would you be worried about a group of children doing well?

[workshy]

there has been a group of 5-6 children that have been good at maths since Y1

they have just finished year 5 and 3 have come out level 6 and 3 5a

I appreciate this is high for year 5 but the school spotted this group and started extension work with them early

one of the mums says these scores ring alarm bells

am I missing something?

Why would it ring alarm bells, clearly if they have been deemed in need of extension work in year R/1, they had this sort of potential? The SATS are marked externally???
My dd is 6 and at last terms report levelled 2a in reading iirc probably around 3c at the end of year 1 (as opposed to key stage 1!), I would expect her to make far higher grades in year 5/6 than a child who was progressing at an average pace. She needs fewer repititions to master skills and thus has gone from 1b to 2a in 2 terms (not had her summer report yet).
Its just logic that some children learn very quickly, just as others struggle to pick things up.

Why on earth would it ring alarm bells? Is the mum suggesting the scores are inaccurate?

it's not the formal sats, they are in year 5

she seems to think they are artifically inflating grades to make the school look good?

think she must buy into the conspiracy theory!

she seems to think there is something wrong with 10% of the school year achieving those levels

Sounds like the kind of person who likes to stir. Ignore her!

What's the point in inflating scores? Year 6 won't show any progress and that's not good for the school. Is the mum who is concerned one of the high achieving children's mums, or one of the rest of the class?

one of the high achievers but she puts a lot of pressure on her DCs

it's almost as if she thinks his achievement is undervalued by the others achieving the same level???

You may have hit the nail on the head there, workshy! Ignore her.

but the Yr5 levels are not published as they are not off and have no bearing on the school so cannot inflate the school .

These children will probably sit the Level 6 SAT in Yr 6 and then the true level will come out if it is inflated - but at the moment I would ignore her.

are people really that petty about 10 year olds?

With maths it is far easier for them to do well at it if they have some natural ability unlike English when the need their maturity IYSWIM.

I think she just wanted her child to be special!

are not offical - not off

Sounds like the Mum is doing a classic stealt boast to me, workshy!

workshy she's a loon, that's all, who can't believe her child isn't some kind of prodigy. Ignore her.

Weeell, it could be that she actually feels that something is wrong and is not a stealth boast at all. One of my DC got a very high level for English, I don't quite believe that it is accurate to be honest. It's not even her strongest subject so God knows what the Maths level will be (we haven't got them yet officially, the teacher just looked DC's English level up because of a different issue). I have no idea about what the other children have achieved but I have not mentioned my doubt to anyone because of exactly this kind of reaction. I am not a teacher so I don't know exactly how they assess, but I do get the feeling that there is something a bit off.

Agree blisterpack. My ds got all 3's in his year 2 sat's. Whilst I was happy to believe it for Maths I couldn't believe the writing result.
I have probably been proved right as he has started year on 3b and ended it on 3b. (accoroding to ds as school don't tell us results except in year 2.)

't's almost as if she thinks his achievement is undervalued by the others achieving the same level???'

'are people really that petty about 10 year olds?'

You can't be a teacher if you are asking the question workshy!
Yes, many parents are that petty, competitive and negative about other children.

She's being daft. If these children were spotted as good at maths in Year 1, and given extension work since then, it's not at all surprising that they are now getting high scores. Maths is a subject where some people just pick up the concepts easier than others, and once they've grasped one thing they can move on to the next much faster than those who struggle to "get it". The school has allowed these children to do so, rather than slowing their progress to match the rest of the class. The only potential problem I can see is what will happen when they go up to secondary school, where they could well have to repeat things they've already covered.

I spent my first year in secondary re-doing what I'd done in the last year of primary, even in the top maths set. It was ok for me as I'm not the sort to get bored and mess around, but it can be an issue sometimes and hard to then get back into making an effort once you get to the new stuff.

I suspect this mum is just being petty - her child, because of natural brilliance and all the effort she puts into pushing him/her, ought to be the single stand-out achiever of the year, and not just one of a group.