P3 Maths

[withgreatpower]

Hello,

my daughter is in P3 (Scotland), equivalent to Y2 in England. She is in the middle group for Maths, but I think that at school she should be encouraged to work harder. I talked to the teacher at the beginning of the year, but the teacher thinks my DD is not confident enough, etc etc (to me this means that the teacher thinks my daughter is not as clever as the kids in the top group, so she shouldn't be pushed to that level).

Anyway, I made her (DD) do a couple of KS1 level 3 Maths tests (we used to live in England, where DD did reception, then moved to Scotland at the beginning of Year 1 / P2). I marked the paper and DD would have been able to reach Level 3, according to the mark scheme. How come she is middle ability in Scotland, but would be in the top 20 % in England?

How can she (or rather I) show the teacher that she can do more than what the teacher thinks? It's true that my DD doesn't seem to care if she's in the middle or top group (I guess she accepts that she's good enough only for the middle group), gets things wrong because she doesn't read the question carefully and misreads numbers (like reading "2 hours" instead of 2 hours and a half), but this doesn't mean that more shouldn't be expected from her, as she clearly shows that she can do more, when I expect her to do better.

Doesn't ability grouping put a ceiling on children?

I'll be very happy to read any of your comments. Thanks.

Maybe she's in an above average class.
Maybe she did unusually well on the paper.
Maybe you prompted her more than would be allowed.
Maybe she's lazy and doesn't show her ability at school.
Maybe she's intimidated by her peers in Numeracy lessons.
Maybe the teacher isn't assessing her properly.

Whatever, if you have concerns, you should talk to the teacher.

Do you not mean S3 (S - Secondary)
P3 is Primary school (a P3 is about 7/8 years old)
Anyway if she doesn't do well on the work/tests that she is given in school then the teacher can't give her a higher grade/put her in a higher group.
Have you seen any of her work that she does in school? The tests you have given us is not necessarily the same work given in school.
You ask what she can do to show her teacher that she is better than what the teacher thinks, it really is up to her, does she want to do better!? There is no point in you going down to the school telling the teacher that he/she should be pushed up a group if your daughter isn't willing to do the work, if that makes sense.

Unless your DD's teacher does things differently than I do, there is no ceiling to achievement.

My middle ability group have work specific to them, but if they are able them I have extension tasks which are the higher ability work. I also move children if I think they are more capable than their peers.

I have a number of children in my class who are of a higher ability than their peers, but who would not cope in the next group up. They are either too anxious, too scared of failure, too unpredictable if working independently or not consistent enough with their work.

If asked, I could justify why every single child in my class was in the group they were in. That's not a super power- it's just part of being a teacher. Your daughter's teacher should be able to do the same. And the teacher should be willing to explain (but without comparing to other children, obviously). The issue would come with how you broached the subject. If you go in with all guns blazing, claiming your child scored a level 3 on a paper not done in test conditions, then you look pushy and like you're undermining the class teaching. If you go in with a 'how can we help DD?' attitude, you will be better received.