Expectations Y1 to Y2

[Paddingtonthebear]

Could anyone give any insight on what impact (if any) the end of Y1 grades have on Y2? For example if a child is working at greater depth for reading, maths and writing at end of Y1, are they expected to perform at the same level during Y2 and achieve the same grade at end of Y2 and in SATS? Or does it work differently? Hopefully this makes sense.

Well, if children were linear computers that made progress in straight lines, then that's what you would expect, The theory goes that a child at GD at the end of Yr 1 would continue to be GD at the end of every year throughout their schooling! Obviously, this takes no account of changing concepts within the curriculum, external influences or indeed of anything really. But hey, when has reality ever played a part in education!

This is my fear - I’ll be reading replies with interest.

IME it starts even younger than year 1.

I was told DS should be aiming for all “working above” in year 1 because he got all “exceedings” in EYFS.

Also wondering how it affects Y3, especially as we are currently in an infants only school and need to move to another school for y3 upwards.

I am a primary school governor and when assessing progress and achievement, often see a dip or plateau in Y3 as children adjust to the expectations of the KS2 curriculum. They are generally back on track by Y4.

We would expect most children who achieved greater depth in KS1 to do similarly well in KS2, all other factors being equal. Certainly learning is not linear, but peaks and troughs generally even out over the years.

Yes I think once they have achieved GD it is expected the following year.

DD finished KS1 with GD in all areas but at the beginning of year 3 her writing dipped a little. Her teacher told me he was worried and intimated that it would reflect badly on him if she didn't finish the year on GD again.

I’m assuming GD is more important/relevant at end of Y2 than at end of Y1? Due to SATS

That's how it should work in theory. However there is a big difference between Y1 and Y2 expectations. There is also a big difference within a 'level'. For example a borderline expected child at Y1 might find it tricky to get expected in Y2 whereas a stronger expected level child should be ok.

Thanks, are you a teacher? Do you know if many Y1 children are working at greater depth/exceeding in all three areas (maths, writing, reading)?

Yes I'm a teacher. It depends on the school to be honest but no the percentage won't be particularly high for greater depth across all the subjects.

I’ve just had one do the Y1 to 2 jump and another to do it next year. DD1 was GD for reading and writing at the end of Y1 and expected for maths - went up predicted to tip over into GD for maths (she was a very very high expected level), but then they review predictions and adjust every term and revised their prediction that she would probably get expected level for maths as she was absolutely on the borderline and could have gone either way... turned out she did get GD across the board as she had a sudden leap of understanding and also formed a good working partnership with another very able child in the class and they spurred each other’s understanding and reasoning on incredibly well. DD1 is a natural academic high flier though - so take with a pinch of salt.

I can give you the rough figures for my kids’ school for who was working at GD for each area in Y1 (I’m not sad - I just have the report to hand and it included the figures on it) - reading 29% (there’s been a huge push on it), writing 19%, maths 27% - school in a very affluent area and in the very upper end of the league tables. Haven’t got the Y2 figures to hand as a comparison - happened to have the younger child’s report out for a meeting this week which is why I had the Y1 figures available.

As for moving to Y3 - we’re also at an infants school and there are LOTS of transition discussions that go on between the Y2 staff and the Y3 staff, the Y3 staff have taught lessons to our Y2s to get a feeling for the personalities involved and the assessment data (of which there is bloody reams and reams) gets passed on.

Basically everything gets used to determine targets - but the targets will be under constant review - in our school there are meetings every term where every child’s progress gets looked at and courses of action decided upon and evaluated if someone starts slipping - or someone suddenly starts flying as well!

Thanks that’s interesting!

Also wondering if we are at the same school

Pantsy – that’s really interesting – thanks for sharing.

It is worth remembering that the NC levels are only stipulated at end of each key stage, so Reception, Y2 and Y6. In between those years, any assessment of ‘greater depth’ is the school’s own judgement, based on where they think the children should be in those years in order to be ‘on track’ for the next end of key stage.

That said, it sounds as though your children’s school is rigorous in its progress monitoring, and is happy to share those details, including class data, with parents. I wonder whether all schools are as rigorous, but most don’t share this information with parents?

I was a school governor and agree with pp above that data is debated over and over to ensure the DCs make progress and the curriculum meets their needs.

I have never been aware that teachers actively say they expect a DC to make enough progress to remain at greater depth the following year. However the teachers give harder work to DC if they grasp the concepts very quickly and make sure it meets their needs and do want as many DC as possible to work at greater depth. We do see that the brightest make the best progress and tend to work at greater depth throughout their time in school. Sometimes in every topic throughout the year, but not always. There are inevitably a few plateaus for some. I haven’t seen it as an expectation on each child but there isn’t much variation year on year with which DC stay in that category. We do of course want as many as possible to be joining them.

We get a sheet with each report with the breakdown for the cohort in terms of percentages for expected and greater depth - also the national figures for those year groups where it's reported nationally (Y2 and I think the phonics check percentage as well). Helps put the report results into some form of context for parents.

Actually having one who is GD across the board and another who really has struggled with some areas because of SEN and scraped expected - it makes minimal difference really at least in our school - the GD challenge work is available to all the kids who fancy having a crack at it and they cover the same stuff anyway.

I've got the national 2018 (previous year) results for Y2 as well if it helps (again on our report cover sheets - I'm not some saddo who has my walls covered in random school data) - reading 26% GD, Writing 16% GD, Maths 22% GD according to what came with our school reports. Basically - Writing's the one that's a bugger to get it in!