How do I know how my child is doing at school? Post Reply

[Daisy11]

Hi. I am really confused. My child is in Year 4 and I have no idea whatsoever on what school to sit her for at 11+. Parents evenings are really woolly and all I know is she is in the top group for maths and English and learning fractions and myths and legends. I want to know how she compares to others nationally and if she is reaching her potential in class? I also want to know which secondary schools to sit her for when she gets to Year 6 - I need to have realistic expectations. Anyone know how to help?

[Teaandbiscuits]

Ask for a meeting with her teacher one day after school and ask them exactly this! They are the person best placed to help you and should be able to tell you areas of strength and areas for development, although a good teacher should steer you away from direct comparisons. Parent evenings are generally a bit of a rush and I always regret that I have to cram everything I want to say about a student in to ten minutes because it never does them justice - a set meeting with a (slight) agenda can be very helpful for everyone and hopefully allows time for a more detailed discussion if this is what you need. Her teacher should be able to advise you whether your daughter is 'on track' or otherwise for certain school entry criteria, assuming that they know of the school and its ethos. With this in mind it could also be useful to go to the meeting armed with an idea of what the school/s you have in mind expect from their applicants. If the news is that there may be a few areas for development before your daughter is ready for the exams then there is plenty of time to think about tuition or other ways of supporting her in addition to the help she is receiving at school, if this is what you would like. All teachers should work to maximise their pupil's potential but unfortunately when it comes to private schools, exam tuition is often a must any way! Hope this helps

[JK Tutoring]

As suggested by Teaandbiscuits, arranging a time to speak to your daughter's teachers is a great idea. It will allow you to ask specific questions without the rush usually associated with parent evenings. If however, you are still unclear on how well she is actually doing (when comparing to others nationally, I would suggest an academic assessment. It really is the best way of finding out if your child is reaching their potential in class and how they are performing against others nationally. Look up assessments at jktutoring.co.uk. The assessments here are highly detailed and very popular with parents who want recommendations on secondary schools. They give informed information on what secondary schools will be the best ones for the children – be it state/state selective or private in your area. They also tell you how your child is doing in class compared to others in the year group who they will be competing with and if your child is reaching their full potential. A full and detailed report is given plus one to one feedback. It is excellent value and extremely detailed with next step recommendations given for both maths and English school targets. A guiding hand for parents who feel primary schools are just not giving them the information they need. For more information please call us on 020 3488 0754.

[Fernando]

I also think it might help if you check out the following websites which show how your child compares to the National Average, and gives the levels for each year group and what is considered to be 'more able'.
webfronter.com/ealing/stjohnfisher/ff.../Levels_of_attainment.pdf
and
https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/.../Age-rel ... tions-KS-1…

Good private schools are looking for good Level 5 in maths (even level 6) and high Level 5 English by the end of Year 6, but will do their own assessments in the Dec and Jan of Year 6. Grammar school entrance exams are in the Sept of Year 6 but you will have to register with them while your child is still in Year 5, and some indpt schools like Emanuel need you to register v early.

Look at schools asap as there are alot to look at and you might want to look at one more than once and visits can be variable depending on who shows you around. Don't wait until Year 6!!

[Teatime Tash]

Hello.
I run a business called Teatime Tutors www.teatimetutors.co.uk.
I am a fully qualified teacher and have spent 6 years teaching in years 4, 5 and 6. I am based in Battersea and would be happy to chat to you regarding where you want / hope your child to go to school. I specialise in assessing children and advising parents on where best to look at for secondary schooling.

If you have any questions please call me Tash 07768 768 373

[Daisy11]

Thank you all so much for such detailed and helpful replies. I have tried again to engage with my daughter's teacher but with no luck. I am still confused! I guess some schools and teachers are better at informing parents about this than others. I feel the best approach now is to have a totally objective set of eyes look at her and help us with the next steps. JK Tutoring I will call you after the Bank Holiday Weekend as I feel from looking at your website and the fact that you are set up by qualified teachers and have a trained team of tutors on standby that you can help and understand. Thank you also Teatime.

[KarenG]

You may find that asking specific questions of your children's teacher may result in more useful information. All schools test children is varying ways throughout the year so they will have some results of your child. Ask which quartile your child is in....ie. 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th to get an indication of how they are doing in each subject....but expect variation. Often those that achieve 1st (top) quartile in Maths for example may get 3rd/4th quartile in English. We can't all be brilliant at everything Hope that helps.

[SWJuggler]

Finding a tutor is definitely a good idea. An experienced one will know how your child ranks against others who have sat exams and recognise the areas to work on. Get lots of references on them

[atbattersea]

As KarenG says, ask the specific questions. As what quartile your child is in, and what level in the National Curriculum your child is at, or expected to be at by the end of the academic year.

I've had essentially the same problem with my son's school. You try to get an answer out of them and you just get wooly statements about him being "at or above the level expected". After bashing away at it for a couple of years I think they realised that I wasn't going to accept that as an answer, so, on request, they would tell me where he was performing on the NC levels.

What helped was that I was also armed with the information they have to make the assessments, the "National Curriculum level descriptions for subjects". This document seems hard to find, but there's a PDF here:

http://www.fft.org.uk/FFT/media/fft/Eve ... ptions.pdf

As it turns out, he is just finishing year two, and they expect him to attain level 4a – apart from anything else, I think this just shows how low the government sets the attainment levels (given that level four is the average at year 6).