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KS1 year 1 reading and science scores - long post sorry but need to understand

15 replies

sophiedoggy · 14/07/2013 08:09

I am confused as to how reading KS1 levels are worked out.

Boy 1 is reading Purple band 8 books and has been given a 2C
Girl 1 is reading Turquoise band 7 books and has been given a 1B

Why is there a jump from 1B to 2C but only one book band level?

Girl 2 is reading white band 10 and has been given a 2C mark same as boy 1 who is 2 book bands below ( purple)

Girl 3 on white band 10 has been given a 2b

Why does 2C grade span two reading levels?

Also boy 1 was a 1a when reading level 4 blue books !!!!!

why would girl 1 and 2 be given lower marks when they can read to the same level?

Is it to do with how loud you are in class as the louder ones seems to get higher marks than the quiet ones.



Also, my DD loves her science ( she is just 6 and at the end of year 1). In january she was given a p7 score and when questioned the teachers told me that they had hardly done it at school and not to worry. I explained that she knew lots about science and also questioned why other children were getting 1c's and 1b's if they had hardly done it. Now at this point my DD knew about ( all initiated from her questions) :-

human reproduction,
light ( how we see things i.e. colour reflection off from objects, absorption of light, the basics of refraction).
how we hear things ( air vibrating and ear drums vibrating) sounds travelling faster when molecules are closer together, can't hear in space etc
plants needing water, light, air, nutrients etc to grow
Planets orbiting the sun, why we have day and night and seasons

since january she knows about very basic electric circuits - she can talk about what components you would need to make a basic alarm and switch on a light bulb also she has started to learn about conducting materials.

The water cycle ( using words like cools down rather than condensing) and very basics of gravity ( the earth pulls us down towards us as it is bigger than us - every object pulls). She also knows about forces( pushes and pulls).



She was given a 1a - what does she need to know to move up to a 2c ?

Extra information:-

She is a quiet child at school and i have spoken to the teachers about giving quiet children an alternative was to give answers such as writing, drawing etc rather than answering in front of a group.

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3MonthMaid · 14/07/2013 08:20

I am definitely inclined. To agree that the quiet ones get lower marks regardless of ability.

I don't really understand why quietness is penalised Sad

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hm32 · 14/07/2013 08:23

Reading-wise, it's not about the book band specifically, it's about the level of understanding. The book bands are supposed to broadly correspond to levels (Purple is 2C, Turquoise 1a), but the overall level also considers the child's understanding of what they are reading. So they could be capable of sounding out and reading a Gold (2B) book, but understand very little of it when questioned closely and asked to do simple comprehension exercises, so would get a 1a for example.

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sophiedoggy · 14/07/2013 08:27

Thank you for your responses:-

So I know that my DD understands the subject of the books as I can't stop her talking about it and predicting the story lines as she reads but if at school she is quiet then perhaps they think that she doesn't understand.

what can be done then to prevent quieter children from being marked low?

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terribleteethinitsterriblejaws · 14/07/2013 08:37

Hm32 is right, the book bands roughly equate to levels but the comprehension questions are more than just predicting what will happen in a story. Children are expected to refer to words from the story to explain why they think something has or might happen next. Is she reading the punctuation as well as the words? Does she use expression or change her voice when other characters are speaking? It all goes together to build a bigger picture of reading than just being able to decode words using phonic knowledge. I have taught a child in fs2 who was able to read turquoise level books and had many a strategy to work out unusual or unfamiliar words but he struggled greatly with the comprehension questions even though he could make predictions. Unfortunately it is not as easy as comparing book bands with book bands. There is a lot involved in levelling children as readers. I can't help with the science though, but it sounds as if your daughter is very very inquisitive and enjoys finding out about the world around her.

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sophiedoggy · 14/07/2013 08:48

she definitely understands as she talks about what has happened and I ask her questions. When she doesn't understand then she asks me questions and asks me to re read something so that she will understand it but this would happen perhaps once in every 20 books and usually just for a particular paragraph - e.g. recently she had asked what a religious blessing / puja was. You can understand that at just 6 she wouldn't understand.
She understands punctuation although on occasion / rare may read through a full stop. She follows 'say it with feeling' exclamation marks. She can read with expression ( sometimes stage school style - iykwim) but sometimes reads without expression. I know that the couple of louder children with higher marks are completely on top of their expression.

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mam29 · 14/07/2013 08:51

End year 1 dd1 got got 1b for science was baffled why she was behind in scinece as school said 1 a was target.
but she aslso got 1b writing, reading and maths,

With teh reading they said she could decode old school said she couldent comprehend but used to ask questions after book and she could new school said it was about fleuency and confidence and this year shes ended reading and maths on 2b where she should be and massivly improved .

but scince just says level 2 no letter.
was going to ask next week why that is.

I think in class of 30 some kids do get missed.

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sophiedoggy · 14/07/2013 08:51

Adding to the expression comment - this again may be a quiet child thing. They don't like to do it in front of a group/ teacher.

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sophiedoggy · 14/07/2013 08:58

mam29 - I do think some kids gets missed . I was told that our targets were 1b but my friend said aim for 1a as many other schools do.

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simpson · 14/07/2013 10:49

My DC school go for a 1B in everything except reading which is a 1A.

In reading it is not just about understanding what they are reading but to get the higher marks I child needs to demonstrate inference skills and being able to pinpoint one word/phrase in the text to answer a particular question.

I have a very quiet DS (yr3) who is very able but shy and all I can say is it does get better as the child matures and becomes a little more outgoing.

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Jinsei · 14/07/2013 10:59

If you think the levels are wrong, why don't you ask your child's teacher why she has been assessed on those levels. He/she will be able to give you a more accurate and comprehensive answer than we can.

I wouldn't rush to assume that it is because your dd is quiet though, unless she is so quiet that she simply isn't showing her teacher what she is able to do. Is there something you can do to work on building her confidence?

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Elibean · 14/07/2013 15:05

thank goodness dd2's Y1 teacher didn't put NC levels (which are about to cease to exist anyway) on reports.

She will give her assessment of them if asked, but otherwise just talks about individual progress and skill sets, on the whole.

NC levels are given with reports at Y2 and beyond at our school, and I have to say it avoids a lot of confusion and worry, on the whole.

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sittinginthesun · 14/07/2013 15:16

No levels given at our school either, just whether they are meeting, exceeding it not meeting expected level.

DS2 is in year 1, has finished the reading scheme and is a fluent reader. He also usually gets full marks in his spelling tests.

BUT, he only exceeded expectations on some of the reading areas. His comprehension is fine, but his expression isn't great. As for his writing...

Reading scheme books are only one area of the national curriculum.

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AbbyR1973 · 14/07/2013 15:47

Just wondering with science as I don't know but is it less about factual knowledge and more about scientific method: making hypothesis, testing, drawing conclusions (in a simple way of course!)

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mrz · 14/07/2013 16:11

There are 4 parts to the Science assessment
Scientific enquiry (Sc1)
Life processes and living things (Sc2)
Materials and their properties (Sc3)
Physical processes (Sc4)

teachers award a level for each and these are used to calculate an overall level

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Flojobunny · 14/07/2013 16:15

OP you don't need to worry about her being quiet. GCSEs are written papers.
FFS she's only in year 1. Poor girl.

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