GO4SCHOOLS Grades Year 10. Help anyone please? :)

[kittykatmeme1]

Hi all, I am wondering if anyone could help me understand the grades on go4schools. I moved back from having lived in France for 10 years with my husband and two sons. My eldest son was raised in France and was 11 when we moved back to the UK to Suffolk. He has always been an A grade student when sitting tests but is getting really upset that when we go on go4schools it says he has 5 C's some of them C- and 1 A+, the rest are B's. He does not understand when he says there are many in his class who never get A's when sitting tests and formative assessments but yet they have A's and B's in their go4schools. The teachers did say that he did not have a history with them so they cannot put the target grade high yet but surely his actual grades should be higher and his OCF grades? I am completely confused and have told my son oh well just prove to them that you can get the grades by working hard and completing your GCSE's but he is gettting worried that he really is going to get C's in GCSE. I would not mind at all whatever he gets as long as he pursues a career of some sort and is happy! but for him it is extremely important as his dream is to become a lawyer and go to a good university. I have to say he has always got the A grades when sitting tests so can anyone let me know if the Go4school grades are realistic?! Thank you so much

No idea.

Is Go4Schools (never heard of it) something similar to the Sutton Trust stuff that 'predicts' GCSE grades based on y6 sats, your postcode, your employment status, and not much else?

If so, then take them with a pinch of salt. they may work on a macro level across a wide number of pupils, but they aren't great on an individual level.

What are the teachers currently predicting? Though my DD1's y10 initial predictions are considerably off from what I think she will get (now y11). (Out of 10 subjects I think 7 of them were predicted at least 1 grade too high).

Thanks for your reply. I believe it must be the same sort of thing. I am guessing that because the start of his education was in France, they do not have any history on him to go by to predict his grades. Hoping that is the reason for him because he is worrying about it even though I have told him that it does not matter and if he is trying that is all that matters! The teachers have said that based on how he is in tests and class, he should get all A's and B's. I have been told that go4schools should be ignored grade wise so we will see.
Thanks again :)

Are you looking at his target grades or latest assessed grades? Go4schools is just an online reporting system that teachers use to hold assessed grades, behaviour, attendance that also shows the target grades. This system has the benefit of parents/guardians having access 24/7 so they can see this information themselves rather than waiting for reports.

The target grades are not generated by go4, just entered. If he started UK education at 11 his target grades should be available, I would contact tbe school if you want to know them; but op you are correct in what you are telling your DS they are just targets and any student can meet, not meet or exceed targets therefore just work to the best of your ability

Go4SCHOOLS is just an online way of schools sharing results with parents.

In my DCS report sheets there are: Target Grades, Stretch grades, Grades for each 1/2 term and expected grade for the end of this year.

The target grades etc. are set using the existing data the school has from things like: SAT (primary year 6), MIDYRS or other testing, and something called Fisher's family (?). This data predicts a grade, and maybe a "stretch" which the highest 10/20% of students with similar results would get.
If your son has no existing data of the correct form - then his targets will be a "guess" really. His French data isn't of use to the computer programme, as there isn't a large statistical sample with that kind of data.

I have a DD who despite having gone through the UK system is actually now expected by teachers to perform better than even her "stretch" grades. I put this down to her primary failing her (I didn't realise how much it had slipped from when her big brother had gone through the school).

Thanks for all your replies :) I think you are all right but I actually think it causes stress to the children and therefore to the parents. We keep getting told to ignore the grades on go4schools and that he's doing really well but why have incorrect information on there?! It's so impersonal too and does not show anything about your child's personal progress or ethic at school. It could be anyone's! What ever happened to good old fashioned school reports?! Such a shame. When it says your child is coasting in a subject and that means not giving their full potential, you want to know why and how they have noted them as that but all it says is one word.. Coasting. I then ask my son who gets upset and stressed out saying but I always work hard in their class so I don't understand. On parents evening the teachers then contradict what they put by saying he works hard?! I think there are now so many pupils and they are becoming lost in a muddled system. It's sad. It would be so nice to see a school report detailing progress and showing correct grades! So frustrating!
Thanks again! . Xx ranrant over lol