end of Y5 maths levels?

Twinkle · Post by **Twinkle** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 2:30 pm

My DS's level came from a QCA paper they sat ( which is what I think you mean by mock SATs) and which he also sat in Years 3 and 4. I think that the level that they get at the end of Year 6 comes solely from sitting the SATs paper rather than teacher assessment.

I recall that Guest55 recently ( well before he or she disappeared) posted a list of maths enrichment sites which you may want to use at home or which you might want to show to your DS's teacher as resources she could use with your DS.

I am waiting with interest to see what happens at my DS's school this year wrt maths and am quite expecting to have a difficult conversation. I get the impression that Year 6 is very rigidly taught and is all about Level 4B which is such a waste of time for some children. That said, at our school a large proportion of children will get a 5 at the end of Year 6 but that doesn't help if you are already there.

colchestermummy · Post by **colchestermummy** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 2:37 pm

Tolstoy, my DS goes to a large junior school and i think that the problem is not just in small rural schools, my son has always been top of class (and top of yr last yr) yet he is always in trouble for chatting...why?? because the teachers do not need to concentrate on him they need to concentrate on getting other children up to the needed standard. he comes home complaining of being bored constantly, i've been in to complain and suggested they give him more work as he finishes his so quickly yet very little is done. I'm hoping he passes 11+ now so that he may go to a school that can stretch him not bore him into chatting and therefore getting into trouble!

Tolstoy · Post by **Tolstoy** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 5:24 pm

Thanks Twinkle, I have seen Guest55s lists she has given me lots of good advice in the past. I want the school to put him on something like the PMC to stop him being bored and to allow him to progress as that is their job not mine. Like c.mummy we get the complaints of talking too much in class every parents evening.

Does anyone know if when he sat the paper the level 4a would have been the limit he could get. Do they have to be given a different paper to get 5's

...or is that he only got level 4 because of limited teaching?

Milla · Post by **Milla** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 6:10 pm

God knows about this limit thing. A mother at school just told me that her son got "all 6s" in his SATs in Y5. Likely??

Twinkle · Post by **Twinkle** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 6:29 pm

Tolstoy, I know that the limit is 4a in Year 4. So I wonder whether he actually sat the Year 4 paper. I was under the impression from my DS that all the children in his class sat the same paper in Year 5 ( but he my be wrong).

Rather than the PMC ( by which I think you mean the Primary Maths CHallenge?) you might want to look at the UKMT which is for children from Year 5 to Year 8 which is more stretching. My DS sat it in April and did very well. The questions were really quite challenging. He did one practice paper beforehand. However I recall that I subsequently found out that you can buy old papers if you go onto the UKMT website.

Twinkle · Post by **Twinkle** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 6:30 pm

Milla, I think I recall Guest55 advising that it is no longer possible to get a level 6 in Year 6.

Twinkle · Post by **Twinkle** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 6:41 pm

Tolstoy - this is the UKMT link - www.mathcomp.leeds.ac.uk/ -

Tolstoy · Post by **Tolstoy** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 7:08 pm

Twinkle did your son's school do the UKMT with him or was it you at home?

Milla sounds like somebody has been bragging. They only test them up to level 5 though I believe some schools do start level 6 work.

Twinkle · Post by **Twinkle** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 7:17 pm

They just registered him to do the test and then asked me whether I was happy for him to do it. They didn't do anything with him at school to prep him. It was not sat in school but at a local Grammar school. There were two practice papers before the test but DS only went along to one of them. I believe that the children in Year 6 who sat it may have had some maths enrichment lessons at a local grammar school - to what extent it correlated with the UKMT i don't know, I'm waiting to see whether DS is offered any maths enrichment this year......

Milla · Post by **Milla** » Tue Sep 15, 2009 7:24 pm

Twinkle wrote:Milla, I think I recall Guest55 advising that it is no longer possible to get a level 6 in Year 6.

(and Tolstoy)
Yes, that's what I thought. Didn't want to burst her bubble, she was so proud (and needing a boost since, ahem, my boy had done, she told me (DS2 hadn't thought to tell me, useless trollop) rather better than hers in a recent run of tests) but I thought, hmmm, not wildly likely.