school report results - should I be worried

[doesthismatter]

DS, year 4, just had school report. He gets a sort of academic grade at the end of it each year for maths and reading. Last year he got a 3c for both of these which seemed good to me. The previous year (year 2) he had got 2a and 2b so to get 3c seemed an improvement in year 3. This year (year 4) he has also got a 3c for each one which is the same grade as last year.

Should I expect these grades to stay the same or not? I dont want to raise a problem if there isnt one but I would have thought it should improve? Or is it normal to stick at a certain level? It is hard to tell from the written part of the report - it all sounds quite positive but just sort of lists out the things they have covered this year and says he has worked hard or enjoyed doing X or Y or Z but doesnt really tell me if he is doing well or not.

Any one know what these grades mean from one year to the next?
Thanks

Each number (2,3,4 etc.) is split into three "increments" of a, b and c, a being the highest. Children's levels are supposed to go up by three increments every two years i.e. a whole level. However, it is quite normal for children to "plateau" and stay the same for two consecutive years.
HTH!

Like gerontius says...it is quite normal for children to "plateau" and stay the same for two consecutive years and also, maybe last year they just hit the 3C and this year they are a strong/secure 3C just missing out on a 3B IYSWIM.

Year 2 a child should be a 2A
Year 3 a 3C/3B
Year 4 a 3B/3A
Year 5 a 3A/4C
Year 6 a 4B/4A

Thanks for replies. I am a little reassured but still cant shake the feeling that he hasnt made much progress. He seemed to learn so much before and talk about all sorts of new things but less so now. But maybe that is a year 4 thing - they seem to make so much progress in the first few years when they learn to read/do sums/learn about history etc is it normal to not "see" much change in year 4? What sort of things would you notice?

Previous year teacher seemed to think he was doing really well and was in the sort of upper groups in the year - not saying he is best in the class or anything but she did give me more feedback and he seemed to be making great progress whereas now at the end of year 4, a 3c is not a high score by the look of it and not even an improvement on last year.

I wondered if I should speak to the teacher.

Both mine, high performers in the earlier years, seemed to stall in year four and I think it might be for the reasons described above. The teachers were pleased with them, though. They both went on to do very well by the end of year six.

Have you asked other Mum's about the progress their kids have made? I realise it may not be an easy conversation but you may get a feel for whether it's just your child that hasn't made any progress or the whole class - teacher's assessment criteria seems to differ in our school year to year, but getting the teacher to admit that the assessment criteria is not consistent may not be easy.