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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Year 2 Literacy

17 replies

HermioneSnape · 09/05/2014 11:26

My DS7 is in year 2. At the end of year 1, he was working at a level 2C.

After 3 parents evenings, so far this year, I have today found out that he is still working at a level 2C.

Is this acceptable, I do have previous for going into the school about his work, levels etc, but made a conscious decision at the end of year 1 to back off and let the teacher in year 2 do her job as such.

So I have actively not asked about levels this year at all. (The school do not volunteer the levels, you have to ask and be a pushy parent to get any important, relevant information at all).

I just wondered if I am slipping back into old habits and making this more than it is?

Thanks x

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pinkpeonies · 09/05/2014 11:54

Expected progress over y 2 is 3 sub levels.

Oblomov · 09/05/2014 12:06

No. That's not ok. That's not good progress. Arrange an appointment with the teacher.

inthesark · 09/05/2014 12:07

Seconded, that's very poor.

redskyatnight · 09/05/2014 12:26

Could his Y1 level have been incorrect?

If it wasn't, I agree that the lack of progress is very worrying.

Original poster

HermioneSnape · 09/05/2014 13:08

Thanks everyone, I did think that it wasn't good, but as I said in my op, I did get a bit obsessed and too involved in year 1, added to the fact my DS teacher and I didn't get along at all, it made for an eventful year.

I'm so angry! They know I am available to chat too and that I would have helped with things he was not grasping, but he has gone from one of the over achieving children down to the middle group child, who isn't making the national expected level in 3/4 year?

I have asked this morning for a chat with the teacher but was told to ask again next week.

Thanks again x

OP posts:

mrz · 09/05/2014 16:59

If Y1 level was correct then lack of progress is a worry and I would expect the teacher to have raised their concern with you before now.

Perhaps the fact your son and the teacher don't get along is a factor - is your son working for a teacher he doesn't like?

freetrait · 09/05/2014 20:46

Have you seen samples of his writing from both Y1 and Y2? Do you think it's improved? For my DS the improvement is very obvious. You don't need to know about levels to see this. We don't see much of his writing day to day- ie not much comes home, but at parents evening all the books are available to look at and it was great to see it.

hippo123 · 09/05/2014 22:40

I agree with free trait, forget about levels for a minute, how do you think he's doing? Is he now reading harder books, spelling better etc? Surely you know if hes improved or not in the last year?

Oblomov · 10/05/2014 06:46

op. please don't ask for a chat. and be fobbed off. please email. and ask for an appointment. to discuss his levels.
not a chat, an appointment.

please please don't be fobbed off.

Original poster

HermioneSnape · 10/05/2014 08:13

Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply.

When I collected DS yesterday from school, his teacher came over to me.

She asked me to pop inside for a chat. She had out his books/work and we went through them. He was a 1a/2c last year, (apparently!), but has now just recently moved to a 2B????

I am very dubious and doubting in the timing of this move to 2B, but she did show me his work and showed me a check list of things that he needed to do to move on to a 2B, and he can do all of those things, so I'm not going to question it.

I did question why nothing was said at the previous 3 parents evenings, and was told that he is making progress - it may not be as fast as he was making through nursery/reception/year 1, but in their eyes, its progress and there was no cause for alarm.

His teacher has given me a copy of the targets/check list for moving from a 2B to a 2A, so I can support my DS with this at home, particularly when doing his homework, its useful to have something to work with and know I'm working alongside with the school in knowing what he needs to a accomplish.

I'm glad I kept my cool, (this time)

freetrait I've tried to forget about levels, etc, but its difficult when you know you have tried to give your DS the best start off in school, for them to let him coast along and drop further and further down, don't get me wrong, my elder DS12, was at the other end of the spectrum - he wouldn't hardly write anything, hated school, every parents evening was a nightmare, so I know I'm lucky in that respect but my DS7, he loves school, learning, especially maths and science, we are doing experiments most weekends, I won't tell you how may times we've been to the Think Tank, (Birmingham), So the zest is there to learn and I feel they don't use that to their advantage.

I have noticed he has progressed in his literacy at home only as far as his writing, I used to say he had giants writing, its now much smaller, neater and he is grasping really well joined up writing - now this was after at the 2nd parents evening his teacher mentioned about his hand writings, so I have been working with him to improve this.

OP posts:

mrz · 10/05/2014 08:43

Remember too there won't be any levels in September

Original poster

HermioneSnape · 10/05/2014 08:47

I know mrz but I assume that the school will have something alongside the same theme to assess the children, I know some schools are going to keep the SAT's levels as their way of assessing the children.

OP posts:

mrz · 10/05/2014 09:03

Schools will still have to complete national tests in Y2 and Y6 as now but after next year they won't be graded in the same ways as they are now so making a comparision between current and new isn't going to be easy (even if possible).

TheGruffalo2 · 10/05/2014 09:11

We will be using Assessment for Learning techniques to monitor how much of that Year's criteria have been achieved (and the following year's if the child has completed their year's). So no numerical levels to give parents each term/year.

mrz · 10/05/2014 09:24

The problem being the current criteria is different from that in the new curriculum so doesn't correlate.

Original poster

HermioneSnape · 10/05/2014 10:38

What information will be given to parents then?

Sometimes just the normal parents evening chat about how x is doing fine, no problems, isn't the full story.

Having the levels is in someways having accountability. So parents know what needs to be achieved and how far along their child is on the journey. If there are no levels then us as parents have no way of knowing if our child is in fact stalling a bit and needs some extra support.

Not all teachers, I'm afraid to say are on the ball. We are putting a lot of faith in teachers to be honest and know their trade perfectly, in our school, the HT has a habit of employing very young just out of uni teachers, and sometimes experience counts.

OP posts:

mrz · 10/05/2014 16:19

According to the government

Teacher assessment and reporting to parents

National curriculum levels will be removed and not replaced.
From 2014, our new national curriculum will make no mention of levels.

The new national curriculum programmes of study set out what pupils
should be taught by the end of each key stage.
Teachers will develop a school curriculum which is relevant to their pupils.
Schools will be able to introduce their own approaches to formative assessment.

Teachers will continue to track pupils’ progress and provide regular
information to parents.
How they do so will be for schools to decide, suited to the curriculum they teach.
We will not prescribe a single system for ongoing assessment and reporting.

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