Levels, year 1

[bubbles1112]

Hello, is being level 2 in most areas what we should expect in year 1?

Cheers.

No that's actually ahead of expectations so a child at level 2 at this stage would be doing well.

Oh!
Thank you

The "average" year 2 achieves 2b, so level 2 (be it c,b or a) is good for Y1

I think it depends on the school too at parents evening I was told dc was on 2 2c's and a 2b right now in year 1 but she added that half the class were the school generally has about 50% of kids getting level 3's at end of ks1.

What level would they need to be now to get a level 3 at the end of year 2 - on average?

MY dc teacher said that 1a could possibly be a 3 by end of year 2 and they'd expect all 2c's at end of year 1 to be 3's by end of year 2.

So is it true that they'd move up one whole level from around now to the end of year 2 then - on average?

At parents evening in September I was told they expect 3 or 4 sublevels of progress each year in ks1.

3 or 4 sub levels of progress is a lot. Generally the norm is 2 full levels between year 2 and year 6, so a 2b at the end of year 2 should easily be a 4b at the end of year 6. In order to push for extra good progress, schools push for 2 'sub levels' a year, which are the a, b, c levels.
loopy the levels are just one way of measuring the child's progress and a mainly only used in literacy and numeracy. The progress in levels between the end of key stage 1 and the end of key stage 2 ( ie year 2 and year 6 ) is one of the most important things that ofsted will look at. In mainstream education they start at W ( which means working towards level 1) and usually go as far as 5, which is above average in year 6.
The teachers will have lists of what a child should be able to do at each level, called APP grids (assessing pupil progress), which they use as a best fit.
Each level has 3 sub levels, ie: 1c, 1b, 1a, 2c, 2b, 2a etc.
If these are being used properly, they can be useful.
HOWEVER, if the children are 'coached' too much for their year 6 sats, they may get the level in the exam, but not really be secure at that level in their day to day work.
(cynical year 6 teacher emoticon!)

The ks1/ks2 thing is an interesting question and you are not the first person to ask it but on the whole I would like to trust the professionalism of my colleagues. There is a way of looking at the progress from foundation to end of ks1 as well, but I am not really an expert on that stage. In an all through school, the staff would get no benefit from massaging the levels lower down. Tbh, we are assessing all the time anyway, so there would be an enormous sudden jump in year 3, which would look a bit odd.
Assessing levels in literacy is much harder than in maths, IMHO, as it is bot so black and White. You could ask how they are assessing , is it tests or ongoing through their work.
As to whether it matters, if she is making good progress and is keen then don't worry about a sub level here and there. The problem with the system is that children don't progress in a nice straight line across all areas of the curriculum. They go in peaks and troughs, spurts and lulls, some things they find easier and some harder. The one size fits all method really isn't fair.

Here you go guys, this will keep you busy for the weekend! APP grids

I did say 3 to 4 sublevels at ks1 only. AT ks2 they predict 2 sublevels a year.

Hi
my ds got to level 3 in eng and maths last year when he was in yr 2. Just been to parents evening and was told he was on level 3b....that means he hasn't progressed much in a year doesn't it?

Good progress in KS2 is 2 sublevels progress in an academic year. (Satisfactory progress is one and a half sublevels). So if your ds could have been a 3c at the end of Y2, and we are just over halfway through the year at 3b - so he is on target to make good progress at the moment.

thanks feenie...I keep forgetting it's only the beginning of april there's still a few months til the end of the school year!

Boatto...thanks for all the info too;)

btw...boatto I take it you teach yr 6?

....my other ds is in yr 6 and had acheived level 5a reading, 5b writing and 5c maths in his mocks. SATS are in may and his teacher reckons he'll acheive similar for language but might drop to 4a maths.

Can a yr 6 acheive a level 6 or is that too much? Are this grades above average or well above average? Just interested really as I was quite impressed by these results but his teacher didn't seem to be. So I do wonder wether it's normal to exceed the targets and to have most kids acheive level 5

I'd be impressed if he was in my class! I have a couple ( small class!) working at this level but it is not common. Children can be assessed as level 6 (and a new optional SATs paper at level 6 is being published soon) but it is difficult in a "normal" class to teach the FULL range of level 6 objectives that would be needed to ensure a child was comfortably working consistently at this level ( although I have several who can achieve a level 6 on a KS3 SATs paper!)

Thats very impressive. Although I have been told children have their flourish around this age and then can level again. Hence why they can make 3/4 sub levels in a year.

For perspective my DS (aug baby) came up from year 1 a 1B in literacy and 1A in Maths. Predicted 2B in literacy and 3 in Maths for SATS. Friends DD (Dec baby) came up a 2c in everything. She is predicted a 2A in literacy and 3 in maths. So it does even out - although obviously there will always be children above and below thats how we get a nathional average.

Thanks for that spaniel.
Ds is a bright, hardworking boy. He goes to quite a pushy but excellent state school, very happy there, and I'm sure he's not the only one acheiving these levels. Probably why his teacher didn't seem that impressed...or maybe he was having a bad day ;)

But I can understand it must be impossible to teach to level 6 in yr 6. I just want him to do his best, but I did wonder. There's so much more to schooling than levels, isn't there, but great to see how far he's got

helium....I agree...I've heard they don't make that much progress when they move on to secondary school. They probably have to get to grips with a whole new system of working so it'll be harder to move up the the levels. That and the hormones kicking in....

Not impossible, no. But a challenge, yes. But if a child is a 5a then they have to make progress. We would generally have a couple of level 6s most years in Maths and reading.

oh ok....so it is possible

DS1 was 2c across the board at parents evening in February. He is 5 and in year 1 and considered bright for his age so if your son is the same then he is doing well :)