Help understanding Yr 9 school report

[MissingMySleep]

hi, thanks in advance for any help - I have received online a school report for my DS, who is Year 9, and his grades range from 2s to 5s, so I don't know what to make of this.

Am I right in thinking these are his grades now? Most of them show a slight increase from the November report, so I am hoping that they are showing me his progress.

What I do not know is what grades a yr9 should be getting, ie what is average, so I can decide whether to tell him well done for a good report, or tell him to pull his socks up.

I understood A-E but I do not understand what the number levels are telling me...!

All schools are using their own systems but it does sound as though yours has something similar to ours so this might help!
They are based on the 9-1 gcse grades and would be the current levels.
The average grade for year 9 is a 3 on our report. The school says grades also depend on how much of the subject has been taught in that subject so it will be very difficult to get more than a 6 in some subjects. A grade 2 might be below average or just mean they haven't covered enough level 3 work yet.
Hope that helps!

Yes, sounds like they are using a system that gives parity to GCSEs. So a 5 now is pretty good (5=a good C) . Is the 2 in MFL or another newish subject? I teach MFL and plenty of my year 9s are on a level 2, about the same as a 5 in old levels. Hth but worth checking with school.

Not necessarily at all, our y9 reports currently are based on the old nc ks3 levels, so a 5 is very ordinary indeed.

The teachers had a conversion chart from the old nc levels so ds1 got an 8 in maths at the end of year 9 on the old level but that was translated to a 5 on the new one with a prediction of 8 when he takes the final exams.

The grades on our Nov reports were predicted GCSE grades. Some grades were way below our dc's expectations from previous years for exam success.
One teachers went from predicting a 5 in November (and telling us that was really good and dcs should choose her subject for GCSE!!???) to dcs achieving 7's and 8's in class tests and assessments in January and the same teacher then suggesting at a recent PT meeting that the dcs were closer to a 7 maybe an 8. What a mess!
Not really sure they have any clue what the dcs are capable of....I have told the dcs not to pay any attention to the Mystic Meg predicted grades, prior to Year 9 the grades seemed to have been "this is what you could achieve with a fair wind and hardworking" and not they seem to be "well if you relied on classwork alone and didn't bother much..." I'm wondering if this change in approach has anything to do with Progress 8 stats.

I have told my dcs not to pay attention to predicted grades - they are no use to anyone but the school admin. Dcs just need to work their butts off and tell me when they are struggling.

Does your report not have details as to what the numbers relate to? It's pretty pointless without that.

Our recent yr9 report scores 1-4 for effort & organisation type things.

Then predicted GCSE grade (9-1) based on initial entry scores (KS2 SATS etc).
Then current predicted GCSE grade based on current progress and results, so not where they are now (which we don't get) but where they expect then to be based on where they are now.

Agree with PP about the new grading.
A 5 now would be expected to translate into a 7 or 8 at GSCE (i.e. a A or A*). A 2 now should translate into a 4 or 5 (C or B)
But how exactly it translates depends on what they have been taught at this stage.....

We are in a similar situation.The teachers at dd's school were suddenly expected to give grades and predicted grades using new 9-1 system without really having a clue what these grades look like .
Dd had some working at grades and prediction grades that I think were just straight nc level / nc levels trajectory conversions which are irrelevant (because she is unlikely to get that on the new papers) and others where they were obviously trying to guess a more realistic grade (which seemed like taking a wild stab in the dark).
I feel for the teachers.. it's a monumental cock up
As Bensyster says , I think all you can do is encourage them to work hard and be alert to any signs of struggling.

What I always find confusing is the 'expected grade' as not clear if it is expected at end of year, end of stage, and whether expected on the basis of current attainment of based on whatever pointless methodology they use to come up with a meaning score!

For instance, DS is expected a 6= at end of key stage 3 (which I think is end of year 9 so in 5 months for him), but that is only at 5= currently. However, this is because his expected level in based on his SATs achievement. His primary school was on a mission to get the brightest kids to get level 6, so provided additional tutoring and he ended up with a level 6B. However, he had poor Maths teachers in Y7 and Y8, and wasn't in set so didn't progress in line with where he was at. He has a great teacher this year, so again on track, but clearly won't achieve this level at the end of the year.

Similarly confusing, he is currently at level 5+ in History so higher than Maths, but expected a 6- at end of year, so lower than Maths. Again, I expect to do with this national grading methodology which wouldn't apply on the basis of SATs results.

Having gone through these with DD, I've learnt to take it all with a pinch of salt and instead rather rely on teachers' comments.

It's had to take it with a pinch of salt when the teacher's comments and the expected grades are miles apart.
My sil was very surprised to find that the teachers thought her son was doing really, really well, she saw no signs of him doing well.....and her fears were very much justified by her ds getting all E's in his A levels.

It's hard