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Secondary education

KS3 targets

5 replies

OhYouBadBadKitten · 05/10/2011 19:58

A whole new world to me. dd has been given most of her targets (just waiting for maths and science) for the end of ks3

It seems for subjects like ict, dt, pe etc they have given her a target for those lessons as a an overall target. But the target they have given her (level 8) seems a bit batty and I have no idea how they worked it out. dd whilst quite bright is not exactly a shining star in pe and I dont think her cooking so far has demonstrated an excellence for dt. So how on earth have they concocted this target?

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cricketballs · 05/10/2011 20:30

they are generated from her KS2 levels and midyellis/CATS/FFT etc. In other words, from history, tests at school and social background data.

The higher levels in most subjects (especially practical/vocational) come from their understanding and ability to evaluate rather than the specific skill. For example, I once had a student who could knock spots off the IT technicians in terms of designing a database with very complicated coding but could not explain what he had done nor evaluate it and therefore could not achieve a grade higher than a C in his course.....

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OhYouBadBadKitten · 05/10/2011 20:35

oh good that's reassuring cos if they are going to measure her progress on how well she can kick or throw a ball then the pe staff are going to be very disappointed in her...

Thank you for the explanation :)

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ibizagirl · 06/10/2011 06:06

Hi OhYouBadBadKitten!
My daughter is in year 8 and is very able and has been on the gifted and talented register since year 1 primary. She has just had her targets given to her and they are level 8 too. She was easily getting level 7 last year (year 7) but the p.e and dance targets are the same as the other subjects. She is a tall, overweight girl and there is no way she would be able to get these targets for p.e and dance, although she does take part and always has put a lot of effort into everything. At end of year 7 she was given level 4 for pe and 5 for dance, which was fine, but she got upset because it made her report look bad with red squares for these two subjects, where all the others are green (it is colour coded). Spoke to teacher about it and asked why she would be given such high targets for dance and p.e, knowing that she would never be able to reach them, and was told that as she is so gifted, she probably could reach them! NOT IN THESE TWO SUBJECTS SHE WOULDN'T! We now take no notice of these two targets as she is not interested in furthering p.e or dance as she is all maths and history at the moment. Or should i say ANYTHING bar p.e or dance! Best wishes.

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roisin · 06/10/2011 07:37

This seems mad to me.
My ds1 is a traditional academic child, did well at primary and quickly took to secondary school. His end of KS3 targets were mainly 7s and 8s. some were adjusted up over the first year or so, so most were 8s by the end.

However dance and PE were never 8s. His (lack of) PE ability, is not related to his KS2 SATS in English and Maths! His PE target was L5 (for the end of yr9) and he was absolutely delighted to achieve that target, after being below target for PE for about 18 months!

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OhYouBadBadKitten · 06/10/2011 07:48

I think the formula they use must be computer generated with no human input.

So, when we have a parent-teacher meeting I think I'll talk to them cos roisins school sounds much more sane than dds or ibizagirls dd. dd puts a lot of pressure on herself and if it really would be impossible for her to reach the targets in pe and some of the vocational subjects then I think she would find that very difficult - targets should be realistic. I have to say she was very bemused by it all yesterday.