Interpreting my child’s report card in the Northern Irish Primary School

Get up to speed on the new assessment levels in Northern Irish Primary Schools

Did you know that your child’s summer term report card will look a little different this year?  How teachers assess and report on your child’s learning has changed in the 2012/13 school year and parents will have to get to grips with new levels of achievement which allow them to understand how their child is progressing through the primary curriculum.   The biggest change that parents will see on the report card is the introduction of levels of progression numbered 1 to 5.  These levels provide a framework of assessment criteria that teachers will use to assess your child in the cross-curricular skills of Communication and Mathematics (ICT will be added to this framework in 2013/14).  Teachers will base their judgement on their knowledge of your child, on-going assessment and their overall performance in a number of planned skills based assessment activities throughout the school year.

What level should my child be achieving?

Of course every child learns at different rates and parents must remember that these levels provide a guide to what the ‘expected level’ that most children will reach by the end of each Key Stage.  Children are expected to reach Level 2 by the end of Key Stage 1 (Primary 4) and Level 4 by the end of Key Stage 2 (Primary 7) with most children progressing at least one level between the end of Key Stage 1 and the end of Key Stage 2.  Many children will reach these levels before the end of the Key Stages and progress on to Level 5 by the end of Primary 7.

Here are some of the skills your child will be expected to master to achieve level 2 and level 4.  For a full range of skills required please visit  www.nicurriculum.org.uk

Communication – Level 2 (Reached by end of Primary 4)

Mathematics – Level 2 (Reached by end of Primary 4)

In structured activities, in familiar and accessible contexts, pupils can:

Communication – Level 4 (Reached by the end of Primary 7)

Mathematics – Level 4 (Reached by end of Primary 4)

In activities with some structure, in familiar and some unfamiliar  contexts and situations, pupils can:

Kip McGrath Lisburn Summer School 2013

Book now for Summer School 2013

Keep brains active this summer at the Kip McGrath Lisburn Summer School!

Summer School: Monday 15th July – Friday 23th August

Did you know that children can lose on average two months worth of knowledge over the summer months if their brains are not actively engaged in educational activities.  Of course their brains do need a break from school work – but the summer holidays are also the ideal time to fix any problems that they may have been having with Maths or English, especially if important exams are looming in the coming academic year.

Who is the Kip McGrath Lisburn Summer School aimed at?

• Children who have missed out on learning during term time due to absence or illness
• Children who have struggled to grasp certain topics in maths or English during term time.
• Children who are lacking confidence in their school work and need a boost to make sure they are ready for the coming term.
• Children who will be sitting exams in the coming school year.
• Children whose parents feel they will benefit from keeping their learning active over the summer months.

Our aim is to have your child ready to return to school in September with a positive attitude.  A little extra support over the summer should mean that they do not lose all the knowledge they gained in the previous term and will make sure they are at the required level for the new school year.  Just like our term time lessons our qualified teachers can help with:

• Transfer Test preparation
  
• GCSE Maths and English
• Dyslexia support
• Primary and Secondary English
• Maths, Reading and Spelling.

When does the Kip McGrath Lisburn Summer School take place?

Dates and times can be tailored to suit your busy summer schedule, with most children attending one or two 80 minute lessons per week.

Monday 15th July – Friday 23th August

Monday to Friday sessions:

9.30am – 10.50am

11.00am – 12.20pm

1.00pm – 2.20pm

What is the cost of tuition?

Each 80 minute session coats £27.  A block booking of 6 lessons paid in advance costs £155.

Please call Martin and Clare on 9267 5071 for full details of lesson times and content.  If you are a new student we can offer you a free assessment to pinpoint your child’s learning needs and design an individual programme of work to target their areas of need over the summer months.

Fragile Dreams by Megan Rafferty, Kip McGrath Education Centres' National Competition Winner

Reblogged from kipmcgrathcraigavon:

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This piece was written by Megan Rafferty, a pupil of New-Bridge Integrated College, Loughbrickland and won the regional and national prize for Kip McGrath Education Centres' UK competition Dream a Big Dream

Dreams are a lot like bubbles. There are many of them, some big, some small, and are truly beautiful. They have a way of making you want to chase them, and to go to great lengths to reach them.

Read more… 575 more words

Here is the winning entry for the 11-14 category in the Kip McGrath Education Centres national writing competition. We are even more excited because Megan Rafferty is from Northern Ireland. What a talent!

Young writers think big and secure regional win in Kip McGrath Education Centre’s national writing competition

Northern Ireland Kip McGrath Writing Competition Winners

Libby Harrison (Ballymena) and Megan Rafferty (Craigavon) have become the Northern Irish regional winners for Kip McGrath Education Centre’s UK competition Dream a Big Dream . The competition was open to 9-14 years olds and invited entrants to write about their dreams for the future whether they wanted to save the rainforest, fly to the moon or become a world-renowned author.

Libby Harrison’s entry focused on her big dream to become the best teacher she could and she credited her teachers from Ballykeel Primary School, Miss Thompson and Mrs Wolfenden for inspiring her dream. Libby said: “It is great news to win the regional competition for my big dream, it was a real surprise for me.  Getting selected is brilliant news and my family and friends are delighted for me!”

Megan Rafferty’s entry reflected on her view that she felt that dreams were just like bubbles that needed to be chased in order to bring them about and she said: “I’m so pleased that my big dream has been selected as a regional winner. I’d never really spent anytime thinking about what my dreams for the future might be but winning the regional competition has inspired me to hold onto my dream and go for it.”

Clare Rimmer was part of the regional judging panel and is Centre Director of the Kip McGrath Centre in Lisburn. She said: “The quality of entries that we received from the region were of a very high standard and it was really inspiring to read about the big dreams of young people in across Northern Ireland. However, Libby and Megan are very worthy winners and on behalf of the judges I congratulate them both.”

Libby and Megan will now join the other 13 regional winners shortlisted to wait and see who will be selected as the two overall winners and get national recognition for their big dream.

Over 200 Kip McGrath Education Centres were involved in the competition.  Clare Rimmer added: “All young people should be encouraged to have a big dream. By working with children everyday, Kip McGrath teachers experience first hand the potential children have to do great things.”

The results of the national competition will be announced at the end of March 2013 and the winners will receive a professional bound book featuring the winning entries, £100 Amazon vouchers and a signed certificate of congratulations from the young aspiring olympians that were the inspiration for the competition.

Lisburn City Business Awards Finalists – Best Customer Service (non retail)

We are delighted to announce that Kip McGrath Lisburn has been shortlisted for the Lisburn City Business Awards in the category of Best Customer Service (non retail).

Congratulations to everyone who has been nominated in our category.  We have definitely got some tough competition!  For more information on the awards and the other short listed businesses please visit the Lisburn City Business Awards website.

Transfer test results 2013 – Kip McGrath Lisburn

Congratulations to all our AQE and GL Assessment students who sat the 2012 tests

Martin, Clare and Martina would like to say a big congratulations to all our students who sat their Transfer tests in November and December 2012 and who received their results in February 2013.

We have been delighted to hear that our 2012 Transfer Test students have done so well.  Huge congratulations to everyone!

I wanted to share some of the comments we have received in the past few weeks.

“Thanks for all the help you gave me coming up to the transfer test.  I got an A (standardised age score 282) in th GL and 118 in the AQE and hopefully I will get into B.R.A” N. Sloan (Feb 2013)

“We are delighted with Bethany’s score of 108 in the AQE test. Thank you for helping her with her confidence she enjoyed being with you on a Thursday.” Jacqui Stewart (Feb 2013)

”I am so pleased with Conor’s fantastic result in the AQE. Thank you for all your help in preparing him for the tests. I have been recommending Kip McGrath to all my friends and will definitely be back again with my daughter when the time comes!” Helen Irwin (Feb 2013)

Revision rocks!

Reblogged from Kip McGrath Professional Tutoring Leeds:

Time

Make an early start. When is a good time to start? The beginning of year 11 will help prepare you for mock exams typically held around Xmas.

Use all available time. ‘Little and often’ is a brilliant adage to apply. Make time. Snatch time. Don’t expect to study for hours either but build up from shorter periods of intense revision.

Read more… 360 more words

Here are some great revision tips from Bill Moody who is the Director of the Kip McGrath Education Centre in Leeds.