How can I bump my 4a child into a 5 for science?

[Baudelaires]

I have been told that the DC is at the very top of a 4a - but not quite into a L5.

How big is the jump? What can I do at home with a child who won't use a computer and is very resistant to workbooks/worksheets? I dont think the school has been selected for external assessment so only talking teacher assessment here. Can I bung the teacher a tenner and hope that sways it

nkf you are certainly correct that top sets can be a law unto themselves, we certainly had our moments, but we all wanted to go to university so there was a limit to our antics. Only in French where the teaching was awful did we muck about to the point of not doing the work.

I'm sure there are lower ability DCs who want to work, but DD says they are swamped in a sea of silly gossip about boys and soap operas.

Seriously I think the person who said, to get level 5 the important word is BECAUSE sums it up perfectly.

To get good marks in science exams at any level you need not only to know a collection of random facts and long words you need to be able to use them to tell a coherent logical story.

"The plant in picture B went yellow because it didn't get enough light"

Bang goes the theory looks great :) Amq only disappointed that when the roadshow is near here, DS is away on cub camp (which will also be great of course).

I have to disagree with Startail and Cortina, and agree with Clam and Mrz. The "best" teachers are certainly not directed to the more able students at any well managed school. If there is a difference in ability amongst the teachers, then the 'top' sets and 'bottom sets' are shared out - you get able for your Yr7 set but less able for your Yr8 set, etc. IME, the teachers who have the better classroom management skills are guided to wards the more challenging sets - makes obvious sense to anyone.

Cortina: "It makes sense the best resources (in a situation where resources are limited) go to the children who are going to have an impact on the league tables. "
Well, actually then, that means the "better" teachers should be put in the lower middle sets, in order to push them up to a level 4 (KS2) or Grade C at GCSE. I expect many, many schools do this - certainly they are the children who are targetted for intervention groups. The highest achievers are going to get good results anyway - they don't affect the league tables in the same way.

Re the word 'because' - I think if you want to improv your dc's science resuls then yu need to improve their understandin - workbooks not really the solution. My dd (yr 5) has recently moved to top of her class in science, and I am pants at science so was talking to her about her test and we were given it to go through (she gt level 5). I was astonished by all the concepts she understood and could apply that I didn't know as an adult! But the kids watch loads of popular science progs, have various relativs with science Phds who bring science naturally int the conversation and s she just innately understands how stuff works.

Wish i did.

backfirgood In a perfect world you would be right, and I admit DD1s school is probably slightly better than mine (many of our teachers wouldn't have survived OFSTED), but her set 3 French teacher had no control at all.

Sorry backforgood I retyped your name 3 times, my iPod changes it

most 7 year olds are expected to achieve Level 2
most 11 year olds are expected to achieve Level 4
most 14 year olds are expected to achieve Levels 5 or 6

Is this correct? My son is 10 and year 5. He is 4a in everything. Surely 14 year olds should be higher than a 5?

www.education.gov.uk/performancetables/ks3_04/k3.shtml

As a KS3 science co-ordinator that is spot on. Most will achieve a level 5-6.

The levels only go up to 7 in science anyway (level 8 is possible in maths and, I think, english).

then we move into GCSE grades

Just a quick update, if anyone is remotely interested

She got......a level 5 in the end, with no money changing hands or horses heads in beds.