SATS - are your schools taking them?
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http://curriculum.qcda.gov.uk/key-stage ... index.aspx
I would think it highly unusual if there were no composition being taught in Year 6 - for a start, there are 2 writing tasks (long and short) in the SATS. My own DS's class wrote thrillers in the weeks between Christmas and Easter - with lots of work on structure, language etc. They are tremendous! This is a very mixed school, not lots of middle class kids from the leafy suburbs, though one or 2.
If your DC are below Year 6, then you might find that the skills are being built up gradually - grammar, structure, vocab etc, with a build up more intensely in Year 6 to SATS and the need to write something long. Everything changed for teachers with the Literacy and Numeracy strategies in the early 90s, with the need for constant drafting and re-drafting which in my view stifles any desire to write in a young child. The NC framework documents replaced those (?2 years ago? can't remember!) and changed the emphasis again, and now of course teachers are waiting to see if the new curriculum (Rose) will or will not be implemented. Every new initiative in education changes the emphasis slightly and teachers have to adjust what they are doing. My hunch is that the new Government will look carefully at more formal skills being acquired in primary schools.
No excuse for 'bredth' though - or 'Thirsday' as I saw in one school recently (secondary!)
I would think it highly unusual if there were no composition being taught in Year 6 - for a start, there are 2 writing tasks (long and short) in the SATS. My own DS's class wrote thrillers in the weeks between Christmas and Easter - with lots of work on structure, language etc. They are tremendous! This is a very mixed school, not lots of middle class kids from the leafy suburbs, though one or 2.
If your DC are below Year 6, then you might find that the skills are being built up gradually - grammar, structure, vocab etc, with a build up more intensely in Year 6 to SATS and the need to write something long. Everything changed for teachers with the Literacy and Numeracy strategies in the early 90s, with the need for constant drafting and re-drafting which in my view stifles any desire to write in a young child. The NC framework documents replaced those (?2 years ago? can't remember!) and changed the emphasis again, and now of course teachers are waiting to see if the new curriculum (Rose) will or will not be implemented. Every new initiative in education changes the emphasis slightly and teachers have to adjust what they are doing. My hunch is that the new Government will look carefully at more formal skills being acquired in primary schools.
No excuse for 'bredth' though - or 'Thirsday' as I saw in one school recently (secondary!)
Just read my typos (sorry!) and a follow-up:
Tiredmum - you are lucky!
We wouldn't be sitting the 11+ if our children weren't bright.
DD is fantastic at NVR. The first test we tried was a 10-minute Bond test where she scored 11/12. She scored 12/12 in the next few, and full marks on some online ones so we are leaving that for now. Shock horror she thinks that they are fun!
In her recent Y5 maths assessment she scored 35/35 in both practice papers and only dropped a mark in the test which used a calculator.
She scored 19/20 in her spelling assessment, but scores 20/20 normally.
Her grammar is excellent (better than mine!)
....but she is at the same level as DD2 in class 2 with composition and comprehension.
The joke is that she was level 3 in her KS1 English so she is able, and we didn't realise a problem until this year when we started home-tutoring. We knew that she was taking longer to write her coursework (copying off the board) but NO concerns were raised in termly meetings with teachers!
If I were her teacher/s I would think it worrying that a child could do excellent work in Science, Maths and spelling, but be barely adequate in English, especially when they were above average at age 7. If I were the headmistress I would be worried that my school had become worse at English four years in a row after implementing a new system. Last year 21% were below the expected level of English so more were below than above! AAAAAARRRRRGGGGG!!!!
Tiredmum - you are lucky!
We wouldn't be sitting the 11+ if our children weren't bright.
DD is fantastic at NVR. The first test we tried was a 10-minute Bond test where she scored 11/12. She scored 12/12 in the next few, and full marks on some online ones so we are leaving that for now. Shock horror she thinks that they are fun!
In her recent Y5 maths assessment she scored 35/35 in both practice papers and only dropped a mark in the test which used a calculator.
She scored 19/20 in her spelling assessment, but scores 20/20 normally.
Her grammar is excellent (better than mine!)
....but she is at the same level as DD2 in class 2 with composition and comprehension.
The joke is that she was level 3 in her KS1 English so she is able, and we didn't realise a problem until this year when we started home-tutoring. We knew that she was taking longer to write her coursework (copying off the board) but NO concerns were raised in termly meetings with teachers!
If I were her teacher/s I would think it worrying that a child could do excellent work in Science, Maths and spelling, but be barely adequate in English, especially when they were above average at age 7. If I were the headmistress I would be worried that my school had become worse at English four years in a row after implementing a new system. Last year 21% were below the expected level of English so more were below than above! AAAAAARRRRRGGGGG!!!!
It maybe worth to time her too. My DD does well without timimg but once you time her she wont have much time to think about the differences and scores tend to be lower. In my area NVR is is timed per section last year it was 18questions in 9mins per section so speed is crucial.2Girlsmum wrote: DD is fantastic at NVR. The first test we tried was a 10-minute Bond test where she scored 11/12. She scored 12/12 in the next few, and full marks on some online ones so we are leaving that for now. Shock horror she thinks that they are fun!
Impossible is Nothing.
I hate to be the sourpuss here and point out that NVR, spelling, Maths and Science are of course no indicators of performance in written English. Spelling is more like Maths in many ways - remembering patterns; and NVR is like, well, NVR! Spelling tests are notoriously a very blunt instrument for measuring anything other than the ability to learn words for spelling tests.
I do take your point about English teaching at the school though and wonder why you don't take the bull by the horns and go and talk through your concerns with the Head.
I do take your point about English teaching at the school though and wonder why you don't take the bull by the horns and go and talk through your concerns with the Head.
I tried to talk to the class teacher last Monday after class, but was told to put it in writing. I handed in a letter on Tuesday and have not heard anything yet. I thought I'd give her a week to respond, then request a meeting to discuss what we could do apart from practice at home.
I find it really hard to undersatnd why essay writing isn't done as I personally think it's a fundamental skill.
It's hard not to feel that they will be less than supportive as other parents have felt they were not taken seriously when issues have been raised, and I now have to decide whether or not to raise a bullying problem at the same time - DD was stabbed in the arm on Friday with a very sharp pencil by a boy at table who has called her names, kicked her chair, told her her 'father died in Afghanistan' etc. She went to the sick room and had it cleaned as it was bleeding.
....It amazes me how quickly schools can change. It was equal top in borough when she started with 298, now it is 237 and falling......
I find it really hard to undersatnd why essay writing isn't done as I personally think it's a fundamental skill.
It's hard not to feel that they will be less than supportive as other parents have felt they were not taken seriously when issues have been raised, and I now have to decide whether or not to raise a bullying problem at the same time - DD was stabbed in the arm on Friday with a very sharp pencil by a boy at table who has called her names, kicked her chair, told her her 'father died in Afghanistan' etc. She went to the sick room and had it cleaned as it was bleeding.
....It amazes me how quickly schools can change. It was equal top in borough when she started with 298, now it is 237 and falling......
Last week DD had mock year 5 sats and this week she just said they are doing CATS. She has been moaning by the number of test she has had to go through.
I thought they were doing CATS in June but it seems our school put them forward to let us know if our kids are or arent grammar school material as we need to register by early July here if DCs want to sit the 11+ test.
I thought they were doing CATS in June but it seems our school put them forward to let us know if our kids are or arent grammar school material as we need to register by early July here if DCs want to sit the 11+ test.
Impossible is Nothing.
Re:
That sounds really tough and a bit OTT to me, and bad planning. Our LA doesn't do 11+ and our primaries don't do Cats so it's Sats then that's it here. I do think that doing tests (Cats) to ascertain whether Dcs are bright enough to do another test (11+) is bonkers. Surely 5 years at primary school qualifies the teacher to make that judgment - at least it shouldsherry_d wrote:Last week DD had mock year 5 sats and this week she just said they are doing CATS. She has been moaning by the number of test she has had to go through.
I thought they were doing CATS in June but it seems our school put them forward to let us know if our kids are or arent grammar school material as we need to register by early July here if DCs want to sit the 11+ test.
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Bewildered
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Re:
After having seen my eldest two, through two separate infant schools and a junior school, I fully understand the feeling of not being taken seriously when raising concerns with the teacher. Usually my concerns fell on deaf ears, one teacher actually said 'Well I can't see to everyone, it's too much with a class full of thirty children.' It definitely appeared to be a case of don't upset the equilibrium, we provide a service and anything outside this is not within our remit. One of these infant schools received an Ofsted outstanding the year after mine had left.2Girlsmum wrote: It's hard not to feel that they will be less than supportive as other parents have felt they were not taken seriously when issues have been raised......
Now with child three, at a completely different infant school, experience has taught me to avoid the teachers and do what I think is necessary at home.
On the other hand I couldn't be more impressed with the secondary school's approach to any concerns I have raised. Usually as immediate a response as possible, phone calls and follow ups.
Stats like this are usually down to cohort. If you find one year you have a very high percentage of academically inclined children, and the next year not.2Girlsmum wrote:....It amazes me how quickly schools can change. It was equal top in borough when she started with 298, now it is 237 and falling......
