Levels in Y1 report? Should there be any?

[gabid]

We got DS's end of Y1 report a few weeks back and I found it difficult to see whether he is where he should be. There are no NC levels (a friend told me in her school they even had them in reception) and the report is rather descriptive, e.g. DS has put together an electrical circuit. I found it hard to read between the lines too.

At parents evening his teacher told us that he is where he should be, despite the fact that I think he is a bit behind in maths.

I feel a bit kept in the dark on the one hand on the other hand I think they are too young to fuss over achievement too much - but that's how the British system works.

Did you get levels in Y1 reports?

We were given levels for every subject (even PE, music and art!) and we also got overall grades for achievement and effort.

Personally, I find the teacher comments far more interesting, but then, it was obvious that our teacher had taken the time to write really detailed, personalised reports - worth infinitely more than any number!

Levels must be reported in Y2 and Y6 in other years there is no requirement to do so.

We get phrases in year 1 such as 'slightly below expectation' (for numeracy and literacy) also effort grades for all subjects. I found these helpful along side the very detailed comments made for each subject area which demonstrated a strong understanding of DD.

I would not want her labelled at this stage with a NC level...that can wait as I do strongly feel she need more time to get her head around the basics. Levels can get in the way of the important message behind them

mrz - thanks, I had no idea.

If I read 'slightly below expectation' I would know where DS is at, or if I read what he is good at and what need's improving, but could not establish that from his report.

Thanks for your comments.

That is frustrating gabid.I would be irritated as this seems to mee to be the point of the report!

Reading 'slightly below expectations' was not nice but not entirely unexpected and gives me a rough idea of where she is at. It sits alongside what seems to be her excellent artistic/creative skills and the teachers comments have given me an insight into how DD sees the world and how she learns. All helpful stuff

they were not in the ones at my friend's dc's school for year 1, I want to see them in my DCs report though. If not I will ask the teacher for his levels - she told me them at parents' evening though so no doubt they will be in there.

We get NC levels, rate of progress since last year (below expectation, as expected or above expectation) and a chart which shows what the expected levels for each year group is. And we get that twice a year, every year. I had no idea how must "extra" information we were getting over and above requirements and I think I owe the staff a few bottles of wine for all the work they put in during report-writing! It is very helpful, in terms of knowing how your child is doing. And they manage to avoid making the place feel like they are obsessed about levels ... even though they clearly are monitoring all the children very closely.

We just get below expectations, as expected, exceeds expectations. DD2 Y1 got exceeds expectations in every subject except PE which considering she has just beaten 40 girls to join the only gymnastics squad in the area is a little surprising!