KS2 Level 6

Key Stages 1-2 and SATs advice

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Becky Boo
Posts: 74
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2011 6:24 pm

KS2 Level 6

Post by Becky Boo »

An interesting article in the telegraph re Level 6 Papers.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/91 ... lyers.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Rajula
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Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2012 12:57 pm

Re: KS2 Level 6

Post by Rajula »

Hello Becky Boo, Thanks for sharing this article.. Very interesting..
SEP18
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Joined: Thu Aug 05, 2010 2:18 pm

Re: KS2 Level 6

Post by SEP18 »

“The use of the Level 6 results in league tables this year will go down very badly,” said Russell Hobby, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teacher. “You do not need a test to stretch bright children, you need to give teachers the time and space to set the right tasks and work with these children.”

"Families with high-ability children said the Government’s move would force schools to take more account of the needs of bright children. Many fear they are currently neglected as teachers concentrate on getting average-ability children to Level 4".


Thank you for sharing this report. I liked the two comments above the best. My DS will be sitting the Level 6 tests and before the school had opted into this, there were extra Maths clubs for the Level 4s and Level 3s but the more able children were left out. Now there is a Level 6 Maths Club!
Amber
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Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:59 am

Re: KS2 Level 6

Post by Amber »

SEP18 wrote:“The use of the Level 6 results in league tables this year will go down very badly,” said Russell Hobby, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teacher. “You do not need a test to stretch bright children, you need to give teachers the time and space to set the right tasks and work with these children.”
"Families with high-ability children said the Government’s move would force schools to take more account of the needs of bright children. Many fear they are currently neglected as teachers concentrate on getting average-ability children to Level 4".

/quote]
Make that some families with high ability children...my son will also be sitting a level 6 paper, it seems, and I do not consider that this has in any way 'taken his needs into account'. It's for the school; not for him, though they have failed to teach him the work so not sure he is going to jump through this particular hoop. He was asking me about simplifying equations this weekend - somehow he had managed to answer a question correctly but wasn't sure how he got there. I am more in agreement with Mr Hobby there.
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: KS2 Level 6

Post by mystery »

Yes the notion that you would teach a child to do something, and make sure that they had understood your teaching, prior to (possibly unnecessary) testing seems to have gone out with the ark. What did I miss during my years out of teaching?
Amber
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Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:59 am

Re: KS2 Level 6

Post by Amber »

Do you know, mystery, I am researching the EYFS for an assignment and all the key materials are under 'assessment'...when to assess, how to assess, what to do now you have assessed (this being from birth, remember). I am struggling to find anything about what is supposed to happen between the child being born and being assessed. Very little it seems: wait to be assessed. So by Year 6 I suppose one should be used to it.
Thingsbehindthesun
Posts: 463
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 11:25 pm

Re: KS2 Level 6

Post by Thingsbehindthesun »

I this is the best comment so far:

“The answer is not special tests, adding to children’s stress levels and then saying schools are failing them. We should be picking bright pupils out and making funding available so that they can be taught at a higher level and given the special tuition they need.”
yoyo123
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Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:32 pm
Location: East Kent

Re: KS2 Level 6

Post by yoyo123 »

Thingsbehindthesun wrote:I this is the best comment so far:

“The answer is not special tests, adding to children’s stress levels and then saying schools are failing them. We should be picking bright pupils out and making funding available so that they can be taught at a higher level and given the special tuition they need.”
exactly!
Rob Clark
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Joined: Tue Nov 25, 2008 1:59 pm

Re: KS2 Level 6

Post by Rob Clark »

I am struggling to find anything about what is supposed to happen between the child being born and being assessed
:lol: :lol:
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: KS2 Level 6

Post by mystery »

The missing bit Amber is provided by some Early Years Advisers. They (well many of them) tell nursery and reception class staff to watch children fro 80% of the day and write down things they see or hear on post-its.

These post-its are then stuck into the correct child's file and at the end of each term the teacher assesses the child by trying to decide which point on the Early Years Profile points scale that the child has "achieved".

The other missing bit is a clear instruction to ignore what parents tell you that the child can do as this is not "evidence" and could be highly unreliable - especially if the parents themselves are or have been teachers at some point in their life.

Children are also given plenty of choice. I remember asking at nursery why my child had said she had not played outside all week; they said it was because of choice. She stayed indoors because during outdoor activities her favourite member of staff was inside (this was what she told me anyhow - it was nothing to do with making a choice between being indoors and outdoors).

I asked if this was reasonable as my child was getting no sunlight all week. I suggested they could keep the children outdoors instead and they could opt to go indoors. I got some very blank looks - their method was "choice" apparently, and mine wasn't.

It's all very bizzarre.

I do think though that if you read the real govmt guidance on the EYFS that it is not all about assessment, and in the hands of the right practitioner it can be used very sensibly. A whole world of silly nonsense seems to have been built up around it. The assessment does not have to be onerous at all, and can include all caregivers etc. It is there to be useful in planning "next steps" not satisfying some silly moderator from the LA who wants to see five hundred post-its all confirming that Little Johnny spontaneously counts to 100 each time he plays with the leaves in the nursery garden.
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