Parents' Evening level revelations

[Goldenbear]

My DP went to the Parents' consultation and asked about my DS's levels in comparison to the National Average. I have to say I was fairly surprised to hear that he is 1C for English. He will come home from school and write a story with very neat writing, he is using basic grammer correctly and using upper and lower case letters correctly. He will illustrate his stories with drawings that are exceptionally good for his age. His ability in Art was commented on at Nursery but seems unnoticed, irrelevant at school. He turned 5 in June and will draw ariel perspective pictures with accurate proportions. He can portray near/far relations well. Most importantly, all of his stories and accompanying illustrations are his ideas and he is almost obsessional about creating one every night.

He has sent some of his stories to my mum, who has stuck them on the fridge with pride. My mum has told me that my SIL was very impressed, particularly with the drawings but also by the accuracy and detail of the stories. My SIL is not easily impressed and does not compliment anyone ordinarily. My mum who was a primary school teacher up until 2007 thinks his work in this area is definitely above average. I had to look after a friends's daughter last week who is in Year 2 she is apparently deemed to be very bright at the school. Both my DS and this girl decided to write a letter to a pretend pen pal. I can honestly say in all honesty she was only marginally better at writing than my DS and yet she is above average at the school for her year. So my question is, if anyone can answer it with experience in this area does an assessment of 1C sound correct in this area? He is on band colour blue for reading and apparently is in a special booster group for reading. Would it be the reading band that would average out this assessment?

Levels are actually difficult to apply. And there are no descriptions for sub levels, so they can seem a bit arbitrary.

Here is a document that describes what you need for the different NC levels. To my untrained eye there seems to be a big difference between 1c and 1b, and not so much to do with handwriting and illustrations but the content of what is written.

Is he ahead though?
I thought they were meant to go up 2 sub levels a year.
So at the end of year 1 he should be a 1a, and the end of year 2 a 2b, which is dead on average, isn't it?

Even if he goes up 3 sublevels a year he'll be on a 3c which is good, but I'd expect there to be better and similar ones in the class, so he won't be stuck out at the top.

The thing with levels is that they can write a wonderfully imaginative story and still not do what they need to achieve a higher level.
Dd1 doesn't do imagination much, but scores higher level wise (very precise spelling/grammar) than dd2 who has the most wonderful imagination, but tends to write in a stream of consciousness. But you can't assess his writing against a year 2 girl who was writing a letter for fun outside school.

Goldenbear,

National curriculum levels don't apply in reception as its a completely different style of teaching/ curriuclum to key stage 1. The EYFS profile would give you a better idea of achievement at this stage. Its not even half term yet so I would not worry.

Littlies make massive progress in the early years.

I thought if a child was a 1c at the start of the year, the expectation for the end of the year is a 1a/2c (1 full level in KS1) which is well above average! There is nothing to say that if your child is capable of more and is demonstrating it that they can't be graded 2b, 2a etc at the end of the year. I think the key to this is what your child is demonstrating in class. My dd is also in year 1 and already seems to have been presented with many more options, to show her capabilities, than in reception. DD demonstrates better writing at school than at home but this swaps over for maths.

DD had lots of homework over reception that has involved drawing. Does your DS get homework? Does he take in pictures he is proud of to show his teacher? This would be one way to show what he is capable of to the teacher.

The one thing that I've realised is that if my dd is doing well at home then sooner or later this will be demonstrated at school. The most important thing is that your child is happy and doing well.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

DeWe, this is exactly why I'm querying their assessment of 1C. He IS very good at writing. His grammer is very good, he spells accurately, his comprehension is very good. He happens to be highly imaginative as well- in his case they are not mutually exclusive. At the parents evening in his Reception year I was told by his teacher that he is definitely one of her best pupils in that area. This was in response to my concerns that he had stagnated on his reading level. She said that although this was the case he was one of the strongest writers in her class. Incidentally, a week after the parents evening he moved up a band in reading. My Mum who was a primary teacher, Head of department, said that is often the case that a teacher will take notice more if something is highlighted to them. This is why I think he moved up a band or it was a huge coincidence.

With regard to the Year 2 friend at his school, I made the observation that her letter was no better/worse than my DS's as she is a whole year ahead and is deemed very good at writing. I don't see how it is irrelevant? On the same note my Niece and Nephew go to a selective Independent primary school, they pay £45,000 a year for the two of them and my SIL who as I said up thread does not dish out the compliments regularly, was surprised at how much better my DS's writing is than my Nephews and how comparable it is to my Niece who is 7 who has been highlighted as very good at reading and writing in class. My DS's writing and drawing are not streams of consciousness, they are properly constructed, illustrated short stories. He was doing this at the end of Reception year and the teacher made a point of showing me one he had done in school called, 'Mr Miggens' as she was impressed. This is what I don't understand- how a term later he is, as you were keen to point out, 'average'.

Anyway, I was actually looking for advice on whether to talk to the teacher about this. It seems not but I didnt really ask whether I was being unreasonable. I therefore thought I could put it in Primary Education so as to avoid the quizzical responses.

But I don't think a 1c is average at all for the beginning of yr1.

Most school target a 1b for the end of yr 1 and a lot of year one kids at this stage will still be working towards a level 1.

Did you get any of his levels for EYFS as these will probably help you more at this stage??

Wigglywoowoo, he always takes in work. He will draw floor plans (accurately) and label the rooms with the correct spelling.

He drew a picture of Parliament Square with aerial perspective, correctly located Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey. He wrote an accompanying story about his visit to London with correct grammer and spellings. He did this entirely off his own back ( as he always does) the night we returned from London for the day. This is not bog standard stuff, blind pride, he is good, very good. My MIL has a pretend postcard that he made on her fridge, her cousin who is the Director of a very famous modern Art Gallery in London could not believe my DS had created this when he saw it on her fridge.

He sounds gifted at drawing, especially 'technical' drawing, OP.

dd2 is in Y1, and there are probably about 4 children in her class who write very well, neat handwriting and good spelling and grammar. They tend to also be good readers, on Turquoise or above, and although writing and reading are assessed separately, if your son's teacher talked about his 'level for English' (as per your OP) then she may have been putting them together - there is, iirc, an overall level for English combined.

I personally would not worry about levels at all at this stage, as it is so early in the year for teachers to have assessed children - and for children to have settled. dd2 was given a maths target well below her ability, and her teacher acknowledged that and explained the targets were set at the very start of term, and need updating already. Its a very fluid, changeable age and stage.

Are you upset that your son's teacher is not noticing his artistic/creative abilities? At our school, they would be picked up on and celebrated, but not in terms of levels - more in terms of something to enjoy and be proud of

Some teachers notice creativity more than others, IME. dd1 has been a prolific story writer, with good vocab etc, since early on - but in Y4 her teacher is far more focussed on presentation than content. Last year was the opposite. All valuable to dd, IMO!

Grammar

Your son sounds like he is fantastic at art. However I guess that is not included in a literacy assessment. His levels are good and you know you need to do more reading with him, what is the issue? Give him let, of reading attention and stop worrying!

Hi Elibean, yes I upset by the lack of interest in his Artistic ability- eg. He took another factual piece if writing about the solar system that drawn accurately and written about accurately. This was inspired by My Dad's teachings when he stayed with us for a night. The teacher said to my DS that she was particularly pleased with the written work as that's what they are learning to do at the moment. I think my DS was quite deflated by the lack of acknowledgement of the amazing drawing of the solar system thst he had done from memory! My DP asked last night about Art and what the school do if anything to recognise talent as in the school handbook it refers to the particular interest they have in that area. The teacher replied, 'nothing accept the stuff he does for his workbook'. It is a very Academic school and the apply the pressure for Reading/Writing. He is on blue band for reading which is perfectly acceptable for his age and yet he is in a reading booster group - I worry about what that says to him at such a young age.

Equally, I am utterly confused about the writing level as at the very end of are Reception he was one of the best in his class and is showing ability beyond that level as he is for reading. The lag occurred for Reading band in Reception, I.e he only moved band as I mentioned the stagnation. I suppose I'm wondering how much they have even observed of his writing/reading. It worries me that in about 8 months they decide on year 2 classes, which according to the Head are categorised much more according to ability. If they are not recognising that he is better than his level he will get grouped in the wrong class. This obviously could be detrimental to his education. This is why I think it is important because it is important to the school he attends.

Givemeaclue, that is exactly it though he was one of the best writers in his Reception class. The teacher told me this last term. It is a term ago. As DeWe keenly(?) points out 1c is average how can he go from one of the best in the class to average in writing.

Equally, Reading Band is inaccurate IMO - he can't be spelling like he is with accuracy and effective use of phonics if he is Band blue it does make any sense. I pointed out the disparities last year for the book band he was on and hi actual reading ability. Low and behold a week later he was the next band. My mum (ex teacher) said that she would've waited a week so as to a) assess him herself b) look like she wasn't reacting to my observations straight away!

We were told 1c or 2a national average for the end of year 1, so he's started the year where he should end it, we'll above average.

Givemeaclue, yes sorry, 'grammar' not 'grammer'. I'm typing all this on my phone. I do actually have an MA and studied English Literature for my 1st degree so I do know the difference.

Apologies, teacher reply should be, 'nothing except' not, 'nothing accept'.

As others have said, 1c is excellent and well above average as a writing level at this stage of Y1. My DD who is also a very strong writer was at 1c at this stage of Y1 and had risen to a 2b by the end of the year. So it's certainly very possible he may be either slightly "under assessed" or that he will make huge leaps of progress during the year. It's very worth noting that the Y1 staff have only had 6 weeks to assess him - and some of that will have been spent on settling in, sorting out new routines etc. It may be that his true level is higher than 1c, but he simply hasn't done enough writing yet for his teacher to assess him as such. I think you'll find his level at his next parents' evening more helpful.
Incidentally, although there is no direct correlation, it's worth looking at how he did in the EYFS against writing criteria.

Yes I will do that RedskyatNight but the confusion comes in as DeWe so helpfully pointed out, that 1c is very much average.

1c is not average!!! Only a very small handful of Y1 children will be as high as 1c at this stage in the year. As I said above, my DD is one of the best writers in her year (not just my opinion) and she was only a 1c at the start of Y1 (and had all 9s in the writing element of her EYFS). The expected level at the end of Y1 is a 1b/1a and children are expected to make a level worth of progress during the year. Your DS is well ahead of average and likely to finish Y1 at a Level 2 and Y2 at a Level 3, assuming he makes steady progress.

Redskyatnight, well this is good news. I was referring to DeWe's comments but I would imagine that they were deliberately provocative as she/he assumed my DS ONLY has a good imagination witha bit of Artistic ability thrown in. I'm not sure how she/he came to that conclusion as at no point on the thread have I said that his writing isn't structurally very good. Indeed, this is the exact point of my thread- his writing is exceptionally good as are his drawings, he is far from average so how do I approach this with the teacher? However, I can see that 1C may be reflecting this.

Just checked the guidance from DD's school and it suggests that an "average" child would be at P5/P6 at the October parents' evening in Y1.

DeWe, if you read this can you explain further why my comparitive observations of DS's letter to a pen pal and his year 2 friend's letter to a pen pal is irrelevant? Yes they were doing the activity for fun but if I observed their abilities and concluded they were similar how is this not helpful in informing me that he has been wrongly graded?

ds started year 1 on the p scales (ie around p8). by the end of year 2 he got a level 3 for maths and reading and 2c for writing. In year 6 he is predicted level 5s across the board.

In key stage one children make huge leaps. Ds'maths went up 2 WHOLE levels in year 2 as concepts clicked.

I dont think it matters so much if he is 'wrongly graded' - if he was- does it? He is still doing well- its just the first parent eve of the year. You know how well he is doing- and I expect you tell him so. What box he is in is irrelevant really!

In Reception he received an End of Year certificate for Maths. The certificate was presented by the Head in Assembly, the certificate states that he's a wizard in maths. The teacher made a big song and dance about it - pulled me aside to say that he is particularly strong in this area and that the certificate was genuine recognition. Despite being told this -at parents' evening in Reception Year, he is at level 1C for this subject as well.