I'm sorry - another year 8 levels thread

[balletgirlmum]

Dd seems to have done well according to her report. She has got pretty much got Levels 6A/6b across the board. I should be (and am ) very pleased with her efforts.

However I am concerned she is not being pushed enough. Her end of year exam results are fab. 96% in English joint top in class (100% on the Reading paper) 94% in science overall (top in class)92% for maths. Similar results for history , geography & IT.

The maths report does say she is being given extension work but in the other subjects if she's getting such high marks in her tests why on earth isn't she getting Level 7s? Are they just not teaching & testing to that level?

She's finished for the year now lurked. The report arrived yesterday.

I think parents evening is March & is focused on choosing gcse options.

To answer a few questions

The school is inspected by ISI not OFSTED

She will have to change schools for a level as she wants to do 3 a levels & they only offer 2 a levels alongside a diploma.

Ok, that makes sense.

Would you move her before GCSE courses start or at sixth form?

I'd move her for 6th form.

She goes to that school for a very specific reason/subject & adores it. I said she's allowed to stay there as long as she keeps up with her academics & she's keeping her end of the bargain but she does seem to fly through homework in the minimum of time.

Then the risk is, I guess, that this school isn't focused so much on academics and will lack challenge.

As a previous poster has mentioned, new and in tried GCSE exams are coming in. I would be concerned with making sure this school are fully clued in to these changes and know how to support your dd through them as well as possible.

She will need (probably!!) grade 9 or 8s in her subjects (especially science and maths) to apply for medical related degrees, as well as the A level subjects.

Untried!

She's interested in physiotherapy or speech therapy.

physiotherapy entrance requirements

and speech therapy

Dd thinks it is unfair that there is a scheme for footballers to retrain as physios after their playing careers but not for dancers.

It does sound as if she isn't being challenged, if I'm honest. My DD2 is just coming to the end of Yr 7 and is particularly strong in the sciences - she is scoring 7b/7a (last year of using levels, it all changes next year), 6b in English, 6c in maths, which is her weakest subject. Her school only sets for English and Maths, but her school seems well able to differentiate in the sciences. I'd say the school could be doing more.

This may depend on the sets, and or overall levels of the other students in the class. For example, whereas the top set year eight class may be tested on 5-7, or 6-8 papers, the second set may only use 5-7, or 4-6. As well as this, when using higher papers, it is easier to establish the lower grades, for that paper. For example, it is easier to gain a level six when doing a 5-7 paper, if you understand what I am implying.

I suspect from your username that your daughter is at a specialist ballet school, which will have small numbers of pupils in each year group - and a focus on a very specific non-academic skill.

You want her to be doing well enough to re-enter 'mainstream' school at 6th form to get good A-levels, and are worried that she may be behind those of her peers who have similar 'raw academic ability' but are not at a dance school?

Tbh, and rather blunt, if this is the case, that is the choice that you have made. The school is focusing on dance, and is maintaining a mainstream curriculum at a reasonable level because so few pupils will, ultimately, find work as dancers. However it seems unreasonable to complain that they are not stretching your DD as much as a mainstream non-specialist school would - less focus on academics vs more focus on dance is, surely, what the point of the school is.

There will be other issues with the academics to do with lack of setting (small number of pupils), so a much more mixed ability than a typical comprehensive class might have, lack of time (more time given to dance), so a smaller range of subjects, and perhaps fewer teachers (teaching an academic subject in a school where that is most definitely not the focus might not be everyone's career choice as a teacher).

Ultimately, you have to decide whether you value the specialism enough to compensate for the relative lack of academic 'oomph' - but surely that is something you thought about carefully at the point of entry? It is certainly one reason why DD - another balletgirl - is at a non-vocational dance school every evening and an excellent comprehensive during the day.

If it is of any value, DD's end of Year 7 grades include a selection of level 7s. But then, she is only doing Grade 6s in dance, whereas presumably your DD is dancing at a much higher level.

Overall, what are the school's GCSE results like, historically? Do pupils do well in triple science? Do they only do double science?

Bearing in mind that all info so far indicates that the new GCSEs will be tougher, if the school has no history of high levels in triple science, or at the very least in double, you will have to think what to do for year 10 if the academic science path is to stay open to her.

They don't offer triple science, only double.

Yes, we did think of all those things. Did was unhappy at her academic dance school & locally there were only limited dance classes available once/twice a week at most.

She wants to do an MT diploma at age 18 but have the academic qualifications where she cdm retrain afterwards.

Can the school give you examples - and contact details - of old pupils who have followed that path, to reassure you that (at least in the old world of GCSEs) the school's academic offering at least didn't hold them back?

I can understand your worry about lack of stretch, but as long as the provision is adequate enough not to close future doors, then you may need to accept that as the compromise for the dance training she is receiving.

if the school CAN'T cite any examples of pupils who have been enabled to go on to successful science-based careers on the basis of the school's academic provision, then I do think that you may need to have a serious conversation with them and with your DD.

I'm resurrecting this thread as I've just had her year 9 interim report.

She on target or exceeding target for most subjects & has been given 7c for english & 6a for maths. She is way ahead of the maths class so is getting extea work.

However her science grade has dropped from 6b to 6c & her report says she is below target. This from a girl who got 94% in her end of year 8 exam.

Her science teacher said when I saw her at an open day that it's obvious she reads around the subject & does her own research.

I forgot to say the year group has been split into two sets this year.

I'm concerned & dd is devastated that her report reads below target. I've tried to reassure her that we know she has been working hard but when she consistently gets high marks she doesn't know what else she can do.

However her science grade has dropped from 6b to 6c

The terms 6b and 6c are meaningless, of course she has learned new stuff in the last term. Sublevels don't officially exist so there's nothing that will tell you why she has gone down - it could be 1 mark in a test, or the subjective view of a teacher marking a single piece of homework. Reporting levels this early in the year is pointless anyway, if 2 sublevels per year is expected then how much progress should you expect in 6 weeks? None.

Really, it's bollocks. If she's working hard and doing well in tests, then forget the 6b 6c stuff.

Noblegiraffe is right. If they use tests for levelling, then a single mark could be the difference between a 6b and a 6c. Do they do end of topic tests for levels? They will often give a spiky sequence of test results. I hate having to report levels/grades to parents as frequently as we do. I would much rather report less frequently with more robust data.

If you are concerned, you should contact the teacher and ask if this is a genuine dip in performance, or part of normal non linear progression. Your problem is that you don't trust the teacher I think...

devastated that her report is below target?

yr9 DD is ultra-ambitious & merely frowned at something she's below target in.

We've had long chats about not taking the targets too seriously, and (for my DD) how she needs to pace herself or she will never last the long haul thru university etc. That can mean lower marks than she'd like at times, so that she can meet other commitments & priorities. Also, there will be times they fall short of targets or personal ambitious. So what? Nobody gets everything great every time.

He problem is that next to he science marks are the words "not meeting target". Dd is naturally upset at this.

Ds has just started year 7 in another achool & already I can see how much more is expected of him despite him not being as academically able as dd b

Her workbook does not appear to have been marked. Dd says they are not marked very often.
Example of her work is

This is an example of a year 8 end of unit tst. It's the only page where she dropped marks (one mark dropped due to carelessness with the maths)

She got 23/25.