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?

The workbook not being marked is potentially fine. Teachers shouldn't be wasting time ticking and crossing every piece of classwork. However, your DD should know if the work she is doing is correct or not. Are the answers read out in lessons (in which case your DD should be ticking or crossing herself), or does she receive verbal feedback from the teacher going around the class (yes that's right, now try the next page).

If not, then she needs to ask the teacher for the answers/to check her work.

DS1 (also Year 9), is covering similar topics in chemistry, however he is expected to write his own explanations and conclusions in paragraph form and not fill in the blanks (sorry). His work isn't marked every week though.

A bit like this clavinova?

It appears to be the same experiment but needing more thoughr/depth?

It wasn't done.

Not the same workbook (an in-house one) and I can't read many of the words on your photo - but generally, 'explain what has happened', 'write a conclusion for this experiment', 'use scientific knowledge to explain...' or 'suggest a different way in which the original experiment could be improved...'

It concerns me greatly that she's not consistently doing that kind of work. Especially as she was described as a high flyer/clear A level candidate in Year 7 (different teacher)
At the end of Year 7 she was given 6a got 94% in the exam & was said to be "producing work of the highest standard with a sound understanding of the concepts covered"

Is the workbook all she is doing?

She's got a textbook which they use for the basis for class discussion but the workbook is the only written work they do.

Dd just told me she thought her year 7 teacher was really good but he left.

That's not enough. I recognise the scheme. It's OK, but needs to be fleshed out. Is the science teacher a science teacher?

I've been on the phone to a friend who is a science teacher at a state comp whose dd goes to the same selective school dd also got into.

The general consensus is that I can't expect dd to be working at the pace the selective school does due to timetable times etc but I am right to be concerned at the type of work a child of her ability is being given.

On the advice of my friend just so I could get an idea of where she is at I gave dd an old KS3 sats paper higher level.

It turns out she recognised sone if the questions, the lower level paper 1 was her end of year 8 exam last year

In the higher level paper 1 she scored 60/75 - however the last two topics she hasn't covered yet at all in class (she's about to start one of them)

So still confused as to how a child who was getting Level 6a in year 7 is now supposedly a 6c in year 9but scoring equivalent to a level 7 on exam papers & "below target"

Levels aren't designed to measure progress over 6 weeks so they could well be all over the place.

However, it is unusual for teachers to mark a student down from a previous level, not because it doesn't happen, but because it worries parents.

Given the work that she is being given doesn't seem to include any proper writing, I think you could contact the teacher/HOD to query the level and the lack of written work as part of a general concern about her science.

The general consensus is that I can't expect dd to be working at the pace the selective school does due to timetable times

And more fundamentally due to the fact that it isn't an academically selective school.

What did you expect, OP? That a fee-paying school which selects on ballet ability from amongst the tiny minority of parents willing to pay for a dance education would be academically anything more than adequate?

not that it's relevant but many children are funded by the gover meant.

not that it's relevant but many children are funded by the gover meant.

But they have to have got to a high standard by 11, which means parents willing to pay for a dance education. And most parents wouldn't send their child to such a school irrespective of who's paying.

I'm assuming we're talking about a school on a dual carriage way next to two other schools and near a large sporting facility, yes?

Actually Ricardian no- they select on potential. One girl began year 7 having done no ballet before except a primary school outreach programme.

And I don't recognise the school you describe.

One girl began year 7 having done no ballet before except a primary school outreach programme.

And on the basis of that gave up on getting a decent academic education? Very few parents would agree to that. OK, take money out of it: almost no parents would consider "specialist" schools because the chances of a career in the specialism are very small and the academic outcomes are usually bad. Football, ballet, music: in each case, you are slightly increasing your chances of a career in the field in question (from very low to slightly less low) while massively reducing your chances of a career in anything else.

One thing they certainly aren't doing is selecting on academic potential. So the academic provision is always going to be second-rate: it isn't the school's focus, many of the students aren't interested and it's inherently mixed ability, skewing downwards (because parents of academic children who are willing to send them to specialist schools are in very short supply). And timetabling means that the children won't be doing anything like as much academic work as they otherwise would.

You've made your choices for your daughter. You surely must have known the score?

Well in maths, english & MFL dd is flying- doing far better than we were led to believe she wouod by her private junior school. And in year 7 she was a high flyer in science too.

This thread is not about the pros & cons of a vicational school, but about concerns in one subject.

I remember you DD spend 3 hrs a day on dance plus journey everyday? I won't belive that a child wouldn't suffer academically if she is putting so much efforts on dance.

I think the trouble is, you have chosen a school which is more relax so your DD could pursue her interest in dance, but then you still hope she can get good academical results , so later she can switch her career into an accademical one. That's a hard road.

Lots of children who has some talents in arts, music , sports etc, they all face this problem. I have friends' child who is good in one sports, he finally stopped going to his club, although he ranked very high countrywide, but they did reconganise that he won't really reach the top level, compete internationally. His career path would be sports coach in the end. But he is accademical able, he can easily have a high professional job. So he now put all his efforts preparing his GCSE, only take the sports as hobby now.

So I think OP should think realistically, is your DD really loving dance so much and has enough talent to go into this specialist road? Or is she just a normal girl who loves dancing. To be honest, lots of girls love dancing. But it is the detemination and talent that will decider her career path.

And in year 7 she was a high flyer in science too.

And is now at a school which doesn't offer triple science.

in year 7 at the same school they said she was a clear a level candidate.

in year 7 at the same school they said she was a clear a level candidate.

I've just looked at the A Level performance of every school in the country with "Dance" or "Ballet" in its name. The very best appears to have an average of 2 A Levels at DE. Not a single pupil at any of them got three A Levels, never mind the grades. What would these schools know about A Levels?

Well, it all sounds a bit woeful to me, but now I realise she's at a specialist dance school, I see why you're keeping her there. In which case, I'd get her tutoring in the academic subjects you feel she should be doing better in.

That's becsuse Ricardian the students in those schools the 6th form take a Level 6 (degree equivalent) diploma in year 3 withnthe option of taking up to 2 A Levels in Year 2 if they wish.

And one of the schools does offer 3 A Levels if students wish it.

But some of these schools do not have dance or ballet etc in their names anyway.

I've just looked & at a similar school to Dds there were students who in 2015 achieved A A A in A levels & a high percent of A - C grades. With 30% A-A*

Plenty of A-C grades at dds school too for A level (though admittedly no A*)