DS2 way of target

[mary21]

Just had year9 DS,s progress report. Most of his end of key stage targets are 7a. Current achievement 5a. At parents evening a few weeks back we were given no cause for concern. Lots of works well, behaves well etc. But all in 5 mins.
Report has lots of requires improvements.
I have seen quite a few 6 and 7 for his homework but do think he could work harder and needs more pushing from school
1/2 of me the cynic thinks school are lowering current grades so they can show improvement for obeyed. The other half knows he should be doing better. I know his current grades are average but his cats showed he was v bright and recent dyslexia test. (Shown not dyslexic) also showed well above average.
I will contact school and email all his teachers.any ideas. I know his dad will say no to tutor

Should read Ofsted not obeyed!
This is an ofsted outstanding school

Are you sure there isn't a catastrophic mistake in the report?

To be targeted 7a for end KS3, he would have been around 5a at the start of year 7. So if current levels are 5a they are basically saying he has made no progress for 2 and a half years.

How have his levels progressed since starting at the school?

If I had been given no indication he was so far below target by this point in year 9 I would be very unhappy if it has been a consistent issue throughtout the year. The fact this is not what was said in the parents evening suggests a very recent and serious downturn in effort, achievement and behaviour or they got it badly wrong in either the report or the parents evening. If it is the former they should not have waited for the report to tell you. If it was the latter then something is screwed up and you need answers.

I think you need to ask the school why they have not given you a heads-up before now if he is so badly underachieving. Is this is first report in year 9, and what were his levels at the end of year 8? I would definitely want to know why nothing was said at the earlier parents evening if the report is a true reflection of his levels. Are levels on the report based on achievment over the school year or mid year exams (eg if the latter I would assume he has done badly in his exams). I think before you decide how to proceed you need to know from the school why he is so far off target and, if he is, why they did not consider it necessary to alert you before the school year was half over.

You need to check this ASAP.

Any child two levels below target this close to the end of Year 9 SHOULD have been pulled up at parents evening. This could be a data input mistake - which should be easily corrected e.g. a new addition to the class pushes your DS down on the computer list but teacher is going from markbook so all the data is one place out.

meh, I don't believe in any of it. I might check if I understood correctly, but I couldn't make it into an urgent matter.

I am about to email all the teachers where he is not on course to reach his targets.and the data tracking person
Some like maths he was 5a at the end year 6. Went straight to 6b by Xmas year 7. Target end key stage 7a. Mid year 8 was 7b , now 6a. I know he has had 7a's for homework.
English 4b end year 6. Remained on a level 4till mid year 8 5c end year 8 eventually persuade them to take this seriously. Had intervention term 1 year 9 and went up to5b still there now target 6a.
French and German both 5a target 7a. History and geog exactly the same.
They said targets were based on year 6 says, cat scores and Joseph rowntree data.
We were pleased in year 7 he had ambitious targets. Were told they would be adjusted up and down over the key stage but they haven't been
Science. End year 6 level 4. Went straight to level 6c at secondary target 8c. Did gcse paper for assessment got a b on higher paper and c on foundation. His primary did no science in year 6 till after the seats tests as it was teacher assessed!

Wow, you've got a lot of data.
How conscientious is he about school work?
How much was he drilled or pressured or spoon fed for yr6 SATs?

The Rowntree data is based on your postcode; do you live in an affluent area?

CAT & SAT results can be very off. There was a math assessment in DD's first term of yr7 & the highest score by a big margin came from a lad in the 2nd maths set (so not in the top 15% of CAT/SAT indicators at all). At least they moved him after that to top set.

I feel you need to take CATS tests results with a pinch of salt. One test on a cold Monday October morning in year 7 is not an indication of intelligence. People balls up tests for all kinds of reasons. There are other forms of intelligence that CATS tests can't measure. There may well be children who score lower than your son in CATS, who are naturally brighter than your son.

Even the makers of CATs tests don't claim that there tests are 100% reliable way of predicting potential. Most good schools use a combination of primary school report, key stage 2 SATs and their own judgement in setting targets.

I am sure that your son is bright, but those targets are completely unrealistic from where he is at the moment. Even if he had intervention and worked his socks off he won't make his targets. Targets have to be realistic otherwise they become a joke.

Hi yes affluent area!!
seems wrong for a school to give unachievable targets. would much rather more frequent achievable ones to breed success. not micky mouse ones though. real achievable targets

Thank you all for your replies. Just waiting for the school now

Many children simply don't conform to the targets set by schools. Some children need longer to practise the skills they have learnt. Achieving a level 5 on one test does not really mean that they will continue to display that level in the majority of their unaided work. However in a way, you have already said yourself that you don't think he is working hard enough. I personally would focus less on the numbers and letters and more on whether he is actually doing the work.