Reception class levels

[tjacksonpfc]

Hi all i'm after some help too understand what my ds teacher told me today.

He is coming to the end of reception year and his teacher has told me he is working to a level 9 in maths and reading but could be higher. He is reading at green level ORT already. They want to asess him in sept. To find out how far ahead he is G&T has been mentioned. Personally i don't think hes that far ahead but they obviously do.

Does anyone understand what these levels mean as i haven't got a clue im only just getting used to the levels in ks1, ks2 nad my dd will be year 3 in sept. TIA

DS1 will be leaving Reception on white - has been on White since February. Also regularly goes into Year2 class to choose reading books.

He started school though being a very able reader and he is also one of the oldest children in the year. I would be surprised if other children didn't 'catch-up' or overtake in years 1 or 2.

Mathswise he isn't quite as adept. But is on 9 I think - or was when we had parents' evening back in February-ish.

He has been put on the G&T register (in the first term) and the school have been great at really fostering excellent progress in writing - when he started school he wouldn't even hold a pen. His letter formation was so feathery and uncertain. That's come on by leaps and bounds.

In my bog standard state primary (non academic - deprived area) he would not be considered G&T

Interesting mrsz - are you referring to ds1?

It doesn't really bother me whether he is or isn't. My brother and i were precocious readers. But there wasn't a g&t scheme when we were at the same school. I don't think we were especially gifted if at all - just happened to 'get' reading at a younger age and generally were in the top few in most subjects.

Also a bog standard primary in one of the less desirable areas covered by our lea.

No pooka I'm referring to the OP.

I don't think we were especially gifted if at all - just happened to 'get' reading at a younger age

I couldn't agree more ... my son was reading long before nursery. I was something that came naturally and something he enjoyed. He wasn't gifted just motivated to want to read.

Totally agree with Mrz-also comprehension needs to play a big part in all this-my DS (Year 1 with ASD/dyspraxia) was borderline hyperlexic in nursery and now could probably read Roald Dahl and has been known to read The Times-doesnt understand a word of it though so not much point in ploughing through the book levels...hence very sensible teacher keeping him in a very average (if not below average) book band (no idea which one tbh-but I do know he understands at this level).

OP - I think your problem is not your DS - he's doing fine (but not exceptional), but your DD, who if she is on Orange band books now at the end of Y2 is behind - and the problem is that the school are happy to tell you that your son is doing well, but they're not happy to tell you your daughter is doing badly......

I think you need to find out from your DDs teacher how she is doing. An orange band book suggests she is working at approx level 1B. If this is true, if this is the level they have given her for her KS1 SATS - you should be concerned :(

Thanks all for your replies I've got a meeting next week with the HT and class teacher to clarify thing.

Indigobell, I'm not overly concerned about dd as she has speech and language delay and only got relased by the speech therapist in february this year. she has actually moved up 2 reading levels this school year so I am happy with that due to her problems.

Not sure why OP is so disbelieving of others experiences in reception class. Levels vary a lot in reception, but tend to even out .
Your child is doing well but not exceptional if in my childs school

Coccyx where did I say I didn't believe what others were saying?. I was saying what was said to me about my ds but didnt understand what the levels were. Like I said my dcs are at a small mainly military school so their isn't much to compare them with.

The problem ive got is due to my dds previous problems here levels are behind what they should be in a lot of things. But at the end of teh day if your childs teacher comes up and tells you that your son is ahead of everyone else and they want to asses them further in Sept, you start to think that he must be doing pretty well as they wouldn't say or do things like that for the sake of it. At the end of teh day his class teacher has had him for a wohole year so knows him quite well and what he is capeable of. Like I said I am not a pushy parent far from it I just wondered what peoples experiances of these levels were as it is the first time i have come across it.

agree oddgirl - ds is on level 7 olive green which i think is bookband turquoise and i have to explain conceps and language a lot... he is 5 and 3 months and his school has moved him onto some different phonic things and another scheme

no point in racing

if he was on green at our school, he would be exceptionally gifted... but that is more a comment on the schools approach to reading....

dd2 started reception on level 10, and finished i think on 14 if we're talking ort (i'm a bit confused and have no idea what the colours mean). that said, if level 9 just refers to the eyfs goals, and not ort levels, it isn't that unusual to be 9s across the board - i think most kids at dd's school were, with a few dips down for different skills. i didn't pay too much attention to the eyfs stuff tbh - she has cp so i had other fish to fry.

she wasn't in a military school for yrr but is now (yr 2).

if i have completely got the wrong end of the stick, ignore me!

No level 9 does not refer to the EYFS goals - 9 refers to the profile scale point which would require the child to Reads books of own choice with some fluency and accuracy the example given by the DfE is Jessica reads the whole of The very hungry caterpillar fluently and with expression, needing no help with the words. She explains that the caterpillar needs to eat a lot so that it can turn into a butterfly and says that people shouldn?t be as greedy as that.

thanks mrz! ignore me then as you were.

out of curiousity, what does 9 for maths/ numeracy mean then? (wasn't ever given numbers for yr r... or actually ever, i don't think, save sats) is this something that teachers should be doing now? (not that it matters really, as mine are past that bit and now in a diff system, but it might help me understand some of the threads!)

There are 3 strands to the (maths) PSRN numbers forlabels & counting, calculation & shape space &measure

to score 9s the child would need to

Recognises, counts, orders, writes and uses numbers up to 20

Uses a range of strategies for addition and subtraction, including some mental recall of number bonds

Uses mathematical language to describe solid (3D) objects and flat (2D) shapes

they would also be expected to Uses developing mathematical ideas and methods to solve practical problems involving all three strands.

IMHE it is much easier to achieve 9s for maths than in other areas.

that's brilliant - v comprehensive, thanks.

This is all very interesting.
My DS is on the yellow books at the moment, and the class teachers have only moved on a handful to blue. He is a very good reader, and I personally think he should move on to a higher level, but I'm not sure how much I should push for this? I do know he is getting a little bored with his current books!
Am very impressed that there are some already up to gold in reception!

I should add that his class seems to be full of summer babys (many are boys) who are still on red and even pink, so it must depend on the intake that year what the overall standard of any year is.

Children are all different and of course classes and schools vary but i don't think being a summer born boy prevents a children from reading well in reception (speaking as a teacher and the mum of a summer born boy who was reading chapter books in reception).

there seems to be a wide range in ds reception class (I think!) from 3 to technical free reading! most are on about level 4-5. I asked about EY goals at parents evening a couple of months ago and was told that almost all of the children had gone way beyond level 10. Personally, I think that the boys I have seen with ds all enjoy numbers and can count/recognise numbers in 1000,s let alone up to 20. maybe the benchmark is set too low??

Interesting as there isn't a level 10

I think your child is doing really well and working well within where he should be, if not beyond in Literacy and Numeracy. I am currently teaching R and have children reading from Pink right through to Turquoise. We don't usually talk about "G and T" in R, more working below, working within or working beyond the ELGs.

Our expectations and ethos are that children develop a love of books and a passion for life long reading, the colour band is less important than a child's motivation to share books, talk about stories and really know them. My DD1 was reading the paperback Daisy books in R, my DD2 n the other hand is reading securely at red level but is nowhere near as interested....they all develop at their own pace, be reassured he sounds like he is doing great!