Considerable leap in science levels - wwyd?

[darwiniandreams]

I have a dd in yr9 and has been working at 6b and is in set 2 of 5.

She come home sayin that she has been awarded 2 level 8s for homeworks and a level7b for an end of unit test.

I was a little initially and am very proud but I feel I should contact the school to ask how the hell did she manage that? where/how to go from here. Dd doesnt want me to as she feels as it would be interfering .

Wwyd?

I wouldn't believe it very much, would smile and say "Well done!" & not wonder about it further.
Does it make a difference to her options, maybe?

She would like to go on to do triple science at GCSE and her teacher told her last year she would be a candidate but I didnt feel personally that she would manage as her levels were not that high. Maybe I have underestimated her.

Do they only get to do triple if school lets them?

Rumour is that locally kids who want triple get to try, regardless of ability.
Kind of a pity because I'm sure DS would ace the double & he'll struggle to even get Cs for the triple, but ho hum, he's convinced he knows what he wants...

At my old school/my sister's school anyone at a 6c at the end of year nine did/does triple (if they wanted to).

No he won't if he can ace, double, he can get Bs or better at Triple. Triple isn't harder, there is just more of it they do an extra unit and they are very tight on timetable time.

DD1 is dyslexic and the school forced her to do double. She could have done triple just as easily if the imagination free HofD had been prepared to accept she might not keep up with the written work in class, but would still get A's in exams.

She would get A* except for poxy CAs

The school which she goes to says that those in the top two sets are advised to and then those who they think are capable from other sets can if they have a good chance of passing. I dont think she will want to when she has finished doing physics

Say well done and leave it at that. It is great that she is making such progress. Obviously keep an eye on her option choices when she takes them and advise her accordingly.

It is possible to get great grades in one science, or one science topic, but it is not necessarily her average ability across science. Home works are obviously different than exams.

Also, schools are free to level differently now if they want so her 6b level may be assessed against different criteria than her current work.

Each homework will only be on a tiny (possibly easier) area of the syllabus.Shw ill have many units and many topics to maintain that level over.

Thanks Kez100 I will keep that in mind. They are choosing options in Feb I think but has a rough idea what she wants to do. Dd loves Biology and is ok with Chemistry. As Physics is related/similar to Maths I think she will have to work significantly harder.

We are both going to have to wait and see but for now I'm

Levels do fluctuate in science as the topics can vary and some students can do considerably better in some topics than others. That's why its better to look at average levels over a sustained period rather than the grade in one h/w or end of unit test.

However, congrats to your dd as she's obviously just done well in the recent topic.

Whathavei I got excited because Ive never seen any of her levels that high before. Dd tells me their interim reports are due out very soon so will have a look to see how they view her.

I only have one dc and she doesnt really say that much about school although I take that as a good thing.

But there sometimes are tests that seem to produce good or bad levels. Perhaps ask your dd how her friends did. You may find that they've all been up by a similar amount.

I know last year in year 7 dd1 the end of year science test she got her lowest level since the start. I think it was a 6c, and she'd been scoring 7s. She was upset until she realised that everyone else had scored low too.

And as Tiggy says, it could be one subject she is particularly good at. I know in finals (maths not science) I got on one paper marks good enough to get me a very high first. This was balanced out by the paper I did attrociously on.
I remember discussing it with a friend, and being amazed that they had found the other way round, we were both looking at each other going "but the was really easy..."

Tell her you're really pleased, but I think you'll look terribly precious to rush in asking where to go from there, particularly if they then turn round and say "actually it was a really easy paper they all did well on."