Academic Transfer Lesley Lyon – Secondary Advisor

Ambition Year Strategic Plan Priority 2: Mathematics Priority 3: Transition Developing an innovative and effective 'Nottingham mathematics curriculum EYFS – KS5' based upon tried and tested successful approaches Contributing to the board's work on transition arrangements by developing cross phase mathematics projects e.g. arithmetic fluency, mathematical reasoning and problem solving spanning years 5, 6, 7 and 8 Identify a lead group to develop and coordinate joint curriculum projects across primary and secondary – starting with Maths (see Maths Plan)

What Makes a Successful Transition from Primary to Secondary School? University of Oxford IOE and University of Nottingham (2008) The idea that secondary teachers are underestimating Y7 pupils’ academic capabilities appears to be supported by the findings of Galton, Gray and Ruddock (1999). A number of case studies revealed that work set by teachers for Y7 pupils underestimates their capabilities. The findings also support the suggestion of an academic ‘dip’ post transition as the results highlighted some cases where Y7 pupils’ learning appeared to stagnate or regress. A reported two out of five pupils failed to make progress during their first year after transition. T This stresses the problem that secondary teachers are not academically pushing their pupils sufficiently and poses the question about whether or not the transition period is successfully preparing pupils academically for Y7.

The Wasted Years OFSTED 2015 The issue of repeating the same work was of particular concern in mathematics and English. In Year 7, 39% of pupils surveyed said that in mathematics they were doing the same work as in primary school most or all of the time. Further evidence that some schools were not building effectively on pupils’ prior knowledge and skills came from the pupils themselves. Only about half said that their Year 7 teachers built on what they had learnt in primary school

KS2 Maths (level 4 or higher) Attainment has risen in the last three years (+5 ppts to 86%) Gap to national has narrowed (3 to 1 ppts) LA rank has improved (103rd in 2015, was 134th) KS4 (GCSE grade C or higher) Attainment has dropped in the last four years (-7 ppts to 54%) Gap to national is widest it’s been in at least four years (7 to 14 ppts) LA is ranked poorly (150th in 2015)

KS2 (Reading, level 4 or higher) Attainment has risen in the last four years (+3 ppts to 86%) Gap to national has not improved (still 4 ppts) LA rank has deteriorated (141st in 2015, was 126th in 2013) KS4 (GCSE English, grade C or higher) Attainment has increased in the last four years (+1 ppts to 56%) but dropped compared to 2014 (-3 ppts) Gap to national is widest it’s been in at least four years (11 to 14 ppts) LA is ranked poorly (150th in 2015)

‘I find the maths that I do doesn’t challenge me at all. It is too easy.’ Yr 7 Pupil

A senior leader and Secondary Maths Teacher ‘If I gave that to my Yr 10 group they could not do it!’ – of Yr 6 work

‘In maths I did Level 6 so some of the work is much easier than primary was...’ Yr 7 student

Ensure that transition from Key Stage 2 to 3 focuses as much on pupils’ academic needs as it does on their pastoral needs The Wasted Years

‘Maths – I don’t think they know what we did in primary, so we just do it again.’ Year 7 Student

I cannot afford the time to allow Yr 6 to go to the secondary school – they need their SATS preparation Primary Head

‘I find maths 10 x easier than I did in primary.’

‘The data we get from the primary schools is over inflated and unreliable’ Senior Leader Nottingham Secondary School

Some secondary leaders simply accepted that pupils would repeat what they had already done in primary school during the early part of Key Stage 3, particularly in Year 7. The Wasted Years

Schools do not work effectively with together to understand pupils’ prior learning and ensure that they build on this during Key Stage 3.

Discuss in groups the following: What initiatives can we put in place to ensure that teachers understand the true abilities of children and trust the data? How can we convert levels of attainment at the end of KS2 into positive outcomes at GCSE? How should data be transferred effectively ?