YEAR 2 SATS 2016 Information for parents 18 th April 2016

PURPOSE OF THE MEETING Update on national changes in assessment arrangements Explain school arrangements for KS1 SATs Opportunity to look at sample questions

BACKGROUND A new national curriculum was introduced in 2014 for Years 1, 3, 4 and 5. However, Years 2 and 6 continued to study the previous curriculum for one further year. In 2015/2016 children in all years are now studying the new national curriculum. As a result, the Standards and Testing Agency (STA) is changing the tests so that they assess the new curriculum. Pupils will take the new tests for the first time in May The new curriculum is more rigorous and sets high expectations which all schools have had to work hard to meet since the beginning of last year.

THE TESTS At the end of Year 2, children will be assessed in their understanding of the Key Stage 1 curriculum. All children will take all of the tests but teachers will have the option to stop the test at any point that they feel is appropriate for a particular child. This will include tests in: Reading English grammar, punctuation and spelling Maths The tests are due to take place in May of each year.

ASSESSMENT AND REPORTING As part of the national curriculum review, levels have been abolished. At South Milford we use BAD assessment (Basic, Advancing Deep) to monitor children’s progress throughout the year. Achievement at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2) and Key Stage 2 (Year 6) will be measured against the national expectation. From 2016, national curriculum test outcomes will be reported as ‘scaled scores’. This score will be used in conjunction with teacher assessment to give a broader picture of their attainment.

SCALED SCORES It is planned that 100 will always represent the ‘national standard’. Each pupil’s raw test score will be converted into a score on the scale, either at, above or below 100. A child who achieves the ‘national standard’ (a score of 100) will be judged to have demonstrated sufficient knowledge in the areas assessed by the tests. A child who achieves a scaled score of more than 100 is judged to have exceeded the national standard and demonstrated a higher than expected knowledge of the curriculum. A scaled score of less than 100 shows the child has not yet met the national standard and performed below expectation for their age.

TEACHER ASSESSMENT Teacher assessment is the main focus for assessment at the end of KS1. Takes into account what a child can do over time and in a variety of contexts. Working towards the expected standard Working at the expected standard Working at greater depth within the expected standard Children who do not meet the criteria for working towards the expected standard Science: Working at the expected standard or not working at the expected standard.

READING The Reading Test consists of two separate papers. Each paper is worth 50% of the marks and should take approximately 30 minutes to complete although this will not be strictly timed. Paper 1 consists of a selection of texts totally 400 to 700 words, with questions about the text interspersed. Paper 2 comprises a reading booklet of a selection of passages totally 800 to 1100 words and a separate question booklet in which children will write their answers. The texts will cover a range of poetry, fiction and non-fiction and will get progressively more difficult towards the end of the test.

There will be a variety of question types: Multiple choice or selected responses Ranking/ordering (e.g. Number the events below to show in which order they happened in the story) Matching (e.g. Match the character to the job that they do in the story) Labelling (e.g. Label the text to show the title) Find and copy (e.g. Find and copy one word that shows what the weather was like in the story) Short answers (e.g. What does the bear eat?) Opened ended answers (e.g. Why did Lucy write the letter to her grandmother?)

GRAMMAR, SPELLING AND PUNCTUATION Spelling (20 marks) taking approximately 15 minutes Common exception words: Saturday Spelling patterns: face, knew Suffixes: faster, thanked, hurried, baking Grammar, Punctuation and Vocabulary questions (20 marks) taking approximately 20 minutes

MATHEMATICS Paper 1 is for arithmetic, lasting approximately 20 minutes and worth 25 marks. It covers calculation methods for all operations. Paper 2 will assess reasoning, mathematical fluency and problem solving. It will take about 35 minutes and is worth 35 marks. There will be a variety of question types: Multiple choice Matching True/false Constrained (e.g. completing a chart or table; drawing a shape) Less constrained (e.g. where children have to show or explain their method) Children will not be able to use any tools such as calculators or number lines.

HOW ARE WE PREPARING CHILDREN FOR THE TESTS? Special work to show how good we are! The new curriculum has been taught in year 1 and 2. Vibrant curriculum including cross curricular teaching. High expectations and independent learning. Separate daily sessions for handwriting and spelling. Focused groups for reading, maths and writing. Exposure to test like questions during lessons. Half termly Rising Stars ‘Tests.’ Completing practice papers in April.

HOW TO HELP YOUR CHILD Support and reassure your child that there is nothing to worry about and that they should always just try their best. Praise and encourage! Reading – Enjoy a range of texts together (reading to your child is equally as important as listening to your child read). Talk about the story before, during and afterwards. Discuss the plot, the characters, their feelings and actions, how it makes you feel, predict what will happen and encourage children to have their own opinion. Spelling – Learn red words (common exception words), talk about what makes the word tricky and think of how they could remember it (say it in a silly way, make up a rhyme etc.) Learn words in log books but also encourage children to think about the focus pattern by finding other words or using it in writing. Grammar – Identify different types of words (adjectives, adverbs, verbs) and punctuation in reading.

Writing - Encourage opportunities for writing (such as letters to family or friends, shopping lists, notes or reminders, stories or poems). Play games to develop vocabulary (e.g. how many adjectives can you think of in one minute to describe that tree?). Identify good writing features when reading (e.g. vocabulary, sentence structure, punctuation). Arithmetic – Learn basic number facts (quick maths targets) by playing games, play games to practise answering number sentences (targets, cards etc.) Reasoning – Look for opportunities to apply maths to everyday life (e.g. counting money and working out change, sharing sweets, identifying units and using scales when baking, looking for shapes around the home, encourage children to explain how they worked out an answer, play games involving numbers or logic (dominoes and card games). HOW TO HELP YOUR CHILD