Can someone explain this please - its a school levels question

[Cathider]

DS started school in UK for first time last September when we moved to England from abroad. He started in Y3 and had just turned 7. The teacher assessed him last September and said he had a reading age of 8 1/2, spelling age of 10+ but his writing was poor (it was poor). Then she set his reading target for the year as 3C. By Christmas, she was assessing him as reaching level 2a. At home during the Christmas holidays he was reading Roald Dahl and Jeremy Strong for fun.

What I don't get is that 8 1/2 is the average age of children starting Y4, not Y3. So if he had their reading age already, then how much would he have had to improve to reach level 3c? The way i read it, there wasn't any improvement required at all and he must have been thought to have actually have dropped back between September and December to attain level 2a at Christmas.

I want to ask the school about this before the end of the term when/ if there is a parent's night to discuss progress, but I need to understand it first so that I don't go in and inadvertently appear to criticise when really i probably just do not properly understand what the levels really mean.
Can someone help please?

There is a difference between a reading age, which might simply measure a child's ability to decode words-the Schonnell test for example just asks children to read a series of inclreasingly difficult words without any means of assessing whether the child knows what the words mean- and a SATs level which also measures a childs ability to comprehend, infer and deduce information from a variety of texts. So it is possible that your son is excellent at the mechanics of reading but hasn't yet shown the level of comprehension required to achieve a 3C. To be absolutely certain, you will need to ask the class teacher who should be able to explain the difference in your sons "scores"

Thanks. I understand now.
But do some children choose to read for fun books like those written by Roald Dahl, without comprehending what they are reading? I wouldn't have thought it was possible for a child to want to do this because it would be extremely boring to read without understanding.

admittedly I have seen him learn a couple of things this year... he knows that the writing on the back cover is called the "blurb" (is it really??) and how the index and contents pages work. Would not knowing these things have held him back from being assessed higher?

They might understand the story-be able to recall facts and plots for example-but might not know say why the author chose a particular word, or what effect a different word has on the reader, how the author uses humour or anger to characterise, how punctuation is used for effect etc. All these things are "tested" to assess a National curriculum level.

3c is the next step up from 2a isn't it? although they can be given a 3 if they're not quite at the c, b, a grade

If it helps the national average is 2b at end of year 2, 4b at end of year 6 so they're expected to go up 2 sub-levels each year

I think it's a comprehension thing too

Now I understand! He couldn't do those sorts of things.. he had never even been asked to try before he came to England. until last summer, books were just for enjoyable stories and providing information. Thanks for helping me to understand.

Everyone seems to be years ahead with their 'reading age'.Large pinch of salt needed

I thought reading ages were not used much nowadyas because they tend to measure decoding, when it's actually understanding that's important.

DS2 was asessed as having a reading age of 8.5 when he was 5. But that just meant that he could read words well, rather than doing comprehension etc.

I think all reading tests are simply lists of words that you decode until there are 3 uin a row you can'r read. or something like that.

We are asked for reading ages by the Ed Psych but there can be a huge difference in results depending on the test used.
We use the Salford test which is sentence reading rather than lists of words.

Some children do read books without comprehending much of what they read. I listened to a Y3 child struggle through an Artemis Fowl book today and he stumbled over the decoding and meaning of words such as moustache. He was missing a lot of the description and deeper meaning in the story but what mattered to him was that he was reading a book that he had chosen from the local library - it wasn't so much about the storyline providing the enjoyment as the feeling of 'I can read this type of book' pride.

In terms of selecting material appropriate to his current reading level he was way off but I think it's important for children to be encouraged to choose their own books so long as that's supported by the selection of appropriate texts to help develop their reading skills.

I think he did/ does understand though. He may not have been going to school but he picked up things anyway. I taught him to read when he was 5 1/2 (the locals were appalled BTW at teaching anything to a pre-school child and they couldn't believe it when I told them that children as young as 4 go to school in England). Maybe it was the 1-2-1 attention or maybe it was because I made sure there was a good range of interesting books around but he took to it quickly. After a year he was addicted to Horrid henry and read the print off the pages - whilst laughing or being appalled in all the right places. Then he moved onto silly stuff like Capt'n Underpants and now Jeremy Strong.

I didn't bother too much with maths (although it turns out I was giving him things way ahead of his age group in that too) and I couldn't find a way to get him to be interested in learning to write so I didn't push it but when he went to school, he was beginning to compose short stories, mostly on the PC.

I'd taken such a relaxed approach to teaching him at home that I was really worried last Summer that he'd feel rather stupid at school amongst all the other children who'd been going every day for three years. I did try to find out what the National Curriculum was and what I should have been teaching him, but its really hard to get info and materials if you live abroad and anyway it was probably too late anyway.

In the end, it doesn't seem to matter as he's either near or at the top of his class for most subjects, except writing. The strange and disquieting thing is though that I don't feel he is really engaged in learning the way he was last year. I know the school has a low CVA score (I found that out last night along with what it means).

Having helped out in the school, I can see that there is a policy of giving a sliding scale of attention and help to those children who are most struggling. In a way this is fair and I know schools have limited resources. But what does happen with the children who have mastered the basic skills? I am wondering if this is why my son's school has a low CVA score and I am thinking of moving him though I am loathe to do it because he's settled in and made friends and anyway all the good schools seem to be full up.
A bit of a long ramble.. but can anyone advise of brighter kids are dealt with in other schools?

I've just re-read what i wrote there and it sounds like I was exceptionally laid back about DS's education when we lived abroad. I wasn't at all. I poured a huge amount of time and energy into thinking through how to find materials for him, how to make it appealing for him, rewarding him when he reached milestones etc. I was very displeased that my son had to make do with an untrained teacher though and the best I could do in the end was teach him by empathising with him, in the same way I'd got him though learning to talk, teething etc, etc. So when we arrived in England I was just really grateful to have a qualified teacher take over. i knew the school didn't rank highly but good schools are hard to find (especially when you need more than one place), and I was sure that "satisfactory" would be good enough, but now I don't know.

My DS understands what he is reading, but I don't think he would score enormously highly on the things which primarymum listed (which is what he would be asessed on).

It doesn't hamper the enjoyment of a story, DS2 takes Mr Gum or similar to bed every night and laughs out loud as he reads it, but that isn't the only thing that the NC is looking for.

Also, DS2's writing ability lags far behind his reading ability. It will probably catch up and even itself out (he is only in year 1) but from what I hear it is quite common.

I tested both DC yesterday using the schonnel (sp?) test described above, following the instructions to the letter. DS1 (yr3) came out with a "reading age" of 12.7 years and DS1 (yr1) got 8.6. The allowance for error is 6 months.

They are bright little boys but not geniuses, so those tests are meaningless aren't they, or at least "reading age" is a misnomer.

Thank goodness I asked on here before speaking to the teacher.