Any insight welcome, year 1 scores??

[MelissaCeleste]

Hello, my ds has been given what look to be sats scores for maths and english, he's at the end of y1. I'm confused because I thought schools didn't do sats until y2? So how have his scores been worked out and are they indicative of his y2 scores? School hasn't said anything about these scores but I understand that the scores represent where the y1 kids are now and not if they were at the end of y2. I thought I had another year to wait until testing started - anyone else's dc had this in y1 and were their scores predictive of their y2 scores?

Any insight welcome. Tia

Children will be given teacher assessment National Curriculum levels (eg, 1A, 2B) for English and Maths. These reflect your child's current performance in relation to work they've done for the teacher. SATS are externally marked and are only done at the end of the Key Stage. Knowing the levels now lets you know how well your child is doing currently - but don't let them mean everything: at the end of year 1 it's more important that your child is enjoying school and enjoying the experience of learning. However, school really should have given parents info as to what the scores meant!

All children are assessed by teachers against National Curriculum levels but there is no statutory requirement to report these to parents except at the end of the Key Stage (years 2 &6).
When your son is in Y2 his teacher will continue to assess him and this level will be reported to you. He will also complete a series of tasks and tests in reading writing and maths which will be marked by his teacher and contribute to his overall level. Only Y6 tests are externally marked although this looks like it may change next year.

thanks for your replies, it makes a bit of sense now. So a score lower than a 2b is below average for y1? Yes, ds enjoys school!

mrz, so sats could be externally marked for y2s next year? why the change, if it happens - do you know?

No Melissa SATs (or at least part of them) could be internally marked for Y6s next year

No a score below 1b is below average for Y1 (2b is the expected level at the end of Y2)

mrz, many thanks again for your helpful replies, it's a lot clearer now! I realise now, why sats can cause so much stress for parents!

The only confusion I have left is this: if a 2b is average for Y2, then why is it not also average for Y1? I'm sure this is obvious but I think I'm missing something!

Sorry - realized my examples were naff after I'd posted . Think schools need to make levels (and Ksey Stage averages)etc clearer to parents as so many parents don't understand the NC structure.

melissaCeleste: don't forget that children need to work their way through the levels as they go from Reception to y2, so they will progress from Working towards a level 1 to an average of 2B by end of year 2

2B isn't average for Y2... it is the expected level of achievement after 2 full years in school years in school. Over the length of each Key Stage in primary a child is expected to progress by 2 National Curriculum levels
I'm not sure why some parents get stressed about SATs (I don't meet any in real life just on MN) speaking as a Y2 teacher.

That is now clearer, thanks again for your help. I don't know why parents are not just given a handout with all the relevant information on it, summarised if possible, so that threads like these wouldn't be necessary!!!

I think its really confusing and there is very little information given to parents. I've also come on looking for information about what a 2C means. Presumably it goes 1c 1b 1a 2c 2b 2a? Is there any information out there on when they should be htting each of those levels?

2B is the expected level at the end of Y2

thanks Mrs. What about the other scores? When should they be at 2C? Presumably mid way through year 2?

Oops Mrz not mrs - I wouldn't get a 2b!

a is the highest end of each level and the levels are a continuous sequence that runs through primary and up to the end of KS3 (Y9) where the highest is a level 8.

Children starting secondary typically have a range of levels from 3 (needing a lot of support) to 5 (doing well)

national curriculum levels are like a ladder stretching from level 1 up to 7 or 8. the higher the number the more your kid can do and the levels are used to measure progress up to the end of KS3 and just before the start of GCSE grades...so a long way to go!

It was felt that the original levels were too broad so they introduced the sub-levels a,b,c. Yes, c is the lowest of these sub levels.

The scores your child gets at these very early years are then used to judge progress against 'value added'. Its not only important what level your DC's level is but also how much it has improved since last being measured.

As a secondary school teacher I would strongly recommend to be guided by these levels but not ruled by them...they are not the be all....

Y1 1B/1A
Y2 2C/2B
Y3 2A/3C
Y4 3B/3A
Y5 3A/4C
Y6 4B/4A

That is what my LEA consider expected levels for each year group. A sub-level 'C' is lower than a sub-level 'A'. It goes like this: 1C, 1B, 1A, 2C, 2B, 2A, 3C, 3B, 3A and so forth.

Level 3 at end of Y2 SATs is considered 'above average' but our LEA say don't award unless a 'secure level 3' on APP as well as gaining 'level 3' on SAT tasks. Level 5 at Y6 is considered 'above average' too.

Also, especially for younger year groups, consider the age /birth date of the child. I have ALWAYS found that MOST summer born children are at the 'lower' end of the expected grades than their autumn born peers. It doesn't always work like that but half my class are May, June, July and August born and only 2 are 'above average' the rest are all performing at 1C or W (P scales from summer term whereas EYPS during autumn and spring terms). They usually catch up later.

Just spotted all the additional posts - many thanks to all for the extra information.

Mum2be - do you find there are any particular areas of the curriculum the summer borns on average struggle more with, e.g. reading or writing?

I am curious. Our class is definitely not representative as most of the top groups are the summer born boys which is interesting.

Yes. Phonics, reading and writing. My summer borns are only now just starting to grasp the basics and are on the same level as those coming up from reception. They also have difficulties with fine motor skills and are 'immature'.

Wow that's very different to our class. The two top readers in ours are June and July born. Next few are half summer born.

Are we the exception then in our class from your experience (you do have a bigger sample size as a teacher!)

What I mean is half of the next few are summer born

I disagree with Mum2be79. I find it is PSE and PD where they may lag behind slightly.

dragonmother I often find summer born boys do well in reception and are frequently my best readers.