Is this normal, school reports

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My child in year 7 has autism but no learning disabilities. His school report has just come back with greater depth for the 2 subjects he likes and a mixture of ARE and foundation for the others. Meanwhile my child in year 8 who has learning disabilities has got ARE for most subjects but foundation for PE and greater depth for technology. We've always been told our year 7 child is bright so is it normal to be at foundation level for several subjects? He did fine in his year 6 sats.

Theres no standard report format between schools so comparison is impossible really.

What do greater depth, ARE and foundation mean in terms of the report?

Dies greater depth mean they are working at greater depth, or that they need to work at greater depth?

Our reports fot years 7- 9 classified performance as exceeding expectation, working as expected and one to indicate they weren't achieving as expected.

It means that's the level they are working at. There are 5 levels, developing mastery, greater depth, ARE, foundation and working towards foundation.

To be honest, most secondary school reports are pretty meaningless and you'd be best of contacting the specific teachers and asking for an explaination. In my last school we gave a GCSE grade in our end of year reports as in 'If this student sat their GCSE this week this is the grade they would get' cue lots of upset students when they were graded U/1/2 for subjects like tech/music/art/languages where they have done minimal study in primary.

The trouble with being bright is that it isn't always reflected in your grades. One of the brightest kids I know doesn't like to go above bare minimum requirements for school work, other than her fav subjects, as she has better things (her own projects) to do with her time! She mostly gets good enough grades but not the best, and certainly doesn't meet her 'potential'. I personally wouldn't worry too much so long as the child's understanding in each subject is good enough.

I'd help them focus on good organisation and study habits at this age (come home and get homework done first, no sloppiness etc) and investigate whether there are any broader issues like forgetting to bring work home, doing work at the last minute, hating particular subjects/teachers etc. Consistency in approach to getting work done is a better predictor for success that just grades or intelligence. It gives a good solid foundation of how to work well even when you dont love what you're doing that they can build on at any point in the future, hence that being a more important focus (imo).

ARE= age related expectations. So of course it’s normal for your child to be working as expected for their age in some topics

Officially most secondary schools do not use age related expectations in reports.

fir year 10 and 11 it’s usually gcse grades.

for years 7,8 and 9 there is usually a system involving descriptions which can vary massively.

most schools have four or five possibilities.

my school used emerging, developing, securing, mastering, excelling but the words used are different for each school

So if those levels go from best to worst then no it’s not normal for a bright child to be below average in several subjects (I’m assuming ARE is average and foundation is below average)

Mine is very bright and greater depth in all sats but asd/adhd and secondary has been tough.
Mostly cohort average.

Imo its not better because the homework is crap except maths so no imprivement from effort at home. And zero marking or feedback in 3 years..

What is he foundation in? Because mfl starts at beginning.

That depends on the school. We have have target grade for specific year. Max target grade in year 7 was "4", in year 8 it is "5" in year 9 it is "6" and then in year 10 it is "7" in year 11 it is" 8 or 9"

And of course some kids had lower target score. Depending on the set, past performance etc.