Anyone else shocked to find out they dont Grade work with Letters anymore?

[IdRatherPlayHereWithAllTheMadM]

Just in shock and struggling to understand new grading...or rather new to me.

Just trying to understand the levels on the national curriculum website...

I just think the old fashioned, you are B in maths, D in English and so on was so clear and normal, I knew where I was with it, I just dont understand how to make head or tail of how well my DD is doing now?

I am a little lost..

Try being a furrener like me. Double & triple whammies of confusion.

I didn't get letter grades at primary school and I'm 30!

They're doing away with the 'new' levels now - there won't be any numbers, either! (At least at secondary level...)

I didn't get graded at primary school.
And I've never seen anything beyond a tick and a smiley face on either of my DCs work (and maybe a suggestion on how to improve things).

And I've never seen anything beyond a tick and a smiley face on either of my DCs work (and maybe a suggestion on how to improve things)

Yes this is what we get and team points?

I am so confused.

At state primary I do not remember being graded, at 9 I went private and I remember now the surprise at seeing a "c" letter next to some work and I asked a friend what it meant!

Do private then grade work and state primary never has?

I am 40 and didn't get letter grades at primary school.

I work in Y2 now and we do give out NC levels but only at the end of the year, following SATs. We do use levels on our internal marking for staff use - progress meetings, etc. Class work is marked using a tick list against success criteria and 2 stars and a wish.

YokoUhOh

Gosh what does this mean then, how do we monitor progress.

How will I know if she is 11+ material?

Hula

Your talking chinese to me.

At end of year 1, can you tell me what I will be told about how she is doing?

DD was at an independent primary - left for secondary int he summer. In Infants (to Y2) there were no grades - letters or numbers. In juniors there were grades for effort and attainment (A to D - or E?) on reports to parents - with an explanation sheet - A for outstanding, B - good, working above expectation, C - expected, etc. On classwork no grades were given - just ticks and then written ccomments - along lines of stars and next steps, etc

At last parents evening I was told the results of two tests she took in maths and phonics, when reading out these results I was told they were above the average.

I thought the teacher was telling me some aside bonus information, but now I am thinking, this is how they now actually mark?

It very much depends on your school as to whether you will be given a National Curriculum (NC) level or not. It is not a legal requirement to do so.

At the end of Year 2 your child will sit SATs tests in reading, writing and numeracy. They will be marked and given a NC level based on the test results and the teacher grades. The expected for the end of Y2 is 2b.

However, as of September 2014 the requirement to use levels is taken out of the NC. Schools may chose to use their own grading systems instead. In reality many will chose to use the old ones where possible, fitting them into the nwew curriculums. But they don't have to.

At my DCs school, they start off with a learning objective then they do the work and the comment lets them know if they have met the objective. Sometimes the children assess their own work (what could I have done better?) and sometimes they assess each others work.
As they are all working at differentiated levels within the class, a simple grading structure just wouldn't reflect the complexity of the learning and invites comparisons which might be misleading.

And you'll know if she is 11+ material because you can talk to her teacher.

In addition:

At the end of Y1 she will sit a phonics assessment - May/June time. It is an assessment which tests the child's ability to decode words usigng their phonics knowledge. If they reach the required level (last year was 32/40) you will be told that. If they don't reach that you will be told that they have not yet achieved the required/expected level in phonics and they resit it in Y2.

I mark every piece of extended writing against 8 different criteria, focussing on paragraphing, vocabulary, sentence structure, purpose and effect, spelling etc and each of these elements is given a numerical and alphabetical value together with an area of strength and an area for improvement. Would this do?

Mind you, it does take me around 5 hours every Sunday, so I wouldn't want to do it every day!!

well, I've been teaching for 14 years. So I can confirm that KS1-3 have been levelled for that long.

Damn these new-fangled confusing levels, eh.

But Mrs cakes...

they are all told to use punctuation, capitals and full stops...and write their own stories all week....

child a starts out not using punctuation and gets say....a E....then next piece uses some and so on and by end of week he has used most punctuation correctly and gets a B.

Child B understands immediately and simply gets marked A for each piece...

child C doesn't get it, uses little and stays at grade c...

so we know child a is grasping, understand and improving, we know child B is very good at this and needs no work and we know child c is having issues...

Damn these new-fangled confusing levels, eh

They are new and confusing to me!

spanieleyes

Thanks for that. That sheds more light on things.

I have noticed people saying " can you level" this work....I never understood what they meant.

Ime the children all know what their own personal learning objectives are and when they get their work marked (either by the teacher or by one of their peers) they get compared against those objectives.

Dd2's school only provide levels as secure or borderline and tell you what the national average is for your child's age group. I have also noticed that thee tends to be lots of questions from the teacher instead of just ticking work.

Idrather that system would NOT work and that is NOT how children learn. Punctuation is slowly introduced, you don't get 'told' to use it, it is much more complicated than that.

You cannot give grades that are not comparable to what other teachers use in other classes. That would make them meaningless. They have to be based on a set list of criteria.

If your child is in year one, I imagine it is too early to judge 11+. Read to them, encourage them, love them and show an interest in their learning process. Your teacher will let you know if you have a genius on your hands.

DC's old Primary - didn't give out NC lvls at all until 2 years ago, and then only at the end of each year.

DS2's new primary, Y5, NC lvls every half term, more frequently if they move up a sub level. Helps to see progression, and unlike the old school, doesn't allow the school to hide those that AREN'T progressing.

Which is a lot, in the old school. Probably why the old school crams for SATS from the September of Y6 to the exclusion of EVERYTHING else even remotely fun for the DC's, piles on the pressure, has lots of CLINICALLY depressed 11yo's through horrid teaching methods (ripping books up in front of class, yelling in SN DC's faces because they aren't getting Lvl 4's...), when the new school doesn't bother starting SATS revision (NOTE : revision, not cramming...) until EASTER. And has happy, smiling DC's even right through Y6.

You cannot give grades that are not comparable to what other teachers use in other classes. That would make them meaningless. They have to be based on a set list of criteria

Well yes, I always assumed all grades were given on a list of criteria A + being the most right and D and below...wronger and wronger...

Little I was trying to give an example of the marking not the way punctuation was taught, I have no idea how and when its taught, because I was never taught it.

Some teachers at DS1/DS2's school grade KS3 work with a NC level (6c, 7a etc).

Others grade with a combined attainment/effort measure (A1 being the best of both).

Others grade in the traditional A-, B+ style.

On the half-termly report, all we get for each subject is a colour (blue = exceeding target, grey = on target, etc).

Are they deliberately trying to confuse parents?