How well is he doing?

[Notintheframe]

My son just started Year 1. He is 6. In his report, his teacher said he has a good concept of basic number skills, addition and subtraction but needs to apply these to larger numbers and one step problems and that he should continue to work on counting in 5s.

I can't make out whether this is communicating a positive view of his ability or just that he is doing only okay.

Any views?

Not in mine Robin.

In Scotland we have no national standards that children seem to be measured against in primary so are left asking our kids which maths and reading groups they are in to get an idea of where they are in a class.

If you are teaching for mastery you shouldn't need to have top/middle/bottom groups; the whole class should be working on the same thing and those that master it are given extension work.

Exactly

Ok, thank you, mrz. Umm, it's very confusing. But they do have A.R.E. for each year group, right?

Notintheframe, our kids' reports are also relatively meaningless, and the teachers do not talk about how kids do relative to each other (with good reason).

The best way to find out is ask who your child works with. My kid works with the top kids in everything but handwriting. With handwriting, he's in one of the lowest groups. I wouldn't know this if I didn't ask my kid. I don't know every single child, but I do know enough to work it out.

Project work will be split up, but guided reading groups and math groups are most often set.

FWIW, at least you had a report where the "Next Steps" are things your kid actually needs to learn, rather than things they can already do but haven't been asked to demonstrate at school.

“But they do have A.R.E. for each year group, right?” I’m afraid not. Every school uses its own system. We use B.W.S.

“The best way to find out is ask who your child works with” my class sit with who they like as long as they work so would find it difficult to tell parents.

What is A.R.E and B.W.S?

Is there guidance on what a child should be achieving at various stages during KS1?

His school does not split by ability. So the method of 'who are you sitting with' would not work.

Perhaps I expected too much from the report. For instance, I know he can count in 5s so I was a bit thrown by next steps. I'm not sure what more is expected at this stage (term 1 or even term 2). Also, his previous reception reports were much clearer but the one we received for year 1 felt like he had regressed. That said, his effort grades are all above average. But it could be that he is working his socks off and getting no where fast.

There is no real correlation between end of reception and beginning of Y1 so all my children who achieved exceeding are now beginning (B) which might look like regression.

Mrz, that is very useful. Short and succinct but it gels with my instinct when I thinking about my son's case.

Mrz, but that's the thing that confuses me, compared to old NC levels.
Some of the children who got exceeding in reception maybe miles ahead, compared to another child who also got exceeding.
The child may be secure with most of the things or gds level with what they learn in yr1 already, but still classed as beginning, because you haven't covered the topic yet?

Thanks all for your input. Met his teacher today and the feedback on where he is at was all extremely positive except for the areas he needs to tighten up on.