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

[mrz]

PiPs is an on entry baseline assessment developed by Durham University who use the data as part of ongoing educational research

[BabiesAreLikeBuses]

lcb70 you can google pips tests, from what i can gather most schools ditched them years ago, but ours use them to get a general idea of reading and maths levels they are so old they brought a teacher out of retirement to administer them
I think as a parent it was useful for them to see his maths level as at school nursery year nobody noticed this and i knew his interest in it was unusually high.
My main point was that a good quality teacher makes a huge difference, expectations in a mixed intake should not be lower as pre school experience and input is so diverse.
I'm not sure how important the homework has been, dd has enjoyed it all and ds has loved non-writing weeks and in the summer term writing much less of an issue now he is quicker at forming letters.

[Periwinkle007]

hahahaha - crafty!

my daughter wouldn't have minded some bits but she was never keen on homework. she would happily make something or write something if she chose to do it but as soon as someone suggested she did it all hell broke loose.

[simpson]

Well they still did not twig that in phonics the kids were asked to write a tricky word down and the first got a sticker, so DD wrote "I" every time

She did guided reading at stage 8 although it was mainly non fiction.

She loves doing homework so was fine with it all and it sounds a lot but worked out maybe 10-15 mins a day. The only annoying bit was the making stuff.

But DS (yr3) would no way have coped with that amount when he was in reception.

[Periwinkle007]

wow Simpson, that is a lot.

we had nothing like that. They did some of that stuff in school but nothing at home. I am still not sure they actually did guided reading at any higher than book band 3... DD1 is adamant they didn't do any reading at all in her literacy group, just the whole class on the interactive white board. No evidence of any comprehension questions in her learning journey either.

[simpson]

DD had loads of homework.

A numeracy task ie writing numbers to 10 or 20, one more/less than, counting in 2s and 5s or number sentences (sums to me!).

Literacy: writing what she did at the weekend, writing a food menu for a particular country, filling in a passport for a character (describing them etc).

She would get one task in literacy and numeracy per week, not all of the above at the same time!

Guided reading: comprehension questions (about 10) on the book given to be written down.

Extension homework: to do a book report on a book of her choice.

2 or 3 reading books per week.

And a task to make something ie binoculars, decorate a boiled egg, Easter Bonnet, a tractor out of 3D shapes, a shaker etc...

[Periwinkle007]

we haven't had homework really either. reading books - up to 3 a week if they have finished them, a little exercise book of phonics or writing homework (about 5 mins) once a week. that is all.

[RonBurgundysPanpipe]

There is no mention of levels/grades in dds reception report, just 'on target' or 'nearly on target' but more as a comment within the writing rather than a stand alone statement iyswim.

[Glittertwins]

Having re-read the DTs' Reception reports there is no mention at all of grades.

[lcb70]

Babiesarelikebuses - what are the pips tests? The tasks and approach you describe at your school sound much more stretching than in my daughter's school. We have had very little in the way of homework, and certainly not on the scale you describe such as writing numbers etc... I do worry as my daughter's school has a number of children from deprived and immigrant background (but not overwhelmingly) and that teachers' expectations might be (wrongly imo) lower.

[freetrait]

Well, I don't really mind about the numbers if he continues to progress. My definition of progress at age 6/7 is to continue to remain engaged and excited about books and learning. To find the books that excite him, to explore lots of different texts etc. Can't see why this shouldn't happen.

Also, in some ways I would rather he has time to do things at his own pace rather than being "extended" at every opportunity. Challenge, yes, but sometimes there should be room for exploring and you need to be at a comfortable level to have the confidence to explore. There is plenty of time.

[BabiesAreLikeBuses]

I'm sure some schools are cautious to show progress and being a ks2 teacher i get why! I think the opportunities e.g. For writing and extending tasks are totally down to the quality and experience of the teacher. Ds has clearly felt secure in his class and with his teacher from the start. Screening on pips in sept indicated he was v high for maths so she provided extra tasks and equipment and asked open ended questions - one day she did estimating and weighing non standard objects with him and an able girl and i heard about it all evening, that's how exciting he finds maths. The equipment in our foundation rooms must've cost thousands and i'm sure that helps. We've also had short homework tasks all year and i've extended these at home, eg early on they were asked to write numbers to ten and he randomly went on to 137 at which point his hand hurt.
In writing they've made non fiction books about animals, written invitations, written lists of equipment needed and task order for the building site role play area... So ds entered reception being able to write his name but being disinterested and got exceeded there too, he has written up to a page at school without throwing the pencil at the curtain which he does at home and his vocab is good.
I get your point about diff staff tho, dtd is in class next door and similar ability (not so unusual in maths but better in creative stuff, drawing, making etc) and she got 5 exceededs to his 12. But he is more gobby confident where she would rather blend in. And her teacher MUCH younger. It does of course mean his targets will be higher.

[simpson]

Some of her classmates were working with numbers to 30 and some to 10 and DD was working (very well) with numbers to 20 but not ready for numbers to 30 iyswim. Numeracy is not her strong point.

She does not get money at all (nor does she want to) and will just count the amount of coins she has rather than looking at them.

Freetrait - yes call me cynical but I do believe that happens to show progress (to Osfted etc) but hoping it does not happen with DD as it happened with DS

[Periwinkle007]

ours were moving on to bigger numbers and checking/proof reading her work I think.

[freetrait]

I think sometimes schools can be cautious as they don't want to level kids too high too soon. They want to show progress through the years. Eg DS got 2b for reading (he is end of Y1). I would put his reading at L3 from what I know of the levels. However I guess he may not make that much "progress" during Y2 due to maturity etc etc, but if they give him 2b now and 3 next year it will look like he has . I don't really bide much by these levels thingies. Let common sense prevail I say.

[Periwinkle007]

oh yes - let them have that battle. DD1 loves money, she is always itching to pay for things when we are out and about.

[simpson]

The other next steps was money which DD does not have a clue about, nor does she want to learn. One for her teacher I feel!!

[Periwinkle007]

that is something I think we might work on over the summer - telling the time. she can do on the hour, quarter past, half past and quarter to so most of the way there but I wouldn't say she was confident.

[simpson]

Yes, DD did a pancake one too...for pancake day.

Which makes me even more especially on numeracy which had "next steps: to learn how to tell the time"

DD has been telling the time for ages...

[Periwinkle007]

I did notice when looking through the learning journey that they had made them write up making bread after doing it which now I realise was probably a direct attempt to give them the chance to do something non fiction related. It was quite early on in the year and they did some other things similar later in the year too.

[simpson]

Lcb70 - are you me!!?!

My DD got exceeding in reading only as it is her "thing" but just feel that more could have been done to extend her writing. The ability is there and the only real reason she did not get exceeding is because she does not write non fiction.

[lcb70]

Babiesarelikebuses - the issue with this kind of approach is : are children given the opportunity to reach the exceeding level? My daughter got exceeding in reading only and that is because I supported and pushed her a lot. I feel that she could have reached exceeding in writing and in some other areas if I had been aware of the criteria. She shows a lot of interest in a number of areas and I was told several times by her key worker that she was very clever, yet this is not reflected in her report.

Someone mentioned a link to an LEA sheet but I can't find it.

[Periwinkle007]

yes I can understand why - mind it does prove that they know what they did this year wasn't in line with everyone else, even though they did it with the best of intentions.

[simpson]

Exactly!!

I know it does not matter in the grand scheme of things but the fact that the school will probably change how they assess kids next year irks me somewhat

[Periwinkle007]

I think your daughter's school is strange. I mean for some of the categories how could a bright, mature, confident child NOT be exceeding?