DDs Science Level has gone down two grades this year

[captainpeacock]

I have written to the school as she is Year 8 targeted Level 7 and was doing fine in year 7 ending at level 6. The teacher she has had this year is unable to control the class and at the end of Autumn Term this year she was a level 5, at this point I had a meeting with her Form Tutor who told me he would deal with the situation. She has just had her progress report this term and is now a level 4. She achieved level 5 at KS2. Her behaviour and effort are graded at good/outstanding and her attendance is excellent. She is so disappointed and so am I. I don't like complaining but I really don't think I can just let this go. I have no idea whether she will be able to make these grades up.

This must be so frustrating for you CP. Does your DD have end of topic assessments or do they assess a level some other way.

My DD is also in year 8 and her grades are up and down but generally correlate with the amount of revision she has done.

It looks like your DD is obviously working hard in class so her results must be down to the teaching. If it's any consolation IMO science is one subject where your DD could easily catch up with revision books and a bit of help from you at home.

I have posted before as my DD is having a similar problem in English but despite 2 emails, a letter and numerous phone calls we have had no response from the school except to say they don't think there's a problem! I am unsure what to do next as, like you, I don't want to complain or make a fuss! It's so hard...

Hmm, I don't think it is really possible to regress in Science to such an extent. It is more likely that that assessment both/either last year/this year are inaccurate. She has probably been given a higher level last year than representative of her true performance and the opposite this year.

If you want to compare the two years, you need to understand how the levels were arrived at. If individual teachers are responsible for grading their own classes, then there may be variability. Some teachers are lenient markers and others are harsh.

If they are setting levels based on the mark they get on a given test, regardless of the type of question, then there is a lot of doubt in the truth of the assessment.

If you look at the individual topics in Year and 8, there isn't a big difference in difficulty - they are simply covering the breadth of the Science curriculum. I wouldn't necessarily expect a pupil to make a lot of progress in NC levels in year 7 and 8, because they are simply learning the same level of stuff in a variety of topics. It may be that your DD clicks with the Y7 topics more than the Y8 ones.

I am not a fan of NC levels and don't understand the state school obsession with them. I would much rather value qualititive assessments at this age.

Mycat it certainly is frustrating. They do do an assessment at the end of each term, not sure if they do a different topic each term. I certainly will do some revision with her over the two weeks holiday and maybe firm up the topics that she is unsure of. Her tutor did call me today and told me that he has passed the matter to Head of Science. Good luck with your DD, I hope that you get some satisfactory answers.

Thank you ScienceTeacher, had to read your post twice the system seems a bit complicated. Do you think that I don't have anything to worry about then? She was so disappointed to have received such a low mark compared to last year and I felt really sorry for her. Do you think the fact that the teacher can't control the class wouldn't have any bearing on her marks and that she will end up the same as she would have done anyway. I will obviously bow to your superior knowledge on this.

I do think that disruptive classes do block effective teaching, which is why my five children are in independent schools.

I think that probably for your DD is that she won't really have moved backwards (that would mean unlearning things she already had a firm grasp of), but may just be staying the same. You wouldn't really expect to see a lot of progress in Y7 and Y8 though because of the nature of the topics - that's if your main measure is NC levels. It is different for Y9 when they consolidate a lot of the learning.

NC levels are a very blunt instrument.

I am not a science teacher but I am a secondary teacher and a Head of Key Stage. I would be very concerned indeed at this tbh. Whilst I do agree with ScienceTeacher that it sounds like an inconsistency of marking, the fact that your daughter is clearly behaving and working well means that at the very least, were marking inconsistent, she should have stayed at the same level rather than going down.

We had a similar problem with dd1 and English last year, in Yr 8. It turned out that the teacher who had assessed her at L5 (she got L5 in Yr 6) hadn't actually marked her book all term.

I would write to the Head of Department and HOD, not to complain as such but to ask if you could arrange a meeting to discuss how you can best help your daughter's achievement now.

Good luck!

There are a couple of reasons why the level might have dipped - although none of the reasons are satisfactory.

It might be down to inconsistency of marking as ST said, one assessing too high, one way too low - I would be interested to know whether the dept internally moderate to get consistency and also whether they track pupil levels - surely your dd would have a big reg flag next to her name if she really was under-performing by so much, which leads me of course to suspect she isn't.

Or maybe they've used an end of term test to arrive at the level/told to report a test score, rather taking into account a term's work.

Or quite simply, maybe the behaviour of the class is so bad, no one is learning as they should? In which case the teacher needs support/strategies to enable them to teach - what are SMT doing about it?

I would definitely ask for feeback on why your dd has dropped 2 levels in the course of the year - what explanation is there?

red flag

Thank you all so much for your comments and help. I do find it all very confusing. I'm assuming that I will be given some kind of feedback by head of Science. As I said, I'm not happy to complain but you have made me aware that I am correct in raising the matter. To be honest I would have felt like I was failing her if I had not done anything about it. I think you are saying that it is not the end of the world and she may bounce back from this, which is encouraging, but that I also am within my rights to ask for an explanation.

Scienceteacher - I found your post really helpful: this is something I've often wondered about Science. ds1 (yr7) got a L8 in his first end of topic assessment, which is his target for end of yr9. But I pointed out to him that it doesn't mean he's reached his target, but that he has to produce a similar level of proof of understanding/learning of each topic that they cover.

It's reassuring that I think (from your post) that I'm right, because of the nature of the subject.

The teacher who takes my DD - yr7 for Science tests them each half term but their level is made up of project work and all tests taken so far - a bit like sitting a modular GCSE.

Unit 7A. Cells
Unit 7B. Reproduction
Unit 7C. Environment and feeding relationships
Unit 7D. Variation and classification
Unit 7E. Acids and alkalis
Unit 7F. Simple chemical reactions
Unit 7G. Particle model of solids, liquids and gases
Unit 7H. Solutions
Unit 7I. Energy resources
Unit 7J. Electrical circuits
Unit 7K. Forces and their effects
Unit 7L. The solar system and beyond
Unit 8A. Food and digestion
Unit 8B. Respiration
Unit 8C. Microbes and disease
Unit 8D. Ecological relationships
Unit 8E. Atoms and elements
Unit 8F. Compounds and mixtures
Unit 8G. Rocks and weathering
Unit 8H. The rock cycle
Unit 8I. Heating and cooling
Unit 8J. Magnets and electromagnets
Unit 8K. Light
Unit 8L. Sound and hearing

This is a list of all the topics that current Y8 will have covered by the end of this academic year. It is very varied, and undoubtably they will have more interest in some individual topics and find others a bit tricky or dull. The teacher's specialism can make a difference to the teaching as well.

Most schools will use end-of-topic tests that come with their text books. Levelling will be tied into what they get in this test, eg 16/20 = Level 7, 13/20 = Level 6 etc. It is very, very crude.

These topics, as listed by QCA, are not harder as you go down the list. They are all completely stand alone, so it is difficult to see progression from one topic to the next.

If a pupil was Level 7 across several topics, and then suddenly fell to Level 4 across several (with good effort), then that is a cause for concern. If there was an isolated Level 7 last year, and an isolated Level 4 this year, then there is less you can read into it.

Magenta, they basically cover 2 topics every half-term, so giving them a half-termly test isn't a lot different from testing each topic individually.

Roisin, this year's Y7 have a new specification, so what I have said about Y8 may not be accurate. I don't teach Y7 this year, so haven't got my mind wrapped around what they do (and I'm a bad mummy, having a DD in Y7!). Level 8 is very high (our scheme doesn't hit L8 until Y9), whatever way you slice it! You are right, that he would need to repeat this performance in most of his topics to be Level 8.

Thank you scienceteacher, that is very helpful in understanding that they are all standalone topics. DDs teacher called me this afternoon and said that in general she is working at a level 6. I did say that she found it hard to work with all the disruption in the class and she said that they are a bright group who all want to speak at the same time. She also said that dd doesn't always focus, which I feel is rather shifting the blame as several of her classmates have also said that they cannot concentrate because of the disruption. However she insists that the disruption is not to do with her and short of calling her a liar I don't see that I can do anything else about that.

You've made your point with the school, CP. Although enthusiastic, bright pupils does not sound like a plausible explanation (bright pupils also know when to toe the line and dampen down their exhuberance), it is understandable for the HOD to try to save face and protect his staff.

Hopefully, he will note your concern and put in the necessary procedures to assist the teacher with class management.

So if she is generally working at L6, why did her progress report say L4? Seems v strange.

Might be worth speaking to the HOD re: concenrs about behaviour, if it doesn't improve. Often teachers who are struggling with discipline are in a way grateful if parents make a fuss, as it means they may get more support from leadership with difficult classes, as leadership won't want parents complaining!

You need to know what the basis of this assessment is. I work in a National Challenge school and we are compelled to be obsessed with NC levels sadly. As it is the end of a half term, we have had to do a summative assessment this week resulting in a NC level, complete with sublevel, which will be sent home to parents. So in my department (Science), we test every half term on the work done in that half term. And I find that the marks do vary quite a lot between half-termly assessments, because different children find different topics more or less accessible. So rather than the nice steady progression, you do get fluctuations up and down. If her work is generally at a level 6, and she had a bad test, that might be the reason. Anyway, I would ask.

Janeite teacher said that she had got level 4 in last assessment but had got a 6 in the assignment before although when I asked dd she said that she had only got a 5. Her HoD and KS3 manager already know, as teacher said that they were looking into why she had got Level 6 last year. Unfortunately I'm not sure I have done the teacher any favours in letting her managers know that there is a problem as I don't believe it is a school that is supportive to its staff. It has reasonably, although not excessively, high grades which did drop this year by from 58% A* - C inc Eng and Ma to 48% a massive drop under any circumstances. I really don't want to get this teacher into any trouble which I think will be more the case than getting her support. However I also am unhappy that my dd may have wasted a whole year in this subject, although from what ScienceTeacher has explained, this won't be the case.
Fallenmaddona it appears that you are correct that she may have had a bad result from a specific topic.
To be honest I think that the main problem is that her teacher is not up to scratch, but the school are just not going to admit that under any circumstance. I feel that I have done all that I can and my dd is now concerned that she may be looked at unfavourably by the teacher because I have spoken out and is asking me not to say anymore and to just let it go.

Buy her a chemistry set and get her a good private tutor maybe?

Let's face it the present maintained school science syllabus is crap. Even Ofqual is alarmed so it must be bad! For a generation that is so dependent upon applied science teenagers today know bugger all about it!

Hence the reason why independent schools are opting out of GCSEs in droves and educating their pupils to sit more rigorous exams.

Ask not where the next generation of British scientists will come from - most of 'em will be have been privately educated!

Have not read all the thread as I am popping in quickly. If your dd is targetted a level 7 I imagine she is in a top set it is very rare for a top set to be upset by disruptive behaviour.( I teach in a state school and diisruptive behaviour only prevents learning occasionally in 2 of my bottom sets if my TA is not there and even then the child is removed so the disruption is for 5 minutes.) You cant let this go.

I dont teach science but have been a head of year so am used to dealing with NC levels and they do rise and dip with topics although usually not by 2 levels. That would worry me.

There is a huge difference between level 4 and level 6 as well, I think it must be one of the following
*inconcistent marking - I doubt this as marking may be out by one level but not to this extent. But raise this when you go in. Ask your dd as well she should know what she needs to do to get a level. Look in her books, I would demand to see all of her exercise books and check marking and the work your dd is doing.
*The teacher cant control the class, you need to ask what is being done to support the teacher.
*Your dd is struggling with the units of work being studied this year. Looking at books will help you check this, scienceteacher has also helpfully listed the units.
*Your dd is bored so not working. Again checking books will help.