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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

Y7 new starter sets based on sats results, help!

65 replies

steggers123 · 10/09/2016 08:36

Hello, my DS started high school last week and received his new time table yesterday, he has been set purely on his Sats results. He scored 107 in maths 108 in SPAG and 98 in reading he went into meltdown during the reading paper and his primary school teacher explains to his new high school that this score was not a reflection of his ability and looking at the other scores this is quite clear, so he has put into set 1 for maths and set 3 out of 3 for English, the humanities and science. I'm going into school on Monday and any advice you could give me would be much appreciated. Thank you

OP posts:

Ditsyprint40 · 10/09/2016 08:41

Don't just go in (we wouldn't see you and would ask you to make an appt), ring on Monday and explain this again. They'll likely make adjustments to sets once children have settled in anyway.

Helbelle75 · 10/09/2016 08:46

We look at setting all the time and move students where needed. Schools have to set somehow, so they use sats data but this isn't forever once we get to know the students.

Original poster

steggers123 · 10/09/2016 08:54

What is worrying me is my eldest joined the school at the end of year 9, despite the information they were given by his old school they put him in the lowest set for maths meaning he could only sit the foundation paper, we were told he could me moved up and despite numerous conversations and once in y10 with his maths teacher on side saying he shouldn't be in that set they still would not move him as they didn't have any room in the higher sets. So based on this I am worried that little man we be left to languish in set 3.

OP posts:

Longlost10 · 10/09/2016 08:56

what did your elder child get in maths?

Original poster

steggers123 · 10/09/2016 09:04

In his sats level 5s, got a scholarship to private school where he stayed for 3 years due to a downturn in my husbands business we had to move the children which was heartbreaking but needs must and all that! So he went from an environment where he was excelling to foundation level maths and he did get the 'c' in his GCSE

OP posts:

bearleftmonkeyright · 10/09/2016 09:08

Hi, I'm going to follow this thread was interest as I have had similar concerns to the op for my year 8 boy when he started in year 7. The biggest change for your younger boy is that the GCSEs are completely different. I also have a DD in year 10. As I understand, they are given flight paths at my dc school anyway, and that number indicates their current expected standard at GCSE. This was explained to parents at a special meeting the school set up for year 7 parents. Contact the school to see if this is happening at yours. As I understand all the students will be sitting the same paper but take that statement with a caveat as I would appreciate a secondary maths teacher confirming. So the problem that you had with your oldest hopefully won't arise. That must have been immensely frustrating. My DD is on flight path 4 for GCSE and is well above that on her end of year assessments so I am hoping she will get a 5 or 6 in her GCSEs. Hopefully a secondary maths teacher will explain more but I fully understand your concerns and when my DD was in year 7 I was worried about her doing the foundation paper as she was in a lower to middle ability set.

Ditsyprint40 · 10/09/2016 09:11

Op - take confidence in the fact the school should (if it cares about results which is pretty non negotiable) do whatever they can to get your son the best grades at GCSE. They won't be doing anything to disadvantage him. I know in our school the data analysis and targeted support is so precise that everything is done to ensure best performance in y11. They shouldnt/wouldn't just stick him in a low set and forget about him. Is it a good school?

foreverclockwatching · 10/09/2016 09:13

Ask them if they do their own reading testing e.g. NGRT, we do at our school plus our own testing of writing, spelling etc. to make sure that we get it right. YY to not just turning up though - that will put backs up - I would ring up and ask about the procedure that they follow and hopefully you will find that they have already got plans in place!

Original poster

steggers123 · 10/09/2016 09:13

Thankfully maths is not a problem this time as he has been put into set 1 but every other subject is set 3. The most frustrating thing us his primary school sat down with the secondary and told them the reading paper was a blip on the day and the Spag score of 108 was more of a reflection of his ability.

OP posts:

Ditsyprint40 · 10/09/2016 09:15

Ditto forever, we do our own testing at the start too

LordTrash · 10/09/2016 09:17

What forever said - dd2's y7 cohort seem to have been set according to SATs, but they have already started on a battery of school-based tests (CATs, I think, plus spelling/reading/maths) to make sure mistakes haven't been made. Crazy to set on SATs alone, given that many children underperform on the day for various reasons. Good luck.

Original poster

steggers123 · 10/09/2016 09:19

It used to be, they got a horrendous OFSTED report last year so they are now having to making improvements. Before taking his sats little man sat old level 5 practise papers and passed all with flying colours. I spoke to his primary head yesterday and she was mortified, couldn't believe they would put a child of his ability in set 3.

OP posts:

Mrsmorton · 10/09/2016 09:36

He's not the only child there though, have some thought for how complex it is to set children evenly. As others have said it will sort itself out once he's demonstrated how good he is.

There are several years available to resolve this problem, phone the school and speak to them. They may well hear this story dozens of times a year and it may not always be absolutely true that "little man" is quite as good as his parents believe.

Original poster

steggers123 · 10/09/2016 09:46

Ooh cutting! I know my child better than anyone. .fact! So in your opinion a child that has sat old level 5 sats practise papers and passed, scored 107 and 108 in his other y6 sats papers and has the backing of his primary school should be in set 3 because I'm deluded and think he should be on an accelerated learning pathway being prepared to do his GCSES early, no I believe he should be in set 2 where he can aspire to move up but if he doesn't he can still sit the higher paper gcses rather than languish in set 3 and not be given the opportunity to achieve his full potential.

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Balletgirlmum · 10/09/2016 09:53

I think it sounds like a poor school.

For a child to go from scholarship to foundation level tells me they don't have in place systems to track & evaluate progress & are more interested in getting their statistics up in terms of gaining the magic C grade than getting children to achieve their potential.

They shouldn't be setting solely using sats (what about children like my dd who didn't sit sats).

I'd seriously consider a chsnge of schools if things don't improve

AndNowItsSeven · 10/09/2016 10:03

Who is little man? Does your ds have a short TA?

Original poster

steggers123 · 10/09/2016 10:08

Such wit, may I congratulate you on your superior use of humour.

OP posts:

Mrsmorton · 10/09/2016 10:18

Is he doing his GCSEs this year? Or is it his first week of school? So there's time to fix it...

TeenAndTween · 10/09/2016 10:25

I would drop an email to his tutor.
"I am concerned about DS's setting based on his Reading SAT as we and his old primary consider his score to have been a blip. Please can you let me know when the first scheduled set readjustments will be, as if he has been mis-setted I wouldn't want him to stay in the lower set for too long.'

However, they have to start somewhere and SATs is not an unreasonable first cut.

DD's school adjusted initial sets at the first half term if memory serves me right. Certainly she moved sets for all setted things at least once in the first year. (And even moved maths sets between y10 and y11).

I agree with balletgirl that inflexibility on setting would not be a sign of a good school.

Original poster

steggers123 · 10/09/2016 10:29

First week of school, and it's the experience I had with my elder son when he was put into foundation level maths that is making me nervous...on a brighter note he is now in sixth form, he did very well with his AS levels and it's looking good for A levels and uni next year.

OP posts:

Anasnake · 10/09/2016 14:39

The school has to set children together who did not achieve the 100 score as they have to resit. This is government policy. It doesn't matter how close he was to it or whether it was a blip, he didn't achieve it so the school does not have an option on this. This new year 7 cohort are the first year to face this so don't compare him to older siblings.
Don't go marching into school, the teachers have no option but to do this and believe me we are not happy about it at all. By the end of year 7 the pupils are expected to have reached the 100 grade and by the sounds of things this won't be an issue for your son.
Everything has changed this year with the new KS2 and this has had a knock on effect with ks3.

AndNowItsSeven · 10/09/2016 14:46

Not this year they don't, the resits will only happen with this years year sixes.

phillipp · 10/09/2016 14:59

Dds secondary had a move round at the next half term. Where she was moved maths sets.

They did some tests at the beginning of the year and were monitored. Then moved around.

Honestly it's probably going to be only few weeks.

Longlost10 · 10/09/2016 15:00

foundation level maths and he did get the 'c' in his GCSE

so he was correctly set then? C in foundation is easier than C in higher. And if he was likely to have been capable of higher, his grade in foundation would have been B

Longlost10 · 10/09/2016 15:02

I know my child better than anyone. .fact! you don't know how he performs in a classroom, you might know how he performs with you, but that will be significantly different. Judging by the setting of your elder son, the school has a history of getting it right.

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