Level 3C in Year 4 Maths - should I be concerned

[Macca7]

We were recently told that our year 4 child is 3C at Maths (was 2b at the end of year 2). Should I be concerned about lack of progress?

Thanks

[mystery]

OK, sounds like he was smack on national expectations at the end of year 2, and at the end of year 4 national expectations would be 3b - one whole sublevel over two years is expected progress.

If you want more than this then you are going to have to do something about it I would think. From school's point of view he is ticking over nicely but if you believe he should be "above average" his attainment currently is not (unless the assessment is in some way inaccurate).

[stroudydad]

Post removed as I was clearly wrong...

[kenyancowgirl]

Mystery is right that at the end of Y2 the national expectation is a solid L2 (ie a L2B) and the national expectation is a solid L4 at the end of Y6. But this is based on averages, obviously. I would suggest that most GS pupils are likely to be achieving solid or high L5s and even L6s in Maths in Y6. (This is just for reference for you, as it may be that you are not considering GS!) Your child has obviously been graded as going up one sub level a year (assumedly 2A at the end of Y3 and 3C at the end of Y4) - I would have to say that that would be seen as below target in our school which expects 1.5 sub levels a year

[fatbananas]

I would echo Mystery.

Your son's performance will not get the school into hot water. But you can do much more with him at home to boost his skills. I found taking my DS shopping, for example, really helped him with money problems, and then a bit later, with working out percentages, ratio etc. And there are lots of good workbooks on the market for reinforcement for him/ helping you know what they are supposed to be learning.

Oops, overlapped with Kenyancowgirl!

[mystery]

I guess the school will be expecting another sublevel by the end of year 4 taking him to a 3b. If he does not achieve this he'll probably be flagged on their system as not making sufficient progress .... but maybe not as the whole way of measuring progress with NC levels ceases from September 2014.

I think what you do about this depends on your expectations.

To give you an example of how fast progress can be made, I was told before Easter of year 3 that one of my children was 3b in maths. So I bought some books which covered level 3 material and also dabble in a little bit of level 4 material. We didn't do very much for very long. By May of year 3 (when they sit the QCA optional papers in maths at our school) the child was a level 4c.

This rate of progress with a bit of a boost from home may, of course, not apply to your son. But by working with him on some level 3 stuff at home he may gain confidence and you might gain insight into whether his progress at school is appropriate or not. It could set your mind at rest that you can leave well alone as before, or make you decide to work gently on certain areas.

[parent2013]

School gradings are not the actual indicator of child's potential. As mystery said, with some DIY and/or private tutoring, the grades can easily go up. Note that some schools are fussy to move only 2 grades by default every year. I therefore rely on the scores they get in Bond, GL etc and success in GS exam. If your child gets into GS, would you really bother if the grades were 5A or 5C at the end of year 6? I won't.