Parents evening from hell

[Muskey]

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

*secondaries. Thanks, autocorrect

Callouh thank you for your advice I will certainly try this approach.

I guess part of the general debate is how useful are levels at gauging future GCSEs success. I think they are better than saying little Johnny is first in the class. Schools seem mostly to use them but as a pp mentions there must be more testing in year 7 in order to put children in the right sets

mummy I am not incorrect - where do you thing your DC's target comes from? They come from a combination of KS2, KS3 and socio economic background giving percentile chances of grades.
And yes I do treat all of the children I teach like this - I expect the best out of them and enable them to reach their potential by not allowing them to let themselves down or misbehave in class. So if you think this is wrong for mento treat all my pupils like this then you have a very different view of what a teacher should be - but then as you believe SATs levels have not bearing on anything then maybe your DCS go to a school in a bubble that has avoided government targets and OFSTED !!!

lots of state primaries opted out of SATS the year mine were in year 6, including theirs, that is why I asked.

What happens Sunny is these pupils often start off in the wrong sets as they are often put in middle sets. Some will move out of them and some won't ... These are the kids who coast and put in minimum effort. Had they been out in a higher set they would be stretched and would achieve more

No lots of state primaries didn't opt out of SATs - SATs weren't administered because of industrial action carried out by teachers and heads. Schools can't just opt out.

well ours did mrz, apparently. I mean that is how it was put to us parents.
I am sure you are right though, it is all about semantics.

Another secondary school (science) teacher here to say, absolutely yes they are used for setting in secondary school. They are used to create the target grade and we cannot change these.

Student who come in without the SATS grade are set target grades based on any other data we have by comparison with the others in the year.

i would be totally on the school's back about this. it is March! is this the first time they have brought this up? why has she disengaged? what are they doing for their bright pupils to make them give up trying??

" what are they doing for their bright pupils to make them give up trying??"
Christ I am sick of this obsession with 'bright' pupils. Does it not matter if someone who has not been deemed 'bright' gives up trying then?

'every child matters' not just that they reach the average required and thats the school's job done, sit back and relax. it really pisses me off that clever kids are left to sit bored to death doing the same stuff they know inside out for an entire year. its equally crap if other children are left to their own devices all year, do you feel that happens at your child's school? not got much to do with this thread though

" it really pisses me off that clever kids are left to sit bored to death doing the same stuff they know inside out for an entire year"
I agree, the 'French lessons' at primary were a joke.

I know SATs scores are one of the factors fed into the Fishers score thing, which pops out target grades - which can be too low for some pupils.

The government is also mis-informed that "intelligence" whatever that is is fixed - so those who were top at primary should be top at secondary, and worries about why this isn't always true. Of course the easy way would be to put all those who had disappointing scores at 11 in low sets with little chance to improve.
This would be a self-fulfilling prophecy, and would increase the divisions in society.
Fortunately my daughter has gone to a school which didn't label her when she arrived at 11. They teach in mixed ability groups for most subjects for at least 2 years (Maths until October, Science until the end of year 7).

Sanfairyann hence my concern. The last time I spoke to the teacher was just before half term and she did not say she was concerned at all rather the opposite. I will be writing to her teacher asking what is exactly going on and asking for all dd test results since September (her school tests them a lot which has actually helped dd move from a 4b to a 5a/b in maths) and we then be going back to see the before easter

I mean literally the same tape played over and over year after year, with colours and numbers.
Well I teach English as a second language and know that this is the prime age when children really could learn a language! But no that is not happening in our state schools anyway.

mfl provision is heartbreaking at primary and secondary

it is true that ability/intelligence is not fixed at 11, but it is very sad to see children switch off from learning for whatever reason

But mummy your child will be 'labelled' as soon as they are setted. And this set will be based on ks2 scores .... Whatever you think every state school will use this system.

no they do not pieceofpurplesky, many secondary schools set their own tests to set the children in year 7

All schools will use KS2 set results as a guideline to create a target and pupils will be set on this target - KS2 results combined with other factors.

I have never heard of a state school that doesn't .... All the teachers on here have said the same.

Sunny - thank you! My DCs school does not use just SATs to set, in fact children are often surprised to be not in the top set having got top grade SATs whereas "Fred" who got a lower grade in SATs is in the top set. That is because the school trusts its own testing far more than SATs.

And you are telling me that "all schools" set based on KS2 results, even if they teach mixed ability for 2 years before putting in sets? So why bother to teach and test the students for 2 years, if their ability has already been measured? Why even bother to do GCSEs? Why not just give them the grades they should have got based on their performance at 11?

wqell purplesky my children sat new tests at the beginnning of year 7 and were set according to those results. I have heard of other schools doing this too.

Maybe the two of you should actually read what all the teachers on here have said ...
Children are set whether year 7,8,9 or GCSE on a COMBINATION of data. Gcse targets are from a COMBINATION of data. Therefore KS2 results are important.

Neither of you appear to comprehend and I bet if you asked any state school they will tell you that KS2 data is used.
Google raise online or FFT .... Find some facts if you wish rather than just believing the teachers.

And mummy I said all school will use KS2 scores as a guideline.