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!

[mrz]

This is from the Sunday Times?

Michael Gove, the education secretary, is considering proposals for pupils to take more difficult tests at 11 in maths, English and science where they could be ranked on performance.

Teachers would be able to tell whether, for example, their pupils are in the top or bottom 10% in the country. Experts believe it would help to identify the brightest and the weakest pupils and would force schools to raise standards.

Ministers are also considering plans for a national test at the age of five so teachers know children?s capabilities when they start school. It would provide them with the basis of charting pupils? progress and help to set targets for them.

The tests might involve, for example, asking five-year-olds how many numbers they recognise up to 10, or whether they can point to objects such as a butterfly or a padlock in a picture. Plans for the tests will not be released tomorrow when David Cameron publishes the national curriculum at a school in north London, but they will be sent out for consultation at a later date.

A senior government source said one option was to publish the scores of 11-year-olds in percentiles. The source said: ?We have to see how children are doing compared with others. In Australia at A-level everyone?s results are put into a computer which gives you a ranking, 1, 2, 3, 4? If you were to be in the top 10% at age 11 then you should expect your secondary school to help prepare you for a top university.?

Ministers are agreed that the current levels that 11-year-olds are expected to reach are too low, vague and confusing.

The tests for 11-year-olds would start in 2016. The pass mark will be higher than for the old standard assessment tests and pupils who reach it will be expected to get at least five C grades at GCSE.

[youarewinning]

mrz - is it true that children will be expected to have achieved the 60 months criteria to get expected from next year? If so - how does this work for summer borns?

I think if they are going to set tests for 5 yo's it should be done in year 1 - when they are all 5 years old. I suppose it makes it easier than these statements we have now. At least you either get it right it don't! Not that I'm a fan if testing children so young unless there is real proven benefit and additional support in place after results are published.

[mrz]

Children are expected to have achieved the 40-60+ month criteria to reach expected level THIS year.

The development matters bandings are very broad
birth to 11month
8-20 month
16-26 month
22-36 month
30-50 month
40-60+ month

and as you see there is a big overlap

www.foundationyears.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Development-Matters-FINAL-PRINT-AMENDED.pdf

[mrz]

If they do tests in Y1 some children will already be 6 ...and some will be just 5

[youarewinning]

Oh it was this year! - whoops! I knew the bandings as eyfs trained but haven't work eyfs for years now and very out if touch!

I get the year 1 thing about children being 6 or maybe do it at beginning of year 1? I guess I just think a test for 5 yo fine in year r (prob April/ may time?) doesn't take into account that prob 1/4 if not more of the year will be 4! Maybe I'm just being pedantic!!! Perhaps they should say year r tests.

[mrz]

If they must do tests in reception I hope it is at the end of the summer term when the majority are 5 (although almost a quarter of my class this year have birthdays during the six weeks holidays) preferably they stop testing in primary

[youarewinning]

I agree about not testing in primary. I only remember having weekly spelling and mental maths tests. It encouraged us to continue to learn each week - not just make an effort for 1 test which determined groups for the next year.
And no one fussed if you got something wrong - you just practiced it!

[mrz]

Under the old EYFS profile children need to be working in 40-60+ months to achieve the Early Learn Goals

[Periwinkle007]

can I just ask (dare I ask) what people would prefer instead of children having ability based work? I mean if you have a class of 30 do people seriously expect them all to do the exact same work when some will find it easy and some too hard? how CAN they differentiate? I mean I am not aware of a teacher who would tell a class which group is which but children will work it out. My daughter is an autumn birthday and doing well so I wouldn't want her to have to sit and tread water so to speak for a couple of years whilst others catch her up, how does that help her? equally if she was one of the bottom in the class I wouldn't want her to have to 'cope' with work that may be too hard for her. They have to group them to some extent or only about a fifth of the class will be catered for in any one lesson.

[CircassianLeyla]

I agree with Periwinkle. Our school has named the groups, I can't remembed if it is colour, animals or something that isn't supposed to be obvious.

I know DS1 knows he is in the top group but I don't know if others know but he also thinks he is geuniny terrible at maths. DS2 just leaving reception will likely be somewhere in the middle I imagine so it will be interesting to see if he notices. But I do think it is important to cater to individual needs.

[Spero]

I don't want a system that tests and grades five year olds, making them painfully aware just as they are out of nappies just how low or high on the scale of 'worth' they are.

I want an education system that allows children to learn and to grow, as human beings, not some cog in the wheel of the Great Global Race.

I would like recognition of the (I thought obvious) fact that not everyone is destined or suited to Classics at Oxford and there should be greater interest in helping children achieve in areas other than simply academic.

I would like to see resources directed at helping teachers teach, not simply exercise crowd control. This will probably involve investment in many other areas than just simply schools - children who come to school hungry and dirty are not in best place to learn or achieve.

And I would dearly, dearly love a system of assessment for when the children are older - say 7 plus? - that is not infected with irritating jargon.

[Alibabaandthe40nappies]

Spero - it is all very well to say that you don't want a system that grades five year olds.

But as the mother of a very bright almost five year old, I want him to be doing work that he finds challenging. If he finds things too easy then he disengages and his behaviour goes up the spout. I absolutely want him to be doing differentiated work, and if the way the school can achieve that is by grouping the pupils in ability groups then I welcome them.

He isn't so great at drawing, or at PE and he knows it and accepts that he has to work harder at those things to make progress. Why shouldn't other children feel that way about maths, or literacy or whatever?

[Periwinkle007]

just got my daughter's report and there are NO levels in it anywhere. just blurb. opposite of what lots of people have got then.

[musicalfamily]

My DS2 got a handful of exceeding, but only reading for an academic area, the rest for things like communication, etc...

He is only reading ORT 3 books but he is quite confident reading a bit beyond that, so maybe that was taken into account.

To be honest, I was surprised at the amount of exceedings he received in different areas, because he was very ill all of last year and stopped growing and developing, so he effectively started school one year behind developmentally. I think the teacher as amazed at the progress he made and maybe wanted to be encouraging. I would say he is pretty much average across the board, if I'm honest... but of course I am immensely proud of him.

[CircassianLeyla]

Periwinkle - we also got our reports today and no levels. I am fine with this though as the blurb makes quite clear what his strengths/weaknesses etc are.

[CircassianLeyla]

[Spero]

Yes the 'very bright' must be challenged and pushed etc, etc. But not at the expense of the other 90% of children who will be made painfully aware at a very early age that they are considered less worthy.

If the only children we care about are the 'very bright', just have a think about what our society is going to be like in 20 years time.

We need to move away from this ridiculous notion that all children must go to university and anything else is a failure. All children should be helped to find their talents and to realise them. For a lot - the majority? - this will not be via academic success.

[tiredbutnotweary]

Periwinkle, if you ask for it the school must provide you with a copy of the profile assessment, which will have the levels.

See here for full details:
ARA

[simpson]

I also thought that schools had to provide levels...

[Alibabaandthe40nappies]

Spero - I am not saying that we only care about the very bright - not sure why you deem it necessary to use ' '?

But children who excel in sports, music, art and so forth are lauded for their efforts and achievement, awarded prizes, graded and so on. Why is it only children who are academically gifted who have to apologise for their achievements and pretend that they are working at the same level as the rest of the class?
I absolutely agree that all children should be helped to find their talents, but if that happens to be maths then that should be celebrated in the same way as excellent in anything else.

I don't understand what university has to do with the discussion. It is only suitable for a relatively small proportion of the population.

[tiredbutnotweary]

Spero, in my experience of education the state sector generally provides very well for the mid 80% - it's the ones struggling (bottom 10%), the very bright (top 10%) and most especially the twice exceptional i.e. bright but often with (undiagnosed) learning difficulties that are failed most often .... it would be more apparent that this was the case if there were no independent schools catering for all three groups - with some parents withdrawing from state school after trying that route first.

Of course some children in each of these groups do just fine in state schools, some state schools manage superbly too - but it is a post code lottery.

The issue of some education being more worthy than others fits with the prevalent idea that some jobs (and indeed the male gender generally) are more worthy too. So the situation where teachers and nurses are paid less than, well a host of jobs I'd consider less worthy for sure! And that woman are still statistically paid well below male colleagues for the same work. And so it goes on ....

[PeppermintCreamsSaga]

Could someone explain what exceeded is an equivalent to then, in national curriculum levels?

[Periwinkle007]

going by the blurb my daughter is only expected for everything musicalfamily and she is reading chapter books, the blurb in hers doesn't make it sound anything other than normal to be on book band 11...

[Periwinkle007]

I believe from what I read on here peppermintcreamssaga that expected seems to equate to 1bish and exceeded seems to equate to 2c, or something like that anyway.

[Periwinkle007]

well judging by my daughter's report I no longer need to worry about the very bright being pushed because she obviously isn't.

we may well know each other circassianleyla - you on the south coast?