Are there any reception teachers around? Question about whether they get tested at this stage ...

[ejt1764]

Just out of interest really (I'm a teacher myself, but working at secondary level), ds started in reception last week, and has come home today saying that he's been helping Mrs S (his class teacher) with a "passport".

He then started telling me all about it, and it seems to me that it may be some form of preliminary test ... he had to spot the odd one out in sequences of pictures, and (I think), had to say what the next shape would be in a sequence. He said there were other bits, but those were the things he particularly enjoyed doing (he likes jigsaw puzzles, dot-to-dot, and spot the difference anyway)

Am I right in thinking this is a test? (Perhaps I should say assessment really) If so, what's being measured?

DS thought it was great as Mrs S gave him a sticker!

As far as I remember (being a SAHM who used to be a Reception teacher, but who has slight brain rot) different LEAs do different things, but it is fairly usual for a school to do some form of baseline assessments on children entering Reception. They need it for the 'value-added' scores, doncha know. Some schools do a quick skim through the Foundation Stage Profile (which then gives them a baseline score to work from, although this is very time-consuming), some schools will have devised their own assessment formats, and some will have bought into a published scheme that the LEA wants them to use. As long as the children don't feel pressurised or 'tested' as such then it shouldn't be a problem. Mrs S obviously does a good line in stickers, and your ds is unphased, so I wouldn't be worried. You should get to have a 'how are they settling' meeting in the next few weeks, so I'd ask if I were you (but then I'm very nosy....). HTH

Is it a baseline assessment?

Thanks gladbag and hulababy ... I wanted my own feeling that this was some sort of testing confirmed or scotched!

Is a baseline assessment the same as a foundation stage profile? Can't you just tell I'm not in primary - I don't have the jargon!

Haven't told ds I think it was a test, he was so pleased to have got 2 stickers yesterday (his 2nd was for being a good friend) that it would have rained on his parade a bit!

I will be asking at the parents' meeting later this term though ... (I'm also very nosy!)

Have just googled "baseline assessment" - and this is what I found (I am in Wales, so this obviously is what is going on !)

Baseline Assessment

Your child's language, mathematical, and personal and social skills will be assessed during his or her first term in Primary School. This assessment of the child's skills on entering school helps teachers to assess pupils' abilities and needs, to provide a better plan for children's learning and to measure their progress in the first years of school.

The results of this 'baseline assessment' will be reported to parents before the end of the term.

Thanks both!

They have to make sure they aren't teaching children stuff they already know. Some nearly five year olds can write down a general idea of what has happened in their day - some just four year olds can't draw a circle. They have to know which are which.