Primary assessment consultation: Secondary readiness!!

[PiqueABoo]

Sample text for a end-KS2 report taken from your government's consultation on primary accountability:

"In the end of key stage 2 mathematics test, Tom received a scaled score of 87. He did not meet the secondary readiness standard (100)."

They actually plan to tell quite a lot of children starting secondary that they're not fit to be there. This would happen to a child who doesn't cross a "more demanding than the current level 4 threshold."

I'm appalled. Those words will devastate some children.

Do the children get these reports, then, rather than the parents?

The children will find out whether the report is addressed to them directly or not.

What I find ridiculous is that children are being graded on their suitability for secondary education at all. Where is the test for primary education readiness? So essentially children will start education at a whole range of levels and abilities which primaries have to get to a required level, walk in the park or a Herculean task depending on catchment, but secondary schools need a basic level of attainment to be able to function.

If primaries have to accept pupils as they are and put in extra support, why can't secondary schools?

"What I find ridiculous is that children are being graded on their suitability for secondary education at all"

It's ridiculous (understatement) because they're going to that secondary regardless. This simply tells children arriving at secondary that they don't belong at secondary.

That's likely 1/3 of all children given that it applies to results below some new, "rigorous" average.

Completely unacceptable

Hi PiqueaBoo:

I agree that it might be devastating for a child to receive news that having passed their SATs they aren't 'senior school ready' - but I wonder what happens next.

If it is '"In the end of key stage 2 mathematics test, Tom received a scaled score of 87. He did not meet the secondary readiness standard (100). We therefore would like to offer you a place at SENIOR SCHOOL X Maths summer camp to help improve his core maths skills in advance of starting secondary school....

I think that would be a very positive thing.

No idea if anyone has thought about what happens next - but if it is a constructive 'wake up call' for a pupil & his/ her family which results in extra support and help in those first years at senior school - I actually think this may be a good thing.

hmm you need to identify those children who need extra support, so you can start to help them asap. How else could you do it? Sounds like a good idea to improve the education of those more academically challenged.

It will also force primary schools to up their game and make more of an effort to get those children ready, after all its what teachers are paid to do. After SATS week the local Primary does no 'academic' work what so ever. That is three months completely wasted.

Are people this naive? This is not about raising standards, it's about winning votes. They are telling you something you want to hear, that seems logical so you vote for them. end of.

Waiting until the end of primary to address problems is far too late. it's also a nonsense as primary schools are well aware of who needs support and who doesn't.

Politicians set curriculum, standards and budgets which apparently are constantly falling or are inadequate so need an overhaul ( insert need to vote for particular politician here). However, it's teachers and schools that are falling and need to pull their socks up.

Evidence based education policy is the way forward not political whim.

PastSellBy - some secondaries are already doing that. Unfortunately it has a similar problem

Example from a friend whose child is in Y6: child scores the expected 4b in writing. Child and parents pleased. Secondary invite parents to meeting about what work to do in order to bring up writing to scratch by September.

So this child has gone from feeling pleased that they have achieved the expected standard, to feeling that they have fallen short.

OK so this isn't about helping a kid who isn't performing well to make up lost ground.

This is now about the fact that getting NC Level 4 on SATS should mean your ready for senior school, when in fact from the point of view of senior schools it really isn't.

So what you're saying is that as a parent or teacher your upset to have a child told Yeah, you passed your SATs - then told but just barely and really we'd like to see better.

--------

I'm just a parent - so I'd be grateful if you'll forgive me for my exasperation here. Why can't schools/ government join up the NC Levels system (or whatever will replace it) so that the scores make sense to both primaries and secondaries? Isn't it a fudge to have this huge band at NC Level 4c - 4a where the extremes (low 4c vs high 4a) can mean quite a bit of difference in competence at maths/ reading/ writing?

My impression from other threads is that NC Level 5 is the desired outcome now from primaries.

Maybe what actually needs to be changed is the standard or the thresholds for KS2 SATs - because certainly our school seems to be '4c and no further'. All energy is clearly focused on NC Level 3 pupils in Y6 and getting them over that NC Level 4 boundary.

If senior schools need NC Level 4a or even 5c - then why not just make that the requirement.

It is this 'fudge' which is causing the problems. Maybe it's time to decide what is 'the goal' here - all children able to add, subtract, multiply, divide; read to their chronological age and write a decent letter/ paragraph roughly grammatically correct or not.

Because my impression is 4c just doesn't cut it. And a system which tries to soft sell parents that 4c is fabulous - 'doing just fine' - 'expected level' - is the actual problem.