"....from starting points which are below those of children of the same age nationally".

[flossymuldoon]

I have been looking at Ofsted reports for primary schools as my DS will start in 2014. So far I have looked at about a dozen around my area and every single one says words to the effect of: "....from starting points which are below those of children of the same age nationally".

I am baffled by this on a couple of levels.

1. That for every school I have looked at, the children are entering school below the level of other kids nationally. How can that be?
   
   I appreciate that there will be kids coming from homes that the parents may not have engaged much with kids so may be starting with a bit of a disadvantage, but most of these schools have pre-schools attached so there will be a far chunk of kids coming from there (and if the pre-schools are good those kids shouldn't be at a lower level). Other kids will have come from private nurseries with some structured learning, and then kids that will have stayed at home with parents who have engaged lots with them.

2. Are children assessed once they get to school to establish what level they are?

3. What criteria is used to determine a childs 'starting point'.

4. Does anyone know of any info that would give me the national statistics? (I have googled and I know there must me some info out there but I can't find anything so far)

Out of interest I am going to see whether I can dig out some Ofsted reports from another city to see what they say.

Can anyone shed any light?

1. If there is a school nursery attached the report refers to the level of children as they enter the nursery not reception.

1. Many schools use a baseline assessment when children first start

1. EYFS settings use the EYFS development matters to assess children (this starts at 0months to 60+ months)

1. There isn't any national data for entry - OFSTED base their judgement on Development Matters age bands.

You can find Ofsted reports for any school on the Ofsted web site

Thanks for that info mrz. That makes sense.
My DS is at a private nursery and they use those age bands so am vaguely familiar with those.

I will search out the EYFS development age bands and have a read. While the private nursery he goes to is the most lovely nurturing environment they have recently been slammed by Ofsted for having little knowledge of the EYFS stuff.

He will be a few days short of being 5 when he goes to school, I'd like to have an idea of how I think he is doing - just in case his nursery aren't on the ball.

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

It's kind of what it says on the tin really. The children entering the schools of the Ofsted reports you read enter with lower levels than of children nationally. With the emphasis on 'nationally'. If you read every single Ofsted for every single school there will be some that are above levels expected nationally, many broadly in line with the average and some below that expected nationally.

Personally I wouldn't spend too much time looking at this aspect of the Ofsted report. What matters is whether or not the school provides a good or better education for the children it serves.

It's actually an important point - if they arrive below national expected levels and leave at expected levels or above the school is doing a good job at educating the pupils.