I haven't been on mumsnet for years. Hallo. And can I ask a question about book bands and levels at the end of year 1?

[GoodOldEnid]

I am quite laid back about education (3rd child) these days but I was surprised that dd3 was given a 1A (average I believe) for reading. She's now reading the Happy Families series (alhberg) fluently and the last book band she was on was Gold. I am a bit out of touch but I naively thought that her reading was above average. I don't want this to sound like a bragging mother thread BUT I was genuinely surprised. Don't want to ask the teacher as I know that I will sound exactly like a pushy mother .

sorry should have said she is coming to the end of year 1.

My DS is end of year 1 and has been on white for a while. ( the band above gold in our school)

Our school do not give out levels so I have no idea what 1a means but for reading my DS's teacher wrote that he is working at a level significantly above the attainment level for his age.

So I would say that gold level can't be average!

The only thing I have to 'judge' her against is my other children (first was crap reader, secnod was very good) and she seems far ahead of them at their age.

I don't suppose it matters at the end of the day as I am not going to say anything to anyone about anything, it just confused me a bit.

Ps I don't want to sound like a bragging mother either but as my DS is adopted I never feel like it's bragging as I can't really claim any credit for him being so wonderful

Hi Enid

Our DCs are 17, nearly 15 and 7, so we have now had quite a lot of reports home from various schools. Our biggest takeaway is to attach very little importance to details of evaluation - only the bigger picture is generally reliable (and even so...).

1a is above average as I believe 1b is average or expected attainment for end of Y1.

The levels are assessed based on comprehension including knowledge and correct use of punctuation/expression.

Personally I would ask the teacher, it won't sound pushy if you ask how the level is calculated in comparison to the book band.

If gold level is the correct book band for her comprehension and reading then 1a is probably about right or possibly a 2c. I am not 100% sure.

Blimey - DS1 is yr 1, on green level and a 1b - I think it varies massively!

It's just so confusing. If there was just a written report then noone would be bothered. Or grades or something. And because noone is supposed to be bothered it just means they never explain it properly. It definitely says 1a is the national average which is very cheering as clearly we have loads of very good readers

Being a 3rd, I suspect she is laid back and hiding her light under a bushel.
Above average most probably

Literacy involves writing. Could that be holding her back?

Her writing isn't brilliant but this is definitely for reading. In fact she got 1a for everything which according to the bar chart [clutches head] is the natinoal average. There were about -adds up on fingers- 7 things.

I posted this on another thread (I found it when googling, so don't know how accurate it is) it was commented that these are an interpretation of the NC levels and not used universally, but it may give an indication of what your DD is missing to move up levels. From googling, it appears that NC levels are not directly related to book bands as there is more to the assessment than just the actual words you can read. But in general children reading the turquoise book band are about level 1a, and at purple go up to 2c. There is variation to that depending whose ideas I have read!

I would have thought gold was above average? Dd is on lime, which I think is two levels higher and her report says that she is an exceptionally good reader for her age.

Lime is 3c I believe

Gold is approximately 2c :) there may be other reasons for her teacher putting your dd as a 1a, so I'd ask her tbh.

Enid my dd is on white band (the one after gold) and she's a 2a for reading, she did an old sats paper and scored 2a. I'm a teacher and was pleasantly surprised but not really iyswim. You need to ask the teacher why she is a 1a and maybe they can give you some pointers, is it possible her comprehension isn't as good as her word recognition and phonics.

I do wonder if they mark them down deliberately so that they can mark them up later so it looks as though the teaching is better? I know you can't compare home and school (I think she is quite shy at school) but certainly at home she understands stories thoroughly and asks lots of clever questions. Oh well, summer holidays soon and I expect I will have forgotten all about it by Sept

I think it does vary a lot.

My dd end of year one is on red band stage 1+/2 and level 1c for reading so is quite a bit behind

My DS ended yr 1 ( last year) on gold and was a 2C. I would definitely ask....

I teach Year 1 and I gave the children on gold level a high 2c or 2b, depending on the child.

What an hilarious thing to come back to Mumsnet for.

Yes! Hilarious! I wonder why I ever left!

oi SLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAG

btw enid - who gives a feck about levels tbh. all mine have done fine - not interested at all.

there is a LOT of guesswork that goes on

& taps nose