banding/setting ability at secondary, how do they decide

[mumma24]

Son starts secondary in Sept, he is currently just above ave in maths but below ave in literacy, I know there are 3 bandings, but which is he likely to go in, anyone know how they decide. Do primary school decide/suggest, or do they just go by sats

Most high schools do their own tests as soon as new yr7 arrive. A friends son got a 6b in his SATs but 5b in yr7. They didnt band them until theyd been there a while but other schools may work differently.

Likewise. Ours are taught in mixed ability tutor groups for the first half term, then setted on the basis of tests and classroom performance during that half term. Sets pretty fluid though and change change each term.

My DCs school ignore SATS and set their own tests on the first day. This is a provisional setting with a major adjustment after half term.

Like other schools, after this they move up and down as required

My DD's school tests them on their induction day in June and bases the sets on these. SATs are ignored. Movement between sets happens each term. My DD has gone from being a 5a in year 6 in English to a 5c/b now mid year. This seems more reslistic based on her spelling etc. Conversely she has gone from being a 4a/5c in maths to a 6b very proud

Dcs school set from day 1. They use CATs (taken on transfer day in july) and SATs results, they seem to get it right.

" set their own tests on the first day."

Hmm. Children will do worse than usual on the first day after a long holiday (as opposed to after a few days getting into the swing of things), so this strongly suggests the school wants to depress the entry results.

Important to note that 'banding' and 'setting by ability' are very different things.

'Setting' is usually used to describe the situation where students are placed in groups based on their abilities in those individual subjects. For example you might be in top set for maths; middle set for English and bottom set for PE.

'Banding' is usually used to describe a system where students are placed in a group based on their overall ability and have all their lessons, in all subjects, in that group. It can be problematic for students who are stronger in one area and weaker in another - which band do you put them in?

We 'set by ability' in Maths, English and Science from the start of Year 7 based on the KS2 SATS and teacher assessments but arrange it flexibly so students can move at any stage of the year as needs demand.

We 'set by ability' in PE using physical assessments that take place during the first term of Year 7. Similarly in French and German.

We teach mixed ability in other subjects (by choice of those subjects)

Are the three bandings the categories they were put in for admissions purposes, in a 'fair banding test'? If so, that is just to ensure that the school gets an equal number of children across 3 broad ability levels.

Most schools using setting - putting children in the set which suits their ability in each core subject. If your school uses setting your DS is likely to be in different sets for maths and in literacy.

Some school use streaming - keeping students in a stream which broadly suits theier ability for every subject - though mant streaming schools also enable setting across streams. So if your DS ended up in a top stream, he might be put in a different class for literacy. There is quite a lot of fluidity.

They probably use SATS, Yr6 teacher's assessment, banding test score, and some form of testing within the first term or half term. You will probably be invited to an induction evening - you can ask them then.

testing a couple of weeks after they start
then into sets by subject area
shuffled every half term based on results till the end of year 8

DDs school streams. Express stream groups (two per year) based on Maths and English Sats results in Y6. Criteria for Express Stream is level 5 or above for both English and Maths. All but two subjects taught in your stream group, Technology and PE are a different mix. Other teaching groups are referred to as Mixed Ability.

)))))))) Streaming (((((((((
Discriminates against late developers, those with poor support at home and those who are not "all rounders"

why should the rest of the kids get a less targeted education within the same school?

Our school uses a combination of SATS, the CAT test they do in September, and tests in the individual subjects that they set for, currently only maths, English and French.

DD1 was set for Eng & Maths in yr7 half term, then science at the start of yr8. The school was split into 2 random sides, and there were sets 1 to 4 within each side. . PE was set at some stage too, everything else mixed ability. Same school since changed to ' banding' which affects current yr9 onwards.

DD2 going to same school in September. I quizzed them quite a bit on the open day as to what what happen with a child that was likely to be L6 in literacy and L4/5 in maths. They explained that the top and second bands were both 3 out of 7 forms, and there would be 3 sets (for subjects that were set) within each band. In her scenario, banding would be according to her English, but nto clear if that's because 1) Its always English 2) It was just the highest level 3) Any level 6 must be top band.
In extreme circumstances, a DC could be moved into a separate band for a single subject.
It doesn't sound like there will be much movement between the bands as a whole.

DS school have a crossover set. They have 3 bands and 3 sets in each band with a crossover set between band one and two.

TalkinPeace, agree completely re streaming. Hasn't done our dyslexic daughter any favours. The Express Stream was not mentioned at the walk arounds and Y6 Open events...everything was 'mixed ability' (which is how they refer to the other teaching groups, but I'd disagree with that description). We're currently trying to decide whether to move DD elsewhere.

DS's school sets only for Maths and PE in Y7 - maths based on SATs initially, then own tests; PE based on performance tests. Everything else is mixed ability till Y10.

Sounds like schools do their own thing. Like Leftover, my kids school setted (is that a word?) for maths based on SATs, because the maths SATs are pretty accurate. Setting was then done gradually as the years went on - if I recall right, at the end of year 7 for English and Science and then for GCSE for everything else. Lots of movement between sets.

My children's school seems to swap them if needed in due course and has given them the choice in some cases. One stayed in a low set as it was small and had a lovely teacher and he was doing better than 2 sets above. I am not sure if he is still in it. I do know they are both in the top set for English which means more homework (I don't have keen children). (Private school in our case). I think they are set for maths, English and French.

I think you can do well in most sets certainly in the schools my children are at. My daughter was in bottom of 5 sets for maths GCSE at Haberdashers and still got an A.

..I mean in the bottom set.. I doubt she was at the very bottom of the bottom set although she might have been.