Understanding the Reception report

[Flowerpower07]

hi I wandered if anyone can help. We received my Ds report and don't understand the levels. he received 11 exceeding and 6 expected. the teacher didn't explain this in parents evening. can you tell me what level he is at. thanks

Children in the eyfs are not levelled at the end of their fs2 year, they are given a score of 1,2 or3 depending on whether they are emerging, expected, or exceeding the early learning goals. Of which there are far fewer than last year. If your child has received some exceedings then they are working beyond the eyfs and a discussion with the year one teacher and a national curriculum level will be discussed but not necessarily reported to you.

Thanks for replying as I understand it better now. it's good to know where they are with their learning because its easier to support them at home then.

I spoke with two primary school teachers today from different schools who said that the reception report grading means nothing. they also said that It isn't used for Year 1 in any way. What is the point of stating emerging, expected and exceeding then. Do any other teachers agree with this?

It is reported to the LEA and used to predict attainment and progress over key stage one, it should be used as a discussion between the year one and fs2 teachers. I most certainly will be discussing my classes attainment with their year one teacher and we will be working closely together to ensure that the children start in September from where they are now. The newly revised early learning goals have a far greater overlap with national curriculum level one so a discussion about that is hugely important if children are to make progress when hitting the national curriculum.

My son received exceeding in 11 out of the 17 and scored 45 points out of 51 including literacy and maths. Does that mean he is above average? if so will he be given work in Year 1 to fit his ability? I just want more understanding so I can support him in Year 1. Thanks

The average score is said to be 32 on my DD's report so your DS is doing well :) I believe all exceeding marks are discussed between reception and Yr 1 teachers so they will take into account your DS's achievements in reception.

The problem is that different schools seem to be using different criteria for judging exceeding.

Some schools give exceeding for NC level 1B, the school I volunteer in give exceeding for NC 1A and my DC school give exceeding for 2C.

Confused???

Yes, me too!

OP, your DS is doing well. I don't think you have anything to gain by trying to compare with children in other schools within other LEAs. I would suggest that, once he has started in Y1 and possibly completed about 2 or 3 weeks, that you make an appointment to speak with his Y1 teacher to ensure you are happy. But honestly, in my experience, schools are very capable of "giving work in year1 to fit his ability"!

It also depends on the age of your DC - the new EY curriculum is worked out on age bands in months, each one overlaps by 10 months. The last is 40 - 60+ months. As the data has to go to most LEAs by the end of June, it's obvious that some children won't be 60 months by then. A good score is expected in all areas as long as your DC is 60 months. If they aren't, then emerging is perfectly acceptable. Exceeding means that they are working at National Curriculum level and that's really the equivilent of 9 on the old EYFS scoring.
My LEA has given us no moderating training at all; next Spring at the earliest! We didn't even clap eyes on the new curriculum until November!

Sorry, should have said that the judgements are best fit against the Early Learning Goals which are the summative assessment at the end of FS. These are only to be used as end of year judgements, we use the age band descriptors the rest of the year.

It sounds even more complicated. He is a December child. Will he be put into sets for his ability in Year 1 because he has quite a few exceeding? If not, how do the teachers challenge the more able kids? I wish they would just make it easier for us parents to understand.

In my DC school they put children into tables for ability (think there are 5) but it does not necessarily go in their reception report. The yr1 teacher will assess all kids at the start of the year.

Each table will have children of similar ability on. The only thing they do not set is phonics and the whole class does it together which DD hates

simpson, how bizarre they don't set for phonics - we do that in Year R. The groups are very fluid and children move in and out of them during the year.
Our year 1 teachers take the children from where they are on their EYFS profile, plus any last minute assessments we do, - phonic checks/reading/number etc.

They had it set for reception (DD's current year) because there are 90 kids in one large room (bulge class) so had 3 groups, but when DS was in reception they didn't.

From yr2 they split the year into one higher and one lower group (adding both classes together so each yr2 teacher takes a group iyswim).

Tbh DD is in a very high ability year group so maybe they will do it differently next year.

A couple of teachers that I have spoken to have said that the scores mean nothing and are not an indication of the children's levels. Well why record it then?

I'm so confused after reading this! DD (June born) got 13 exceeding & 4 expected but nothing about a number?! What's the significance of the number?

exceeding -3 X13
expected - 2 X4
total =47/51

What is the point of that score then, mrz? Is it just a shorthand for recording levels nationally?

Funny how noone on mumsnet ever comes on and says 'my child got 11 emergings what this all about then?'

Agree nerf.. I'm always especially taken with the disingenuous follow up post which says "just want to know so I can support them at home".

Nerf, exactly.

Hello - my dc, younger half of the year birthday got nearly all "emerging", with 2 met and 1 exceeding. However, massive progress during period. If I am honest, a bit sad with all the emerging marks - but the narrative tells me he has come a long way. The met/exceeding were in the reading/numeracy areas. The teacher thinks that he is bright, but just still very young

I was told at my daughter's school that the report had to do with the child's independence, ie what s/he chooses to do when given a choice. For instance she's emerging in the creative area not because of the quality of what she produces but because she will not independently choose to do painting/modelling. I am still sceptical about how rigorous the assessment is and I wonder if anyone else has been given a similar explanation to the one I've had.

Lcb70 - I was specifically told that to achieve exceeding a child had to be working at NC level 2C.

One thing I wondered about this after DS1's report - is he as a September child expected to achieve the same benchmarks as a child born in May/June etc.

If so, it strikes me as unfair on the child and the school.