Book band levels and Learning levels

[SarahLeeMack]

Hi everybody, I was just after some advice please. I have just been to my dd parents evening and as she is my first born im not familiar with how the leveling system works. Basically she is in Y1 and 5 years old, she is currently reading stage 7 on the oxford reading tree books and her work level for maths and english is a Level 2B. Is she doing ok for her age or should I be trying to push her abit harder at home to do more? I dont want to think she is way behind than what she should be.

Levels do not officially exist any more for Year 1.

But under the "old" system 2B for English(do you mean writing?) and maths is the expected level for the end of Year 2, so extremely good for the first term of Year 1.

Stage 7 of the ORT is also approaching the level that would be expected at the end of Year 2 (although the child would also be expected to have accompanying comprehension skills).

Not wishing to be rude, but I find it hard to believe that you don't realise that your child is doing very well! Can I suggest that you familiarise yourself with age group expectations for the new primary curriculum (google it).

I don't know Redskybynight...I was totally bemused the first time I was given my DDs levels in Y1. A friend had to explain it to me, because the teacher just assumed I would know what it was.

Did the teacher really not give you any indication of whether they were doing well or not? I'd be surprised if they just gave you levels with no other input.

TBH level 7 ORT books aren't a 2b in reading (a 1a I think) so I'm guessing by 'English' you mean writing?

National curriculum levels went 1C, 1B, 1A, 2C, 2B, 2A etc. although the ABCs are nominal and never actually existed, but helped people see progression through a level that was particularly wide.
Before the curriculum was changed this year in general all children are expected to be a level 1B at the end of year 1 and a level 2B at the end of year 2. This tended to be achieved by 80ish% of children.
If a child is level 2B at the end of year 1 they would be expected to be a level 3B at the end of year 2. approx 50% of children would be a level 3 at the end of year 3.
In general a book band 7 (turquoise) equates approximately to a national curriculum level 1A to 2C depending whose chart you read and also if the child is doing comprehension at the correct level for the book -as opposed to just being able to read the words.

How would the teacher know levels in year 1? at this stage? Agree with red, its obv your dd is exceeding targets.

The teacher would be praising to high heavens and make it very clear how well she was dong.

Did the teacher really not give you any indication of whether they were doing well or not? I'd be surprised if they just gave you levels with no other input.

Yep and a child working at l2 at only short way into year 1!

Wow, i was warned by friends not to ask on this forum as it has "alot of judgemental parents" on here, not my words. I freely choose to ask for advice anyway. Bearing in mind I had a crying 18 month old with me during the parents evening, no I didnt get the chance to go through the grading system in detail. The teacher simply said my DD was doing great gave me a sheet of paper with her new targets on to reach the next level and explained what she was currently working on. Also seeing as though it is my first child to be in school no I didnt realise that these levels where actually really good for her to be achieving, im completely new to the whole thing. When she was in reception parents evening was more based on how she was settling in, if she was progressing now she was in full time education. Alas thankyou for the information even if some of comments have a less than friendly attitude.

Sarah no one is being judgemental. It's just we get a lot of posts on here along the lines of "My 3 year old has just read War and Peace, but they can only manage it in English, not Russian, I am so worried that they might be behind...". (actually there was a very good spoof on it, will see if I can find it)

Regular posters tend to find it very odd that the vast majority of people who claim not to know if their child is behind or not have children that are working well in advance of what is expected for their age. Hard not to read them as a "I want to show off that my child is doing super well, under the guise of pretending I don't know how well they are doing". As I said in my original post, if you genuinely did not realise your DD was doing extremely well, I do suggest you educate yourself about expected levels - whether that is by google, or by asking teacher. And as others have said, the teacher should have made it clear to you anyway!

I agree people can be very judgemental on here but equally you have said the teacher told you she was doing great so you did know the levels must be good and a quick google will tell you that level 2 is considered as yr2 generally.

I also find it surprising a teacher would assign levels at this stage of yr1, not saying she hasn't but my experience is that yr1 is generally under reported levels so that sufficient progress can be shown in yr2 and we never had levels mentioned at all in Yr1 with DD1 except for at the end of the year when they were talking to me in relation to her specific learning difficulties. I am not expecting levels for DD2 this year because levels don't exist now (only for current yr2 and yr6 if I remember right).