Yr 5 test question

[mogmum]

My DD is in year 5 and they are taking what I believe to be optional SATs next week.
My question is this. She is working very close to a 3a in maths and a 4c in literacy so she is doing ok so far.
Why then would I have been told that she will be having a reader for the tests for maths? Her teacher said it's just for extra support as sometimes she is a bit slower than the others at picking things up, but I thought you had to be quite behind in a particular lesson to get a reader
I thought I would see if any of you lovely people on here had been through anything similar

I agree with PSBD. I come from a country where children take ALL the text /note books home reguarly: the parents can be on top of their learning, making it very easy to help when the child is struggling.
When I suggested the same on MN, teachers answered that the parents would not know what to do with all the information and some would end up in a bin on the way home! Many parents I talk to are frustrated with the lack of information on day-to-day learning.
SATs test papers will help me see where my DD made mistakes, and if that is just one off, then there should be more and regular information passed to the parents.

Have I said that the information should be withheld from parents PSBD? but if the raw score isn't very helpful to teachers how helpful is it to parents? Some may think 18/20 (gosh seems to understand that well) when the truth is (gosh he copied some/all from child on the next table) ... which would give parents a completely false idea of their child's progress.

My comments on raw test scores show how much value I place on their usefulness as an effective assessment tool PSBD.

Again mrz

I think that test scores regularly coming home - and presuming a teacher is sensible enough to mix-up seating position and invigilate quizzes/ tests/ exams to thwart cheating - does give a parent a sense of how their child is doing in various subjects.

I don't think my present situation with absolutely nothing coming home whatsoever save the odd bit of holiday related art work helps me keep tabs on how my child is doing.

I do see a choice selection of 4-5 pieces of work in Maths/ Writing/ science before parent/ teacher meetings - but often one or more books are missing or not updated since last parent/ teacher meeting.

And if you are about to be thinking - but the homework will give you an indication - do bear in mind that St. Mediocre has officially ruled homework is of no value and stopped all homeworks (largely thanks to Gove/ research on lack of value of primary homework (e.g. www.telegraph.co.uk/education/9121048/Michael-Gove-scraps-homework-rules.html)

I did of course see 200 pages of photocopied SATs buster pages over Easter break and about another 100 pages in the week before the exams (which I personally chalk up to some form of last minute panic on the part of the school).

If anyone from OFSTED/ DofE are listening out there - as your laissez faire approach has resulted in at least our school abandoning its homework policy - can you at least suggest that examples of class work should be winging their way home regularly? It's very difficult to get any sense of what is going on in class with children under 8 years of age - and I suspect I'm not alone in wanting to understand core skills are being mastered even up to Y6.

So mrz - I'm about to get KS2 SATs - because the government requires schools to report it. Do you seriously believe that I should have to wait until July of Year 6 for some tangible information other than the usual 'performing at/ below/ above expected standards for this age group'.

Phew! I'd also prefer a steady stream of graded work coming home. That could be in the form of quizzes, tests, homework, classroom work etc.

Our primary approaches things the way that mrz describes. I feel certain that they are caring and mean well. But it frustrates me, and I feel that knowledge is power and withholding it from me as a parent, is a tad bit controlling.

We have no opportunity to change schools, and with great reluctance my husband and I have hired a tutor for our very able daughter. She is at the end of year 5. We definitely feel squeamish about it. Not sure why, a cultural thing I suppose. But I must admit that she is buzzing. She is so excited about all the new things being presented to her. Her mind is spinning with it all the time and it's lovely to see.

I'd love to get regular feed back. Teachers seem to treat parents with suspicion. Its as if they seem to think we'll misuse the information.

If we got regular information (not 2 ten minute meetings a year) we'd know how to help our kids. One test? Sure maybe not useful. All tests...very useful to see trends, for example seeing that your child is weak in subtraction. If we had all the info then we could do a bit at home to help.

It would also, I think, make life easier for teachers. If parents could see that more work on something was needed then maybe booster classes could be avoided. For example at our school there are children getting booster classes for times tables. Parents have expressed surprise that this is an issue as they weren't aware their child was behind. If tests had gone home that showed they weren't secure then it might have been possible to 'nip it in the bud' with extra work at home. Number bonds, timetables etc are all about practice. Parents, can and want to, help but we need the information.

Perhaps your school relies on tests PSBD we prefer not to assess that way and only use tests once a term.

OK - so tests are used once a term at your school (as at ours) - as some form on independent check on your observations of pupil performance I presume.

What are you telling parents?

Do you report NC LEVEL attained and next target - i.e. Johnny is currently working at 2b and his target is 2a, here's a handout showing you the kinds of things he needs to be moving on to doing in maths/ English (reading/ writing).

Do you even consider this as something you should be doing?

Or do you just give parents information on performance at end KS1 (Teacher Assessed KS SATs results) and end KS2 (both results & teacher assessments at KS2 SATs)?

Excluding the novel of the English primary school report card teacher's seem enamored of (much text saying very little indeed - although there is a code - spirited = difficult/ lively = can't sit still/ popular = forever gabbing away in class) what kind of feedback are you given parents which substantively informs them that their child is struggling/ doing well/ doing fabulous in core subjects: Science/ Maths/ English (reading/ writing)/ History/ Geography/ etc...

I ask this in the context of a parent who has serious doubts that the old national curriculum was fully delivered at their child's school, who is aware that Y6 was spent entirely on English/ Maths in the run up to KS2 SATs until now and who has no evidence in my possession from 7 years of education at St. Mediocre of what work is being done in school.

Out of curiosity - do teaching unions consider professional standards an issue? Or is it just about pay/ conditions?

A silly question, why are so many children are being tutored. I am planning to get a tutor for my ds and my dd, but just for English.

OK - so tests are used once a term at your school (as at ours) - as some form on independent check on your observations of pupil performance I presume.

No you presume wrongly. Teacher Assessment is moderated across our school. The tests can be a useful diagnostic tool which is why we use them in maths once a term.

We have 2 parents evenings a year when we provide a "this is the level your child is currently working at in reading, writing and maths and these are all the objectives for the next sub level that they will be working on for the next few months" sheet for each child which we then discuss. We provide sub levels in the end of term report for the same subjects plus science and effort and attainment levels for everything else. But we do tests at other times where we don't report the level but use the tests as tools to identify areas of particular strength and weakness for individuals and groups of children.

Wow - if we got the level of info you talk of Spaniel I'd be delighted. We're told targets will be discussed with the children so I often find out from DD what she's working on. Might be told one thing for one subject during parents evening but that's it.

To be told what my dd needs to work on in any detail I have to put in a written request. To be fair they do reply and give 2 areas to help with but I wish they'd do it without me having to write in and ask.