How do you know if your child is + material and what age do they start to mark work in primary.

[IdRatherPlayHereWithAllTheMadMen]

Just wondering as I have no clue really, we are early days yet but still would like to find out all education options...

What age do they start to mark work properly, what do the gradings mean? I see b and 4a and I have no idea what they mean, in my day it was A++ A+ A A- B++ B+ and so on...

Do you have clues early on, do you wait till a certain age or in school exam?

I guess if your child was strong in English but poor at Maths you wouldnt even consider it?

You need to google national curriculum levels .
You will start hearing about them (eg in reports) in year 1.

By end y2 they aim children to be at level 2.
By end year 6 they aim children to be at at least level 4, around 30%? will be at level 5 and some will be at level 6.

Each level has sub levels where c is the lower and a is the higher.

Progress is not linear, slow starters can catch up, early aheads can level off.

Avoid 11+ nonsense and move to area with good comprehensives such as many parts of Hampshire.

They mark work properly from when work is first produced

We get team points Back.

Thanks Teen.

Ahhh that's true backforgood

OP - work is marked from early on. The children won't be given a grade for the work directly, until maybe some pieces in y6, as the NC levels are about a range of stuff that is judged over time. Even at secondary many pieces are marked but not levelled. You however can expect to be given NC grades for maths/reading/writing/science by end y2 and yearly or more frequently after that.
DD1 is in y10, and now gets 'GCSE grades' against work, but only when they are actually GCSE questions they are practicing.

Being given a level/grade can be counterproductive, as then the child focuses on that rather than the teacher comments which say how to improve.

11+ no experience as luckily we don't have it here, but from what I can gather from mumsnet they should be working in top ~20% (general grammars, or top ~5% (super selectives).

They will not get grades with letters until they take gcses. Until then, it will be national curriculum levels.

OK....struggling to understand!

So how do I know how well she is doing. Is levelling the new word for grade then or marking

so in Year 1 for instance she writes a super story, how do we know how w`ell she has done

By the end of year one, she should be working at about level 1a. That would be average.

By the end of year two she should be at a level 2b. You can look up national curriculum levels online.

Ok so if she is level 1a, what does that tell me?

That she is achieving what she should be.

What level is she and what is it that you want to know?

OK JUST Looked it up, so if she is at 1a, that's average..

I am a little thrown.

1a means she is understanding her work?

It says all children expected to reach level 4.

how do we know how well they are doing?

And is this across the board or will this grade be given ...for each subject?

I am really that they have done away with normal grades.

I mean - she is B in English I know where she is and what to work for....

she is D in Maths, I know that is a weak subject for her?

Have all schools done away with normal grades? When the new curriculum comes in will this stay the same?

She comes as 1a, that is average its not specific..I dont know how low or high she is and what to work for?

sorry I am just in shock here...and tryng to understand

They would be expected to reach level 4 by the time they leave primary school, not year 1.

Why do you say she is B in English and D in Maths. Who told you that?

Ah, do you mean that she is in her first year of secondary school?

No I mean if they told me she was those grades, I know exactly what they would mean...I would know she is weak in maths and doing well in elgish I understand that! And get a clear picture of where she is...

You can get a clear picture of where she is by her level.

If she should be a 1a and she is a 1c, then she is working below average so you know she needs help.

If she is working at the expected level, then she is average and progressing as she should be - no need for concern.

She comes as 1a, that is average its not specific..I dont know how low or high she is and what to work for?

If they said she was a grade C (average in the old system) how would that be any different?

Faire - I think she means if she were a B or a D.

You will get her actual levels for maths, reading, writing, speaking&listening, and science (maybe). Nothing else in primary.

You should also be given expected, below expected, above expected levels for the end of each year, so you can see how she is performing against national expectations. eg if at the end of y2 she is a 2c for writing that would be slightly below, but a 3 for maths at the same stage would be above.

You need to ask the teachers what to work on if she is struggling in something as they will know what. (Just as for GCSE French I know my DD is good at spoken but needs to work on accuracy of written work).

Don't get hung up on trying to push your child up the levels. See how they are getting on, see what if anything they struggle on and assist if needed.

(ps this is a surreal conversation to be having on the Secondary board...).

I don't know Fair. I am so confused

Are you saying the marks are the same then, just with a 1 added in front...

So she writes a story the level at year 1 would only ever be a 1 and then she would get a b or c? a being the best?

(ps this is a surreal conversation to be having on the Secondary board...)

i didnt know it would spiral into this, I didnt know about this marking!

I have issues understanding basic things like this, I knew where I was with the old system now I am at sea.

Yes will ask teacher.

expected levels (approx) (at least they were before Gove started wanting everyone to get to level6)

end y1 1b
end y2 2b ---- this is end KS1
end y3 2a/3c
end y4 3b
end y5 3a/4c
endy6 4b ---- this is end KS2 & end primary

Are you saying the marks are the same then, just with a 1 added in front...

Sort of. The child has to consistently meet set targets to achieve the level. Once they can do this, they will work towards the next level. If a child is levelled at 1a, they should be working towards 2c.

They should improve two sub levels a year and never get a lower assessment. If the child does not consistently meet the set target, they cannot achieve that level, they need to keep trying until they do achieve it.

So, for example, your dd will not achieve level 2c unless she consistently uses appropriate punctuation in her writing. If she does it sometimes and not others, she will stay at 1a because she is not secure enough to achieve a 2c.

Hope that helps.

Yes it helps a Little Fair...many thanks

I just feel overwhelmed now...oh well!

With the 'old' system (I'm thinking in the days of O levels here) grades were all very well but they were relative marking. eg to get an A in O level maths you had to be in the top ?10% of those taking the exam. These days everyone who reaches a certain score gets an A (hence grade inflation but that's a whole new debate).

So when children were given A B C etc in schoolwork, was that an absolute level or just relative to their class / school norm? I don't care (much) how my DD is getting on compared to the rest of the class (they might be geniuses or really thick), so the national curriculum level lets me know where they are against a clear standard. This stops teachers saying 'DD is making really good progress' when in fact the NC level shows that yes this is the case but actually they are still 18 months behind expected levels.

As this is all news to you, I'm wondering is your child still in Reception (or lower?). The Early Years have their own scales which bear little resemblance to the later NC levels. DD2 scored an 8/9 against Physical Development in reception because she understood stuff like getting hot when she did exercise. The fact that she has very poor balance / motor skills was neither here nor there.

(This may be all by the by though, as I think the NC lsub levels are being done away with or something, And of course GCSEs are being changed from A-G to be 9-1 or something.)

Are you saying the marks are the same then, just with a 1 added in front...

I'd say not really. TeenandTween has explained it a couple of posts up.

Basically from year 1 upwards they should be moving up through levels 1,2,3,4,5 etc. Each level is divided into 3 sublevels (a b & c) a being the highest and c the lowest. There are "expected levels" for each year group eg at the end of Year 2 most children are expected to achieve a 2b. (have another look at TeenandTween's post above.)

It's worth bearing in mind that children often don't make conveniently linear progress though! They plateau sometimes and then suddenly things come together and they shoot ahead.

Hope that helps? I'm not sure what year your dc is in - if you tell us I can tell you what kind of level they should be at?