 2.

Thank you for the link, that document is really useful. In my opinion (and I am not a teacher) I think she can do all of the level 2 stuff at least to a certain extent. I am therefore disappointed that they would not expect her to be at least a low 2 by July. I will discuss it in parents evening.