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Just received our twin girls' (yr 8) CAT scores which are all pretty much as we would have hoped for except for rubbish PE grades again (6 out of a possible 9).
They are both very good, very fit and always work hard. They both represent their year in the regional netball team (one is a particularly good GA, the other an equally good C), they are both very good at athletics - both volunteered to represent their houses and both placed very well in all events they took part in. One of them is a particularly good runner and has recently represented the school at a county-level cross-country which resulted in her being offered a place in a local running club (it's not invite only honestly because it's not fair to do that but, well, it is). The only thing they are both not as keen on is hockey but everything else - they just get on and enjoy. But they both got 'Outstanding' 'Attitude to Working' grades!
So how TF can they get better grades come higher than first place? Win a netball competition single-handedly? Bloody rubbish.
Sorry, rant over but I just wish they would be properly recognised for what they do!
Now being in Scotland, and only having much younger kids, I'm far from an expert..... but isn't this the sort of nonsense you neatly file in the nearest waste receptacle upon receipt?
I know it is pretty meaningless at the end of the day (to us adults), but they should have the confidence to know that their hard work is appreciated and recognised at this stage in their development. Fast forward two or three years when they will be in the middle of their teenage years and all that entails, I don't want them to be thinking 'ohh, sod that, we never get good grades no matter what we do' and stop actively participating in sports.
Ask the PE department? It's possible that they have some daft idea about higher scores being demotivating, so have scored everyone with room to improve.
Maybe ask their teacher?
No no idea what year8 is.... But PE had other aspects to grading than sporting achievement. .....
But I also found that if you didn't want to play basket ball you were a trouble.maker who would never get good grades.
Maybe ask their teacher?
We don't get to speak to teachers directly until the end of the year Parent Teacher Meeting and the PE teacher wasn't available last year. We could try reaching out to their year manager but I doubt they will prioritise something like this.
No no idea what year8 is….
Second year secondary school
Without wanting to sound like a d**k, if your kids getting pretty much top marks except one subject is all you have to get "very annoyed" about then life is probably pretty decent 🙂
Get used to it @jondoh.
We have two son's who are musical - one Gd8 Violin, around Gd5 Sax, sings, plays at school in concerts as lead violin and weekly BB's band on Sax including concerts around Scotland and often Europe in the summer, taking music up to Advanced Higher. Another Gd5 Piano and around Gd5 Clarinet, again in BB's band for years.
Both got less than great marks in music - because music teacher said they were not in the school orchestra, so couldn't get top effort or attainment grades.
File in bin and assure your kids that life is tough and not every boss will recognise your effort.
One of them is a particularly good runner and has recently represented the school at a county-level cross-country which resulted in her being offered a place in a local running club
My middle daughter had a poor grade for PE a couple of years ago, with comments about not taking part in after school clubs. At the time, she was Welsh Champ at her age/grade/weight in jiu jitsu, and the year before had taken gold at the world champs. The teacher didn't know about this.
My daughter was very sporty outside school - black belt in Tae Kwon Do, loads of horse riding and other stuff. She put zero effort into school sport though as it was badly run and no one was interested.
Perhaps they're not as committed when at school as you think! 🙂
Idlejon wins the Internet.
🙂
Just shows what a narrow view of sport a lot of people ( and schools) have.
Idlejon wins the Internet.
😀 It's a nice boast isn't it? For which I had to do absolutely nothing, other than drive her around occasionally, and be the calmer-downerer at events, because my wife is better at winding up.
The teacher didn’t know about this.
You should have filmed the moment when you told him/her.
It is odd,
At school I was good at basketball and cross country, and swimming I guess.
Was rubbish at football and had zero interest in it to the point me and my like-minded mate would literally just stand around on the pitch in protest rather than engaging in the game.
Apparently that made us bad at PE or all sports in general.
I suspect that the score for core PE (which is all they do at year 8) is based on lesson performance and not extra curricular*
They might have been rubbish at the sports they've done in PE recently.
*Disclaimer-It's my wife who's the head of PE, not me so take this with a pinch of salt.
That is amusing Idlejon!
On related - our eldest won the Dux medal for being top student in 6th form at school. We didn't even know what a Dux medal was....and his head of year didn't know who he was either.
At the end of the medal ceremony, we had a group of other parents rush up to ask who our tutor was, as clearly you don't get such awards and medals without a private tutor. While mrs_oab began explaining 'none' to one set of parents, I (and I am rather proud of myself for this) told the other group loudly he only had one tutor. This was true.
Mr Ben_Cathro had coached him on multiple summer camps, so was closet we had to tutor.
Sorry Ben if you got phone calls from parents wanting you to tutor Advanced Higher maths....
if your kids getting pretty much top marks except one subject
I didn't say 'top marks' – I said 'all pretty much as we would have hoped for'. In fact one of them isn't that much of an achiever (low to middle grades in some subjects) although she got a 6 in Maths this time around which we are absolutely delighted with as she has worked hard all year (she got a 2 last year).
They might have been rubbish at the sports they’ve done in PE recently.
Well no - they both always do well in running and netball in school, local inter-school and (in the case of one daughter) regional at school organised events and both play for the school netball team (on top of the extra-curricular stuff they do).
Perhaps they’re not as committed when at school as you think!
Were we?
I loved to do weird sports - judo, fencing, kayaking, even sub aqua. And then went to school to be presented with football, with the football thickos. Rugby wasn't quite as thuggish but it would have helped if the teacher had given us a clue to what the rules were - I started watching rugby about 5 years after leaving school and haven't stopped. Most of my peers learned how to play cricket, tennis, et al outside school.
I've ranted in the past about how many future rugby internationals (or whatever sport..) our school lost because the teachers simply couldn't be arsed to do a decent job. I really hope it's better these days and it's the kids who can't be arsed. 😀
That is amusing Idlejon!
And is the same as your scenario. :d
Well no – they both always do well in running and netball in school, local inter-school and (in the case of one daughter) regional at school organised events and both play for the school netball team (on top of the extra-curricular stuff they do).
Have a chat with the teacher then, ask what they can do to get more than a 6.
No harm in asking, be nice though, it's the end of term and they are all on their last legs.
As I mentioned in the OP, the teacher gave them 'Outstanding' scores on their 'Attitude to learning' - the scale below shows the grading. How on earth can they only receive a CAT score of 6 (and an expected CAT score of 6 too). Taking the piss really.
O The student's attitude and effort are consistently outstanding.
G The student's attitude and effort are consistently good.
Coasting
C1 The student does not always work hard and gives up too quickly when work is challenging.
C2 The student's behaviour does not always meet expected standards.
C3 The student does not always meet deadlines.
C4 The student does not always arrive at lessons with the correct equipment.
C5 The student does not always reflect on and respond to feedback.
C6 The student does not always produce work that meets expectations.
Unsatisfactory
U1 The student does not work hard in lessons and gives up immediately when work is challenging.
U2 The student's behaviour regularly disrupts the learning of others.
U3 The student regularly fails to meet deadlines.
U4 The student regularly arrives at lessons without the correct equipment.
U5 The student refuses to accept or respond to feedback.
U6 The student regularly produces work that is significantly below expectations.
The only thing they are both not as keen on is hockey but everything else – they just get on and enjoy
C6 The student does not always produce work that meets expectations.
Seems consistent. They demonstrate just how good they are at the things they like but are not up to the same level in hockey cos they don't like it. The teacher is on the ball enough to spot that they aren't putting the effort they are capable of based on their general levels of fitness and athleticism. Tell them it's just as important to put the effort in on things that don't spin their wheels as things that do.
Do they know who *did* get a 7, 8 or 9 by the way? (That might help to reverse engineer the scoring algorithm!)
C6 The student does not always produce work that meets expectations
What is c7?
That does sound like teacher speak for brainy but not trying as hard as they can. So could be great sporting ability but don't always dig in and show it?
Changed my mind
Maybe ask their teacher?
Every teacher is available, even if only by email.
The key question though is whether the kids are upset by it. If not, don't overthink it.
Sometimes schools do a grade based on the end of KS attainment, so for example a year 8 will always struggle to achieve year 9 performance or something like that.
Who knows all teachers are ***** anyway so its the teachers fault!!
Well, England speaks even more education babble and gobbledygook than i thought.
Might I ask why the hell it matters?
But netball is a team sport, innit.
Otherwise - No idea.
Both the most middle clash thread and worst rant of the day, rolled into one! Great success!
Might I ask why the hell it matters?
Because they have worked hard and done as well as they could hope apart from this one - the assessment says they are outstanding but the same teacher then gives them a middling CAT grade. I just want them to enjoy sport and being competitive but grading like this doesn’t reflect what they do and could stop them from trying.
what they do and could stop them from trying.
You being bothered by it and making. A big deal out of it will ensure that.
What is wrong with wanting your kids to be fairly acknowledged for the work they are doing in physical activities? They love it, do well at it and give up lots of their spare time on it.
As a teacher, there's loads confusing about this. What do the school say CAT stands for? It has a very specific meaning in education and is absolutely nothing to do with PE in any way (and certainly isn't measured on a 1-9 scale).
Also, in Year 8 are they equating these scores to current or potential GCSE grades? Dangerous thing to do at that point in school IMO.
And, as a Head of Year (currently Year 7), this is exactly the kind of thing I'm happy to follow up for parents and students. Nothing worse for progress and wellbeing than a demotivated student and disgruntled parents. If you feel your girls' Year Team wouldn't feel the same way then that's a concern too (TBH if their title is actually "Year Manager" rather than 'Head of Year' or 'Pastoral Lead' then I'm not sure that's a school I'd want to work in).
Our school uses step grades, s1 to s9, and through ks3 you can’t actually achieve the higher end until in to year 9- for example my daughter got step 4 for a biology test with no wrong answers, as that was the highest attainable at that stage of the curriculum- are the higher CAT grades achievable for your girls’ year group?
Blimey what a load of old tripe !
Stop putting pressure on them and yourself !
Worry about something worth worrying about…
I have one in Yr 8&9 and couldn’t of cared what marks they got.
Be happy
The OPs kid are 8.
Eight.
You should just chill the ukcf out.
Nah, they're 12 or 13. In Year 8.
I agree there's a balance to be had, but depending on the school they might be starting their GCSEs next year and grades given now might (again, depending on the school) affect their ability to study what they want to.
johndoh
FWhat is wrong with wanting your kids to be fairly acknowledged for the work they are doing in physical activities? They love it, do well at it and give up lots of their spare time on it.
Teacher clearly thinks otherwise, and it’s their views that count…
Ah, ok. Misread that,thanks.
They will have been assessed using the PE curriculum criteria.
An overview of the PE Key Stage 3 curriculum is below.
use a range of tactics and strategies to overcome opponents in direct competition through team and individual games [for example, badminton, basketball, cricket, football, hockey, netball, rounders, rugby and tennis]
develop their technique and improve their performance in other competitive sports [for example, athletics and gymnastics]
perform dances using advanced dance techniques within a range of dance styles and forms
take part in outdoor and adventurous activities which present intellectual and physical challenges and be encouraged to work in a team, building on trust and developing skills to solve problems, either individually or as a group
analyse their performances compared to previous ones and demonstrate improvement to achieve their personal best
take part in competitive sports and activities outside school through community links or sports clubs.
I'll let you draw your own conclusions in relation to their assessments.
I have kids in year 8 and 9 and I had to look up CAT scores, our school clearly don’t use them to communicate progress with parents. My kids are reasonably sporty inside and even more so outside school but I couldn’t care less what their scores were for PE. I’m just proud of what they achieve.
Does anyone think that someone’s ability at sport could impact their GCSE choices. My daughter is the top set and she hangs out with some of the brightest girls in the year and she is the only one of her friends that does sport outside school.
C6 The student does not always produce work that meets expectations.
Seems consistent. They demonstrate just how good they are at the things they like but are not up to the same level in hockey cos they don’t like it.
I think you have misunderstood this bit - the 'C6' is a score for overall attitude to learning (and they both got an 'O' for Outstanding on that score). This is separate from the CAT score which is simply 1 – 9 with one being a complete fail and 9 being the highest. I know it is confusing but they are completely different marks.