Do all schools mark their reception reports in the same way? - feeling a bit deflated!

[averywoomummy]

I got DDs reception report today and feel a little bit deflated. She got all expected except one which was emergent. I wouldn't expect her to get exceeding in everything but one or two would have been lovely especially in communication and understanding which I think have always been really strong points with her (and in fact her teachers said at open evening that she was working at a year 1 level in these).

I'm a bit more bemused because a friend with a DD at a different school says her child got every category as exceeds. I know the DD well and would have said that her and my DD are fairly equal development wise so was wondering how much consistency there is across the schools in terms of deciding on grades?

My head says I am being silly and that I should be pleased that she is where she should be...but my heart wishes there had been just one exceeds!

[tutington]

ps. In the report explanation it says exceeding = working at NC level 2 'expected by 7 yr olds'

[simpson]

DD was originally given 5 exceedings but the EYFS Head went over all the reports and took 4 off her (hence my meeting at the school).

I was told they had a meeting with the LEA in Feb and they were told to give exceeding to a mid yr2 level only.

DD's writing is inconsistent and fluctuates from a 1A to a 2C so she was given expected and also she tends to only write either stories or love notes but the HT said to get exceeding she would need to be writing in other genres too (reports, non fiction, poetry etc).

[Periwinkle007]

love notes don't count then Simpson?

[SockPinchingMonster]

Simpson - I definitely think there are inconsistencies in the way EYFS is being graded then as my DD was graded 'exceeding' for writing but she would have no idea how to write a report and I doubt she would even be that aware what poetry is - let alone write some :-/ She is near the top of her class ability wise and is summer born so one of the youngest, I wouldn't say she's miles above average though.. It all seems a bit of a farce to me to be honest.

[Periwinkle007]

my daughter writes quite impressive poetry (she loves poems) and she has written up experiments too - would be astonished if she gets an exceeding though for writing having read what they expect for expected

[lljkk]

Ds got his report today, spot on "expected" all the way down.
I was relieved because I thought his math was so rubbish.
Problem is that older 3 DC all have records as high achievers. So I have a different balancing act on the horizon, how to recognise achievements of each as individuals.

I think y6 DD is down as exceeding for everything. So suspect me.

It doesn't matter, they go to high school & decide that coasting thru rest of life will do nicely anyway, arghghhghghghgh....

[tiredbutnotweary]

Periwinkle - exactly, which reminds me of another problem teachers who took part in the pilot flagged up - the bands are so wide, you can have a child that is just expected and a child who is very nearly exceeding, they both get labelled expected but are working at quite different levels.

If everyone was assessing the way my DD2s school has been assessing, a child that got exceedings across the board would surely be G&T (well if you accept that G&T starts at moderately gifted rather than thinking that G&T only applies to the profoundly gifted!) because they'd have to working two years ahead (i.e. working on year two type work) in each of those areas.

I wonder if any mums with children that had a high amount of exceedings would be happy to share what sort of things their DCs are capable of as this might help flag up if there are inconsistencies or not?

Which reminds me, the idea that anyone would make judgements based on how a child did relative to their cohort that year makes no sense to me - I mean how can you compare one year to the next if you move the goal posts like that?

[simpson]

I think they count the first couple of times but not after that

Was quite sweet though as the meeting was in the HT's office and when we were talking about her love notes ( I brought them up) the HT pointed to her wall and she had stuck one up there from DD

Definately think the results are inconsistent if DD was at the next school along from where she is she would have got another 5 exceedings...

However, at the end of the day it does not matter much (although I did have 24 hours where I was not a happy bunny).

[nosila12]

I found the EYFS grading to be wildly inaccurate. Mine was given a really poor rating both in pre-school and at the end of reception. Two years later apparently she's "gifted" in some areas. Shame they didn't spot it. But tbh i still find it hard to accept these gradings where literacy and maths are something like 1 category out of 9? Can't quite remember. Mine was graded low for something like "understanding of other cultures" when she has cousins she regularly spends time with who are indian, welsh and scottish. When I questioned the supply teacher she said "well i've probably spoken to her twice this term". So how the hell does she evaluate this? It's a complete mystery to me. I welcomed moving onto the testing tbh EYFS just seemed so random. Please educate me if I'm wrong teachers - I'm willing to learn.

[simpson]

My DC school have kids reading book bands yellow to whatever colour 8 is (purple?) at expected.

1 child got exceeding for reading (DD)

2 kids got it for art & design

1 kid got it for numeracy.

This is out of 90 kids.

At the school I volunteer in out of 120 kids they had 6 exceeding mainly for art & design and PE and imagination. None for reading, writing or numeracy.

[tiredbutnotweary]

Sorry Periwinkle, I now see that you already mentioned that - ermerging for concentration for me

simpson, yes being told they debated for a long time as DD was very close to exceeding in other areas helped ... a little - really it's my own fault for being a pendent and wanting an unrealistic level of consistency and accuracy, no surprise I scored 41 on the AQ

[SockPinchingMonster]

Tired - I don't mind sharing what my dd is capable of - to be honest it's much less than some other poster's DCs which makes me question whether she has been marked too leniently as I certainly wasn't expecting 13 exceedings. Her school book reading level is 5 although she reads much harder books at home - probably about level 8/9 ( school refuse to let Reception children have books higher than level 5 ). She uses very good expression when reading and her comprehension is great. Her writing is quite neat and she's starting to try joined up writing. She wrote a story a few weeks ago - used A5 paper and made into a book, very basic story - I.e. There was a princess, prince rode by, they fell in love, got married.
Other than those things I'm not really sure where the exceedings have come from. She's alright with maths but no maths whizz - works with numbers up to 20 , can double and halve. Would have thought these things were pretty standard really.

[libertine73]

I've never heard of these 'expected' or 'exceeded'?? they are in reception ffs.

[youarewinning]

Just had a giggle at this thread. So exceeding is a 2b in year R? I did a hop,skip and a jump for joy when DS' report stated a 2a for writing.

he's year 4

Sounds like all your DC's have done well and expected covers anything from 'normal' development through the whole of the year 1 curriculum. I had the 'old system' when DS left year R (scores of 1-9) - it gave a much clearer view.

[WhatWouldBeyonceDo]

DS got 3 expecteds, the rest emerging. The notes written underneath stated he is happy, confident, socialble and enjoys learning.

Given that he had 65% hearing loss in both ears that was only corrected by surgery in January. I am frankly ecstatic he caught up so quickly.

They are 4/5. Why it's nessacery to judge them on academic ability at this age is beyond me.

[BabiesAreLikeBuses]

It's necessary so they can baseline the kids accurately and predict their grades from now until the end of school. That way if they fall short this can be identified and the required staff flogging ordered (tired teacher counting down the days to half term).
I'm very surprised that exceeding has been equated to a level 2, i don't teach ks1 but thought they were not directly comparable systems from what i had read. Dd got exceeded for literacy - she reads expressively on l6 but harder stuff at home but i can't see that she'd meet level 2 criteria..l similarly she's started to write in sentences and use capitals and full stops which feels to me comfortable level 1, not2...

[tiredbutnotweary]

Yes - governments new terminology (emerging, expevted & exceeding) along with their decision that a good level of development (more of their terminolgy) is a bar to be set, not a measure of how far a child has progressed. And yes the bar has been raised in the EYFS before the new national curriculum (also bar raising?!?) so that there will be an odd anomaly possible in that a child measured as emerging (but very close to expected) could over the summer holidays miraculously be assessed as at national curricular level 1B when they start in September (i.e. where they are expected to be at the end of year 1).

SPM - thank you for sharing! Interestingly DDs school do joined from the start but some of the writers who have achieved exceeding print , but it does seem like your DDs school have assessed more generously (than some at least), although I think in line with the handbook.

[simpson]

Wow stage 5 for exceeding, shows how each school can differ. Although maybe they realise she reads harder at home.

DD regularly writes books that we have to staple together complete with illustrations (or the love notes!) but still did not get exceeding.

I did not expect her to get it for numeracy though.

One child in DD's class is a 2C for reading but is not consistent enough and gets sidetracked/distracted (he is 5 FFS!) so got expected.

[tutington]

DD got Exceeding for Writing and Expected for Reading. She's on ORT level 6 orange books. She does write a lot, she actually 'documents' everything she does lately... she says she's writing letters.


This is what the teacher's comments in the Literacy section actually said:

"S has made excellent progress with her reading and is developing a lovely expression in her reading aloud. She has a good sight vocabulary and can talk about what she has read with understanding. S is an avid reader and reads a variety of things and can often be seen reading from the Interactive Whiteboard and other written texts around the school.

S can write many simple, descriptive sentences using her phonic knowledge effectively. These can be read back by herself and others. This is something she clearly enjoys and is willing to spend a great deal of time and concentration on."

The report also mentions a neat writing style in the Moving and Handling ELG.

[tiredbutnotweary]

Babiesarelikebuses, the profile handbook specifically states that if a child is thought to be exceeding in any ELGs the teacher must consider the exceeding descriptors, the NC levels and discuss with the year 1 teacher. They are not comparing but deciding what NC level the child is achieving. Many of the expected ELGs are harder than NC level 1C, therefore to be exceeding the ELG you a child must be working above this level. Some are happy for this to be a 1B, or a 1A. At our school the teacher stated that her moderator told her that a 1A was not exceeding ....

Of course talking about the system and whether the system is being applied consistently is not the same as agreeing with the system. If I could wave a magic wand it would result in class sizes (or teaching groups) no bigger than 20 and MUCH less carpet time - if only!!!

[simpson]

DD has a funny pencil grip which was mentioned in the moving and handling (along with struggling with scissors and using a mouse) but still got expected.

Actually I was more proud of her getting the expected level for anything physical because she struggles with this area and has had OT for most of the school year (at school).

[BabiesAreLikeBuses]

I doubt if book bands are related to the goals, they're only loosely related to levels later on - eg i teach lots of kids on stage 16 whose comprehension on a test can go from 4c to 5c.... Because we score solely on comprehension and earlier book band levels focus mainly on decoding...
Of course the handwritten page means more to me than any of the rest and is the one i shared with dd. ds should get his on monday...

[simpson]

Tired - both schools I have anything to do with (one is my DC school) got the yr1 staff to level work. More work for them!!

[dontcallmehon]

dd got exceeding for reading but is only on stage 4 for reading. She can read simple chapter books, but school refuse to send books home that are higher than a level 4 in reception!

[BabiesAreLikeBuses]

tired thanks - it's interesting to hear what you've been told. And also strange that to be above expected levels you need to be 2 years in advance. Has anyone told the inventor of the system that the kids are only 5 and 2 years is almost half their life - so half their life ahead?!
Fwiw i'd give dd a 1b for literacy and i'm delighted with that at 5. I was just as pleased to hear that the teacher had noticed her scissor skills, they have a lot to master in the first year of school!