Thinking ahead re YR9 options

[circular]

First ever post here, apologies in advance for the length.

DD in YR8 very keen on science, always wanted to do triple. In top set for eng, maths & science. Eng. weakest subject.

School groups everyone into one of 4 pathways, with only the top/most acadamic pathway doing the 3 sciences.

Recently had parents meeting. Good feedback on all subjects (although skipped PE,Art and ICT).

Slight alarm bells when talking to the RS teacher (DD G&T for RS). On mentioning that DD 'may' not be able to fit RS in as a GCSE option as once 3 sciences and a language (optional) chosen, only 2 choices less. Which are likely to be geog (also G&T)and music. Was told that it was not only necessary to be a good academic all rounder to be in the top pathway BUT the following is also considered (in no particular order):

1. Year 6 Sats results
2. End of KS3 targets
3. Parents education
4. Postcode
5. Parents marital / social status

Re 1) - school do not appear to have these hence nothing set for 2)

Unsure of the context any of the above are considered in - so not yet clean if DD will be at a disadvantage.

Anyone else come across this?

C

I know that this info is "relevant" to how a pupil does mnistooaddictive but it would be nice if schools were using it to raise expectations and target kids who need support rather than for selecting which GCSEs they are allowed to do. I know I have never in the last 8 years told my DCs school what educational level me and DH have achieved.

Don't get me started on the A level predictions though DD2 took part in one of those survey things and it was the biggest load of nonsense I've ever seen. I think her predictions came back as CCC (she has 11 A/A*) and is taking the subjects she has the most aptitude for. Her maths teacher said (after saying it was a load of old rubbish) at least the prediction will make him look good!

circular: AFAIK it is common for the kids to sit CATS tests in Y7 (not sure if they are compulsory, any teachers out there?). These are commonly used for setting etc and, in fact, can sometimes over-ride SATS results. Can you get your DD's CAT results (through a freedom of info request) and use these in place of the missing SATs. Also, have you been given 'SAT level' results in Y7 and Y8 annual report?

RS is compulsory at KS4. Many schools decide to get at least a half GCSE out of the time spent - doesn't yours do this?

I completely agree webwiz that they should be used for support rather than limiting pupils. I did say it wasn't right but it is still done and most parents are unaware of this. As to the Alevel survey there are lots of questions such as how many books are there in your house which puts people into social groups. Again I don't agree with it but it is still done and yes it doesn't work for every child.

CATs are not compulsory but most schools do them as they give a lot of data that can be used to 'prove' to ofsted how well the school is doing.

So are prople saying this is normal practice? My dd is choosing her options at the moment - is her school looking at her postcode and our marital status (I don't think they know our educational attainments) while they decide whether she can have her choices?

If so, this is a scandal and I don't know why a huge fuss isn't being made about it. Does anyone on her have the hard facts about what is done in schools?

Senua:
I am no sure if they did 'CATS'. They were setting for Maths & English after the first term in YR 7 and she has been and stayed in top set. They were set for Science at the beginning of YR8 (current year) and she is in top set. After the setting, she went from being within the top 2 of the class to 'average for the set'.
They don't get annual reports - just the three progress checks with academic reviews and targets being set over a meeting with the form teacher. Same form teacher throughout. Fortunately we still have parent/teachers to meet the subject teachers.
Although the target (and acheived) levels look like the SATS numbering system we were told in YR7 they 'don't mean the same' as YR6 levels. (That was when I questioned a 5c English target for end YR7, when her YR6 SATS were ALL level 5.
She has no end of KS3 targets set - I need to clarify what her end YR8 targets are.

webwiz & mnistooaddictive

I am not sure in what way these other factors are being used.
It could well be that (say) a borderline child with lesser educated parents are more likely to be given the benefit of the doubt.

I did hint to the teacher that told me that it could well be age discrimination - as generally older parents are less likely to have gone to university as it was not so necessary.

Sorry, circular, I don't think that I made myself clear. Exams are usually sat towards the end of the academic year but CATS are different in that they are sat in the first term of Y7. So the fact that they were setted after one term may imply that it was partly based on CAT scores.

There is a disconnect between the Levels used for Primary and Secondary (hence going from 5c in Y6 to only 5 in Y7: this is a very common complaint) but the Levels do correlate between KS3 and GCSEs.

I thought annual reports were a legal requirement?

Just a quick update. Basic response from head of yr after checking with head of science was not to worry, DD should be In 'best' pathway. No mention of my concerns on HOW it is determined.
Not sure what definition of best is, but maybe I'm reading too much into it.
Termly progress check in a few weeks - sure to be raised again then.

The postcode/background information is data which is collated by the Fischer Family Trust which as far as I know is used by all LEAs in England. DD did say "It's not fair, I'm predicted to do better than XXX at GCSE because she lives on a long road"

I have discovered what this means is that XXX lives on a road which is indeed very long and has a number of different types of houses on it whereas we live on a small road of similar value housing on it, so it's easier to guess what educational background and income that we might have.

I don't necessarily agree with this method of predicting how well children will do in exams, but just thought I'd add it to the thread. Incidentally DD is in year 11 and the likliehood is that she and XXX will achieve similar GCSE grades even if XXX lives on a long road.