EYFS levels - at end of Reception??

[PiedWagtail]

Hmm. In our school the children have been working towards the EYFS levels. I asked for a printout of ds's (he's in Reception). His levels go from 5, are mainly 6s and 7s, with one 8. Am not very happy with this...

When dd was in Year R she had all 9s at the end of the year!!

Do the levels matter?? Do they 'predict' how well dc will do further up the school? or are they a meaningless load of form-filling and paperwork for teachers??

My dgs has just finished Reception he scored 3 eights in the problem solving and numeracy section and all the rest were nines. One little girl got similar scores and the others that I know of ( just three out of 15) scored sixes and sevens. This is a small country primary school.

Chigertick I did say "Officially" they shouldn't because as you say, there is no link, as they are two different forms of assessment. However it my understanding from reading TES posts that the systems used to monitor progress, create these kinds of links.

for example this one
community.tes.co.uk/forums/t/364903.aspx?PageIndex=1

Seems to me that there is some debate but hopefully all schools are doing it correctly now.

sittinginthesun, I love your message about your DS spending half his time dressed as a furry animal - very refreshing! I really think it is unhealthy to share these scores with parents sometimes as it can make us paranoid and competitive about our 5 year olds. Think we should remind ourselves that, in some European countries, children don't even start school until they are 7.

sittinginthesun your furry animal comment made me

DD also scored 8's and 9's but TBH, apart from her reading/writing, I'm dubious about her other scores. I think it depends on what sort of teacher they have in reception.

DS finished reception with a 6 in the numeracy columns but has just got a level 4 in his year 2 SATS. (yes I'm proud, but am trying to put it all in to context about how random the scoring can be rather than boasting!).

The fact that they're even 'scoring' 5 year olds, and 7 year olds, is pretty crap anyway. Fair enough doing end of term evaluation type things but formal testing and reporting seems quite crass to me

Numbum I wasn't convinced by dgs' nines either. He is very articulate but still does some mirror writing and he reads by sounding out words. I have seen no evidence of anything much above average for five though of course I am delighted that his teacher has.
To put it in context his mum,my dd , was reading E.Nesbit at his age.

I would tell you which furry animal, but that might out me.

DD had a report full of 8s and 9s at the end of Reception. DS had a report that was mostly 5s and 6s with a few higher and a few lower. (he was below average in literacy but went on to get Level 3 at the end of KS1, no doubt looking great for the school's value add).

But ... (the point I actually wanted to make) ... I didn't think my 2 DC were that dissimilar at this age. I think the main difference in the DC was attitude and enthusiasm for learning. DS was a younger boy and just wanted to play on the construction toys and computer. DD was enthused about learning and constantly writing stories and devising role plays in free play time.

It was clearly much easier to mark DD as having achieved all the EY goals.
However, I anticipate that my DC will get broadly similar levels at the end of KS1.

Don't get too hung up on levels :)

Ds got 8's & 9's across the board and one 6 for creativity. Not a boast about the scoring but my understanding of it was that the teacher would have to prove to Ofsted (if they turned up) that the child in question was capable of this mark, that's how my teacher explained it to me stating that they wouldn't give out 9's if the child hadn't proved that they were capable of that score. Our school's report was excellent, all the scores were attached with an explanation of the marking system, it was then explained in more detail at the subsequent parents evening.

The little girl's mum queried the eights and was told they could only be marked on what they had been observed to do.

DD got all 9's, DS got various from 4-7. I am proud of both of their achievements. DS struggled socially and has finally made some friends this term. He is only little, the learning stuff will come in time. They can only do their best IMO.

DS got 3 9s and mostly 8s but was marked down on Creativity which I found somewhat strange as he is really good at art and this has been remarked upon by teachers and pre-school teachers but apparantly what he does is 'not meeting required standards'. He is a very well behaved boy but very quiet, so although great imaginative play at home will not necessarily show it at school. Sometimes the quieter ones do seem to get overlooked.

I looked back at DD's report from Reception and she attained 6s/7s but started a term later due to the then staggered intakes. It does look like DS achieved more but really that was just because he had been there longer!

I wouldn't worry too much at this stage, they are still so young and in a lot of countries wouldn't even be at school yet.

Sometimes I really wish we could go back to the 70s with the simple A-E grades and a short written comment personal to the child rather than the cut and paste stuff we get now. Everyone knew where they stood then!