was old school marking ds too high?

[mumineedapooooo]

Ds (almost 8yrs) started at a new school in July (yr2). He got 2bs in his SATS at old school. I've recently received a progress report and it says he is working at a 1a. They moved him down from white level books to orange, which are stupidly easy and babyish for him. I've spoken to the teacher about my concerns but says he needs to do blah blah blah to be on target. How did he get 2bs in SATS if he's not working at that level even now??

Can't comment on your son's case without knowing him but had a boy join our school end of year 3 with 3c as a level. He is just about 2a across the board. No way a level 3. As a struggler with certain aspects of his work I don't how they got it wrong.

Sorry didn't say he's now year 4, so about a term and half since they said he was 3c

It could be that your DS has been settling in this term and has not shown 'his true colours' yet. He may well be putting his energy into getting used to his new surroundings and making new friends.

Some schools freely publish on their websites that they let children who have read six books of a book band move up if they want to. Other schools make children read what seems like a lifetime's supply of books of each colour. It could be that your son moved from one type of school to the other. So, it might say more about the regime in the new school than it does about your son.

There is a huge difference between 1A and 2B so there is a problem with levels but hard to know if it is new or old school

Documents which describe the requirements for various NC levels are fluttering about on the Internet. Can mum not gather together a few level 2a/b/c requirements and test the boy herself?

OP, can you be a bit more specific about the blah, blah, blah that he needs to be on target?

The one thing I would say about blah, blah, blah is if you, the OP, find that he has got it and the teacher says he hasn't got it, unless it's one of those things provable by way of a short conversation in the head's office there's not much you can do. Mums often think the child has got it when the teacher says he hasn't. And mum is not always wrong. But there's often not much she can do about it. At that point most people change school.

This happened to DD. It was quite odd actually - we relocated a few weeks into Y1 to a new area and a new school a little way away. At parents evening a few months later she was at grades that I'd expect in line with her end of reception report which was from an outstanding school with three form entry so fairly reliable I thought. Six months after starting at her second school, we moved her again to a much more local school when a space became available which is considered locally to be decent. However her end of year report for Y1 had her at exactly the same levels more or less as she was at the end of reception which I found hard to believe.

I did ask the teacher and he just effectively criticised the other schools and said they'd been overmarking her. I disagreed having seen the criteria, and the vast experience of the far bigger and better rated school she was at for reception but couldn't be bothered to argue.

In the end we just chalked it up to experience and that it doesn't really matter in the greater scheme of things. She seems to find the non-reading work suitably challenging, is in the top groups and is definitely progressing and at this point it's not going to make any difference to her future what grade they think she's at. I'll save my energy for when it is more likely to be necessary as right now, reading aside where she is waaaay beyond her book band to put it mildly, she is being suitably challenged. I think that's the most important thing rather than the levels which seem to be so subjective to each teacher.

I would ask for a meeting with the school and describe exactly as you have here.

Was his old school infant only? Some infant schools have been known to be overly generous in relation to which levels the next school thinks the child is at. This is One reason why many boroughs have a policy to amalgamate infant and junior schools.

OP you need to ask for an appointment with the new teacher because if your son is 1A you need to know what the school is going to do to support him. They should be very grateful for your support as their targets for your son will be based on the levels reported by his old school.
You could of course do as columngollum suggests and move schools which would have the new school clapping their hands with relief.

one thing the teacher says he needs to do is to learn his times tables, he knows his 2s,10s,5s and 3s, should he know them all at this age?

literacy he needs to be consistent with capital letters and full stops, I know he struggles with literacy but thought he was doing those things,also the teacher has says he needs to join his writing up. I insist on it when he does work at home but then ds says they don't have to at school?i don't think he ever had handwriting lessons at old school so ive been showing him as best I can.

If he's not yet consistent with full stops and capitals he may be a high 1/ low 2 as opposed to a 2b. 2nd would be more solid with this 'usually correctly demarcated' is the wording I think...

Handwriting is hard to comment on without seeing it.

• 2b not 2nd??

his handwriting is neat and on the line, I feel his literacy has improved since starting at the new school.

If letters are formed correctly and sizes appropriate and on the line then that doesn't sound like a huge problem.

Quite a few children in DSs class got L3s in one thing or another in their SATs. Most of them went to one particular junior school (my DS didn't) but most of them have been marked down to a 2a.

I don't know who is right or wrong, I know the infant school were moderated so presumably the results were deemed ok but this particular junior school is well known for saying that a child is rarely a true L3.

From my experience I think the infant school marked down to be cautious in some areas so I am not sure how you know which level is correct.

You should definitely discuss this with the school as if he truly is a 1a they should be providing additional support for him. They will also be able to provide you with specific targets.

What are the schools like, OP? I imagine you'll end up telling us new school is in a Boden-clad-Yummy-Mummy area or a private prep with high results, etc.

Surely the a 2b is a 2b regardless of how high achieving the school is, if it is a high achieving school you may expect a higher number of L3 SATs in Y2 though.