Can someone explain the logic behind target grades pls?

[basildonbond]

Ds (y10) has been given target grades in some of his subjects for GCSE. He's bright and works reasonably hard so would expect his targets to be fairly high but for several subjects he's been given a minimum target of A*. How is that supposed to motivate him as there's no possible way he can exceed it - and means that if he gets an A he'll feel like he's failed... Is this common at secondary?

It just illustrates that OFSTED know what judgement they are going to reach before they go into a school. They clearly are asking a " failing" school to do things that will make it fail even more and harm it's pupils. OFSTED praised us for adjusting targets .

my school has been through two Ofsteds and got good and outstanding despite the kids having no idea what their FFTs are. The teachers know what they are but we set our own targets for the kids.

If I had to share FFTs with my class then I'd have to tell at least one kids that I've given a target of A* to that his FFT target is a C. That's hardly going to raise aspirations.

I'd be tempted to query it with Mike Cladingbowl as to whether it's official Ofsted policy, they seem to be keen to dispel Ofsted myths at the moment.

@TP, I see two separate tales of a teen intimidated and stressed by something at school. I'm not convinced that the political background for one scenario make it significantly different to the other.

pique
Have any of your kids done GCSEs?

still not much clearer ...

I think part of the problem is the 'minimum' attached to the grade - ds feels a bit weird about that as he's not really sure what it means - what's he supposed to be aiming for if the minimum acceptable is an A*

He was perfectly happy about his Physics target which is an A - his teacher has told him he is perfectly capable of getting an A as long as he works hard. He wants to get an A so presumably will do the work - it just seems to be much more motivating

Just tell him it's bollocks and to do his best.

Because it is really. We lick our fingers, stick them in the air and try to guess which way the wind is blowing.

With my students who had A targets and indeed with all students I would negotiate with them a stepped a stepped target which meant that they would not be expected to get an A in term one. So perhaps in term one we would be aiming for a high B, stepping to a secure A by Easter and then a low A* by the summer term. In the autumn of year 11 we would look at last year's performance and again negotiate targets for each term.

I wish they could to me too... My entire year 9 and 10 have been predicted A or A*... all based on KS2 maths, English stats, postcode and contents of parental shopping...ARGH. My pay is also dependent on them getting those FFT results.

Your pay is not solely dependent on the targets though , surely it is part of a wider picture,

DC's schools do not have target grades and will not tell the kids what their predicted grades are. They are encouraged to aim to get all the questions right.

I really don't see the point even in saying to a top student "your target grade is an A*" - what's that saying to them, "no point putting any more effort in once you're getting 80% on papers, getting 1 question wrong in 5 is as good as you can possibly expect of yourself"?

Obviously that's not going to apply to a kid who is going to struggle to get a C, but I still think they'd be better off being told to do their best, not "aim for a C".

In my experience most students do not stop working when they hit their target and in fact most are very motivated by beating their target. Teachers are very clear that targets are a guideline and should not be a ceiling. It is a very usefu guideline, if the targets are based on the child and are reasonable.