To be confused about what standard of work is required?

[Notcontent]

I was just reading another thread where the OP was worried about her year 7 dd’s standard of English written work and she posted a photo of a sample. It wasn’t that great and several people said it was more like a 9 year old, etc but then others disagreed and said it was pretty average for year 7 - and the people saying this included a couple who said they were English teachers.

My dd is in year 8 at an independent school - it’s a good school but not super academic. Yet since mid year 7 she has had to start doing lots of essay type writing in both English and History - quite a steep learning curve from what she was doing in primary, even though she is good at English. So if there are lots of kids in year 7 whose English is not yet of a very high standard, they must surely really struggle with literary analysis essays, etc???

Yes, they do.

Children who aren't very capable struggle at school.

I think the answer is every student should complete their work to the best of their ability. Reward effort not achievement.

If you look at the national figures, it's shocking how many students don't manage a Grade 4 (low pass) in both English and Maths. About 40%. So yes, there are a lot of students who really struggle with essays etc.

Written expression is a difficult skill and children whose oral vocabulary and expression are poor will always find it very hard to write well. The English state education system does not emphasize the acquisition of oral articulacy nearly enough in the early years.

There is a massive difference in quality between Grade 9 GCSE and scrape Grade 4.
My DD2 was probably worse than the excerpt on the other thread when she was in y7, but is considerably better than it now in y9 having had good teaching and various forms of intervention.

It's certainly normal for kids to be doing essay writing in year 7, if that's what you're asking. Some kids find it very easy, others really struggle. There is a very wide range of "normal".

Children at school learn how to do things. Who knew?

TeenTimesTwo - I think you have probably answered my question.

But it does raise the question of whether more time should be spent in primary school writing and doing different styles of writing. It’s just such a big jump in expectations and it seems obvious to me that many children leave primary school not being ready to make that jump.

If you are confused about the standard of work that's required, you could speak to your child's teachers about how your child is doing?

A friend's dd goes to a private school which is not considered particularly academic for a private school. But they still exclude the bottom third of ability. Many in a comp will be doing the same as your dd, but yes some will struggle and would in your dc's school too if they had been admitted

I think it varies hugely from school to school tbh, depending on the nature of the cohort. I'm a primary school governor, and would have guessed around year 3/4 for the work that was posted on the other thread, based on the work that I've seen in school. Some younger children would have better written English than that example, and very few year 5/6s would still be writing like that. However, it's a school with a very middle class cohort, with educated and supportive parents, and the school gets very good results overall. I imagine that it's a very different story at schools with different cohorts.

Never understood the reasoning behind mixed ability in some lower secondary years. Some kids would really benefit from a slower pace in English, helping to take the step up from primary work to secondary expectations. Other kids arrive having already ‘got it’ and would benefit from deeper teaching of analysis & complex writing. English skills are so transferable, when I was teaching (History) mixed ability never actually fully supported neither ability range.

Our secondary sets for all subjects after the first half term in year 7. I do think it makes sense.

I agree Alexashutup, however, it’s not a popular opinion. Our local comp, not only doesn’t set for lower years but has mixed ability for all GCSE subjects excluding Maths. Science sets itself through the choice of double or triple.

Ours sets for Maths, Eng, MFL, Science

I think most comprehensives set, don’t they? Although there is some evidence that mixed ability teaching properly done and resourced is the best way forward for many children.

Mixed ability teaching in English is fantastic if you have a child that is great at comprehension but poor at creative writing - otherwise they are bound to be in the "wrong" set regardless.

There is no magic bullet selection/streaming/setting solution that gets the best out of every child. Really good teachers have a strong positive impact on low achievers and on low performing schools but it is difficult to convince really good teachers to invest long term in low achieving students.