Why would my DD and 2 other children have to sit an extra maths test on their own?

[Campaspe]

DD is in year 2 and has just done her SATS. Just before half-term, when they were doing their SATS, she told me she had to complete a maths booklet with a cat on it, which she found very difficult. Today, DD and 2 other children from her class had to go and sit another maths booklet that apparently had a cat on the front of it. I assume this is because she struggled with the first one - the second one was much easier apparently - so they wanted to see if she could do an easier paper. But why? Can any teachers shed any light on this? DD didn't mind doing it, she was just puzzled.

Sorry, I should have said that the booklet she completed today had a dinosaur on it, not a cat.

Do you think they are streaming the maths' classes, higher and lower for year 3?

Could be, but surely get teacher would know enough by now?

It may be that she is bright and they are giving her an extra test a level up to see if she can do it, because she got high marks on the normal class test?

They're the 2000 SATs booklets. The dinosaur one is the level 2 paper and the cat one is the level 3.

Sounds like they tried her on the l3 one and she struggled so they gave her the level 2.

Begs the questions a) why are they doing 2000 SATs booklets, when we have to do either 2007 or 2009 papers, and b) why are they doing both the L2 and L3 papers?
Very odd.

Sorry-that's my typo! It should say 2009.

In DD's school, everyone sits the level 2 papers and the level 3s are done as an extra.

Oh well, I'm even more puzzled now. DD is hard working and does her best, but doesn't find maths particularly easy, so I wouldn't be surprised if she's not a level 3. Just a bit weird that 3 children of what I think are very different abilities would be taken out of class to do an old SATS paper. Maybe I'll ask her teacher next time I bump into her.

It isn't an old SATs paper-it's one of the ones we have to use.

Our old school did this - took a few children of different abilities out of class to do "booklets". It was supposed to check marking and standards across the school eg in case one teacher marked harder or easier than another.

Yep, the cat/dinosaur ones are the y2 papers we use for SaTs.
She probably struggled with the level 3 and didn't get enough marks to score the '3' (it doesn't tell you anything else) so they then gave her the level 2 paper to see if she is a 2c,b or a.

In my school all children in Y2 do the level 2 paper, unless being 'disapplied' or doing the level 1 papers instead. Then selected children do the level 3 paper, based on teacher decision and also the score they achieved in the level 2 paper. Infact the schools I know of (through friends or locally) get all their children to do level 2 and then level 3 as an addition - don't know any who just do either/or.

Sounds like the OP's child's school got some to do the level 3 paper first, and as the DD didn't achieve level 3, they have got her to do level 2 as well.

I'm sure a teacher is going to come along in a minute and say that schools are meant to pick which level paper to give a child based ion their performance in calks, and that they are not meant to be given both to do .....

Just asked ds if there were cats or dinosaurs on his SATs maths booklet. He looked dumbfounded and said 'how do you know'!

He said he had a dinosaur on the first booklet but did another test the day after and there was a cat on that booklet?

He looked dumbfounded and said 'how do you know'!

Did you tell him you can see what he's doing at school and whether he's naughty or not?

I'd have been very tempted.

I don't know of any schools, apart from MN ones, who are so insecure in their teacher assessment that they ignore the statutory regulations, which say that children must only be tested once in each subject for the end of key stage one assessments.

Depressing.

Fin, it's great having insider information his reaction was priceless.

Feenie, are you saying that ds should only have sat one test?

The protocol is supposed to be that you test for L2 first, and only if they achieve a L2a, do you test with the L3 paper. It looks like your school thought they'd save a bit of time, test with the L3 paper first for children they think might achieve it (perhaps while the rest of the class were doing L2, so only 'losing' one lesson to testing). Then any children who did not achieve L3, went out on another day to do the L2 paper. They'd have had to do 2 tests anyway if they were L2a, so no matter really in the long run!

No that's not the protocol bronya. The protocol is that the teacher decides on either the level 2 or the level 3 paper based on their assessment of the level the children are working at. I'm pretty sure the NAA regulations explicitly state that children are not supposed to sit 2 papers. They do EITHER the level 2 OR the level 3.

DS is in yr4 now but when in yr2 did the L2 SATS papers and then about a fortnight later sat the L3 ones.

From the 2014 ARA:

6.2 When can the tasks and tests be administered?

The tasks and tests can be administered at any time during the year but children are not to be tested more than once during the year in each subject or attainment target.

These regulations are statutory.

That's not protocol, Bronya - it's not allowed.

When LEAs moderate, they are not interested in the test data - they want to know how well schools understand teacher assessment.

An over reliance on testing shows a lack of confidence in teacher assessment.