Year 1 "Grading" - is there a national standard?

[Badpups]

Apologies if this has been asked before and for my ignorance on the subject!!

I've been reading other postings on this thread and seen gradings for yr 1 pupils being referred to (2a, 2b etc). I have twins who are just coming to the end of yr 1 and am not aware of any grading structure at their school. Is this a national requirement or just something done independently by individual schools? I have no idea how my children compare to others of their age nationally.

[FairLadyRantALot]

oh it s the general grading system you mean, well...I think anyway...my es is currently in year 8 and they have such system...I find it very confusing, lol...no idea how early they start wiht it....because with es it certainly has only be done since Secondary school, and with ms and ys, I am not aware of such grading (they are in year 1 and reception currently)

[hana]

It's a national standard for all students from year 1 through to year 11.

look at this for levels and expectations:
www.nfer.ac.uk/research-areas/assessment/national-curriculum-levels.cfm

and
curriculum.qca.org.uk/key-stages-1-and-2/assessment/assessmentofsubjects/index.aspx
for attainment targets (like the 2a, 2b etc that you said in your post) click on each subject individually

[Badpups]

Hana - thank you for the informative links.

Do you know whether this is something that parents should be informed of automatically (e.g. in school reports) or do parents usually have to request it? Nothing was forthcoming at the end of Reception.

If it makes any difference the school in question is independent but the national curriculum is being followed and the children all sit their sats tests in yr2.

[mrz]

Most schools prefer to tell parents what children can do in words rather than numbers which mean very little to most people. It's an awful world when we reduce children to a series of numbers. Much better to tell a parent their child can write lively interesting stories using punctuation and ambitious vocabulary than say your child is a 2b

[blametheparents]

OUr school does inform us of our child's national curriculum level in their school reports (which are due soon), however they also have a large amount of narrative in the school reports too which is the most interesting bit really.

[ingles2]

They usually start to tell you their sats levels after the Yr2 tests and you get them in the end of year report.
I haven't heard of them being given before then, but I'm sure the teacher is assessing, so you can always ask.

[hana]

what a good school should do is send home with the 'end of year report' an explanation of the level expectations for that year group alongside an explanation of what they actually mean.

(and along with the actual narrative of what said child has accomplished/achieved during the year)

it's meaningless if schools simply inform parents that their child is a 1a or a 2b

s

[trickerg]

Y1 attainment levels are rarely reported as they're not too reliable! However, they will be reported within the school, and targets set for the children for the end of Y2.

[Feenie]

There is a statutory requirement to report levels at the end of both Key Stages - so Y2 and Y6. Anything else is down to the individual school - although I agree with hana, without explanations they are useless.

[Madsometimes]

Our school only reports national curriculum levels in year 2 and year 6. They have a policy not to in other years. The teachers will tell you if you ask, but it seems so pushy to demand this, so I do not.

[mimsum]

dd (y1) just had her report - there was no mention of levels but in each subject area she was assessed as working towards, working at or working beyond the expected level. In literacy, maths and science she was also given a target for y2. Alongside the assessment was the teacher's explanation/narrative of how she's been doing this year.

[jennifersofia]

1a is nationally expected average at end of year 1. However, many things must be taken into account relative to this - eg. if english is their second language, the socio-economics of the area (and general intake) of the school, where they started from. Basically, it is good to know how much progress a child has made. If a child had started at 1a, and then finished at 1a, which would be at the nationally expected average, then I would be concerned. However, if a child started at P8, and then progressed to 1b, I would feel very encouraged by that because of the progress they had made, even though they were not yet at the national average.
Children often make about 2 sub-levels of progress a year - e.g. from 1c to 1a.
Does this make sense?

[mrz]

Average

1A Y1

2B Y2

2A Y3

3B Y4

3A Y5

4B Y6

[Badpups]

The school does send home a very detailed report at the end of term so I suppose I'm looking for an objective grade to supplement the subjective report (if that makes sense).

My post stems from the fact that other parents have expressed concerns about the standard of teaching in the school (although the pastoral side is excellent) and don't feel that the children are stretched enough. I don't want my children to be "hot housed" but do want them to achieve their potential. I feel that if we are going to move them then it's better to do so sooner rather than later.

A grade may help me.