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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

Parents evening from hell

95 replies

Muskey · 05/03/2015 19:18

Just been to the parents evening from hell. DD is in year 6. Her level expectation for English is 4b not bad I hear you say. However at the end of year 5 she was level 5b/c. Is it me or should children move forward not backwards should I go back to speak to the teacher or is just something that happens. DD is very rude and stroppy at the moment is this something to do with it

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Original poster

Muskey · 05/03/2015 19:20

Any advice welcome

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kilmuir · 05/03/2015 19:20

did teacher explain the level being put back?

Original poster

Muskey · 05/03/2015 19:24

Yes dd is not putting any effort in

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TurnOverTheTv · 05/03/2015 19:26

Well if she's not putting the effort in of course it is going to go backwards surely?

MillyMollyMama · 05/03/2015 19:27

In that case, what can you expect? It is possible the year 5 level was too high and year 6 has seen a readjustment. What was her target supposed to be for this term?

Original poster

Muskey · 05/03/2015 19:29

Her target level was level 6. She was 4b at the end of year 4.

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LoofahVanDross · 05/03/2015 19:34

To be honest OP I wouldnt worry about all these 'levels'. Just let her do her SATS and she'll be fine. They are a nonsense anyway and have no bearing on their secondary school or GCSE results. All children go up and down, Your school is now putting pressure on the parents to think the kids lives depend on the SATS results. This is entirely for the benefit of the school and the bloody league tables.

I know, I have lived through primary SATS with 3 dc and they seriously have no bearing on the childs future.

Let DD enjoy her final year with her friends, that is what is important now.

Original poster

Muskey · 05/03/2015 19:38

Thank you loofah for some perspective you are right. I have got carried away with it all but it does seem a bit sad/wrong iyswim

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redskybynight · 05/03/2015 19:39

So she was 5b/c at the end of Year 5 and targeted to get Level 6 at the end of Year 6.
That sounds fine.

But actually in Year 6 she's turned into a rude and stroppy madam who doesn't put in any effort and has now regressed to working at a Level 4 level? Either she was seriously overlevelled previously or you need to be having strong words with her - don't think you can blame the school if she's not trying?

Original poster

Muskey · 05/03/2015 19:41

Believe we have had very strong words

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base9 · 05/03/2015 19:41

It is highly unusual for a child continuing on in the same primary school to slip down so dramatically. Not shifting upwards would not surprise me. But going down 3 sublevels is crazy. How do the school defend the previous level 5b?? what would worry me in this case is the lack of progress from the end of y4 to mid y6.

Original poster

Muskey · 05/03/2015 19:45

Actually I am not blaming the school at all my question which perhaps I phrased wrongly is do I go back and see the teacher to see where we go from here. A pp has said that something has gone wrong which I agree I just need to find out how to put it right

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Unexpected · 05/03/2015 19:57

Why did you not discuss this at parents' evening when the teacher told you her levels had slipped? How did the conversation go after she told you - presumably you didn't both sit there in silence?

Original poster

Muskey · 05/03/2015 20:19

No I asked her why and the teacher said that she is not putting any effort in. I didn't know what else to say as I was so shocked

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Invizicat · 05/03/2015 20:23

What does dd say? How does she explain the drop in levels? Does she accept that she's not making any effort? Why not?

base9 · 05/03/2015 20:27

Yes, go back and ask the teacher. There are quite a few possibilities and you need the teacher's input. Is your dd.capable of level 5 or even 6 work but just putting out 4b work because she cannot be asked? Was she never really 5b but has failed to progress since y4? Are there any subjects she excels at (and are those taught by PPA cover or a specialist teacher)? Does the teacher have any thoughts on why dd is putting in so little effort? Is the school a sats factory and dd is fed up?
What does your dd say?

Original poster

Muskey · 05/03/2015 20:28

Her exercise book is full of unfinished work. She says that her teacher doesn't like but given her recent behaviour I can't blame her teacher

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Original poster

Muskey · 05/03/2015 20:32

She also said she finds the work boring. She is more than capable of a level 6 in English my sister is a teacher and gave her a level six sats paper just after Christmas and she got 75%.

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AlphaBravoHenryFoxtons · 05/03/2015 20:32

Do people worry about this stuff? I have four children: two at university and two at primary school. I have never known what level they're working at, let alone worried about it.

anothernumberone · 05/03/2015 20:36

Muskey it is very common for children who are bored to disengage. I think she might need more targeted work.

Original poster

Muskey · 05/03/2015 20:36

Hi alpha bravo the honest answer is yes I do but really wished I didnt

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base9 · 05/03/2015 20:38

Possibly the school is boring the life out of her. Sitting day after day through sats prep can be soul destroying. Schools often sacrifice topic, ict, RE etc in the name of more maths and literacy.
Then again she could be rude and lazy despite having a stimulating academic experience at hand.

Could be a bit of both.

Original poster

Muskey · 05/03/2015 20:40

I think your right base9 I do think it's a combination of both

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ravenAK · 05/03/2015 20:44

Yes. Because her level, sadly, will determine her expected grade at GCSE.

I'm a secondary English teacher.

If your child got a 4 in year 6, I'm expected to convert that into a C at GCSE. Level 5? I'm in the shit if they don't get a B. Level 6? Better be an A/A* then.

So, as the mother of a lazy but bright Y6 ds, I am snapping at his heels to get that level 6. Because if he gets the 5b/a he can get with no effort, he'll be allowed to gently coast through secondary achieving Bs, also with very little effort.

It's a crap system (& it's changing, but all a bit too back of the envelope for my liking) but yeah, I want my lad chivvied a bit to achieve his potential at secondary - not cheerfully kicking back in set 2 with less able kids who are having to work bloody hard for the same 'good but not great' results!

So in OP's shoes, I would be seriously bothered. Either the school have been over-levelling to a startling extent in previous years, or something is very, very wrong with OP's dd's level of engagement. Something is off here.

Original poster

Muskey · 05/03/2015 20:48

Thank you raven you summed my feelings up exactly.

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