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..

You've just had it all explained on your other thread. Why start a 2nd one ?

But an A in year 1 wouldn't be the same as an A in year 2 so you wouldn't be able to measure individual progress with letter grades.

NC Levels are countrywide and (theoretically) allow you to see developmental progress in your DC.

But an A in year 1 wouldn't be the same as an A in year 2 so you wouldn't be able to measure individual progress with letter grades

I disagree, you can see they are making excellent progress and understanding their work because they are achieving top marks...if she was getting all B AND A in english we know she is getting that and is doing well, if she was getting E d and c in math we know she is stuggling...

I'm in Scotland and we don't have that grading system. It can be very difficult to find out how your DC is actually doing. Some teachers are very frank and will tell you how your DC is doing compared to national averages, others will simply say that the DC is doing fine for his or her abilities.

Hulaby

We have been given a sheet to practise for half term saying its for this test....

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 using their phonics knowledge.

her last phonics mark was 36.

cloutie I am sure there is some reasoning behind this but its lost on me...

The current system which teachers use works across all the year groups OP.

Starts at a NC level 1 and goes up to NC level 8.
Each level can be subdivided to make progression even more transparent - with a, b, c

So 1c, 1b, 1a, 2c, 2b, 2a, 3c, 3b, 3a and so on.

Children in key stage 1 (years 1 and 2) are expected to make approx 2 sub levels per year, with the expected level at the end of year 2 being a 2b.

It is the same leveling system used throughout the whole of primary, and secondary too. Therefore true progression can be shown more clearly than random A-E grades where the criteria has to change year on year.

The point of levels is that your child makes measurable progress throughout those years.

So an 'average' child will be on level 4 in year 6, but a weaker one will be attaining that level in year 9.

Each level describes what they can do, & tells you what standard they have reached.

Some descriptors here: writing levels.

You are also kind of assuming that the whole class will be given the same work. This isn't always the case.

Say in y4 the top children are working at 4c, and the strugglers working at 2c. They may do the same topic eg adding up. The best will be doing column addition of 4 digit numbers. The strugglers may be doing numberlines of two 2-digit numbers.

They both get them all correct. Is that an A grade for both? Or an automatic D for the strugglers because their questions were easier? It doesn't help you. But at the end of the year knowing your 4c child has moved to 4b does help, as does knowing the 2c has moved to 2a. One child is doing 'better', but the other has made more 'progress'.

For a struggling child, it really wouldn't help them to get graded D on every piece of work just because they were behind the rest of the class. It would be really demotivating. As a parent knowing they are D = behind doesn't help, but knowing they are 2a when they should be 3b does. (Especially as I can then look at the list of things for 3c and 3b to see what they need to work on).

A level 2C in Literacy can be assessed using the following targets:

I can begin to use sentences with a capital letter and a full stop
I can write a story with a beginning, a middle and an end.
I can link ideas by using words like ‘and’ and ‘then’.
I spell simple key words (like: back, came, down, from, have, one, school, sister, two,
were.)
I write so my friends can read my writing.

A piece of work that meets these targets (but doesn't meet the 2B targets) will always be at level 2C - no matter how old the child is. A reception aged child working at Literacy 2C will be doing very well and will probably one of the most able in their class. A year 4 child on a level 2C would probably need some additional support to help them progress.

I don't understand why this system seems to be so much harder to understand than the A-E system.

Because its new to me, like from yesterday Mrs Cakes because I am not used to it, because my brain is trying to come to terms with it.

Because I learn best when I am doing something....

A piece of work that meets these targets (but doesn't meet the 2B targets) will always be at level 2C - no matter how old the child is. A reception aged child working at Literacy 2C will be doing very well and will probably one of the most able in their class. A year 4 child on a level 2C would probably need some additional support to help them progress

Because people explain things in different ways!

^ this is very helpful to me.....

Do you find this sort of information about what the different levels mean in terms of the child's work, useful?

This is an odd thread. With respect OP you disagreeing with my point is about as logical as you disagreeing with me that the sky is blue.

This link gives an overview of education in Britain since the national curriculum was brought in. in 1988

www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8270189/How-the-national-curriculum-has-evolved.html

There really is nothing new about all this.

I know that now Lottie!

I am reading bits and pieces and its starting to fall into place