KS3 English targets etc

[shakespeare99]

Hi,
DD just started year 10. Was dropped from level 2 to level 5 for English in summer term as she flunked an assessment. Her KS3 target was 5a and at the end of year 9 she achieved 6c.
Have always been told she is bright English student but bit taken aback that 3 years of positive feedback and reports are being brushed to one side, in favour of how a 14 year old fares on a given afternoon.
She is having another assessment before half term and that will dictate her permanent GCSE group.
Grateful for any thoughts/feedback :)

I'm a bit confused by your post as a 6c is better than a 5a. When you say she dropped from level 2 to 5 do to mean sets?

Assuming you mean sets, As a teacher I think parents put too much emphasis on sets. It doesn't matter to me if I am teaching set 2 or set 5, or even set 11 in my school, I will do everything I can to try and help that child meet their potential and make good progress.

Sorry for confusion, yes DD dropped from set 2 to set 5.

6c is one grade better than 5a e.g. 5a, 6c, 6b, 6a, 7c etc

My concern is she will be now taught to a grade C GCSE rather than A or B. As she has been in set 2 for 3 years I imagined A or B were the predicted grades.

Thanks again

I think average for end of year 9 is 6b and an average student achieves a grade C. If you think she is capable of more could you do some extension activities with her and tutor her in her weaker areas.

No if she got a 6c that would correlate to an a at gcse I think? She shouldn't be taught to a c. I have a set 5 and most of them have (aspirational in some case) targets of as and bs. We have students who could only scrape a 4 getting cs at gcse.

Hi thanks for your message. Will have a think, as don't want to put her under too much pressure. Had no idea what average grade for end of Yr 9 was.
Will see how she gets on in this assessment.
Cheers

Really I thought you were supposed to move up 2 sub levels in stage 3 and 4, is that not right?

Hi thanks for your message. Will have a think, as don't want to put her under too much pressure. Had no idea what average grade for end of Yr 9 was.
Will see how she gets on in this assessment.
Cheers

thanks loulou, it's a bit confusing as different schools seem to have different views. her school is a bit of an exams factory, i suppose they all are now. will speak to her teacher after assessment :)

No in our school is 2 sub levels a year in ks3

But if that is the case if you got 6c at the end of year 9 you would get 7b at the end of year 11 which is a C grade.

The stats say just over 50% of students who achieve a level 6 at KS3 go on to achieve a B or better at GCSE (but most likely a B). Although those stats were from before this year's English marking disaster so all bets are probably going to tend to the lower side from now on.

So your DD would probably be headed for a C/B at GCSE. Set 2 to set 5 seems like a big drop so it would be worth querying what effect that will have for GCSEs - e.g. would set 5 mean entry at Foundation level capping her potential at a C?

Contact school? Can she not sit higher paper? Surely school wouldn't limit achievement of an able student (as they are judged on grades.)

I should just say those stats are for English. If it were maths, a level 6 would usually predict a C.

at 6c equating to an A at GCSE. Yea god it that's true the system needs a good shAke up - not that I am in any way shape or form a Gove fan.

5a/6c is AVERAGE attainment at the end of year 9. So the average student is expected to get an A?!!!!!

Expected progress is two whole levels from KS2 to KS3, which is as others have said two sub levels a year.

No titchy, it's not true. So you can safely put away the Gove pom-poms

Phew!!!!

No I didn't mean it equated to an a as in is equal to- I meant they should come
Out with that if they follow that trajectory iyswim. But it seems I am mistaken and it is a b. My school must be very 'aspirational' in its target setting then!

Very aspirational Do most kids at your school meet their targets?

You need to establish what exam she is being prepared for.Where I work set 5 is an add-on in Years 10/11.We fill them, only 10 pupils on average, with pupils who will thrive in a smaller set and are going to achieve at least a C probably more. They are preparing for the Higher paper. Have a chat with the Head of English she will explain.

Hi, thanks for that. Have a meeting lined up in a couple of weeks. Will hopefully get sorted then. :)