Charlton Kings Junior School INFORMATION EVENING FOR YEAR 6 PARENTS

End of Key Stage Assessment

At the end of Infant School – the end of KS1  Your child will have been assessed by their teachers and given a level for Reading, Writing, Maths and Science  These were either level 1, level 2 or level 3  Sometimes these levels were subdivided with a letter  So levels could be 1c, 1b, 1a, 2c, 2b, 2a, 3 (generally counted as 3c)  The level expected of an average 7 year old was 2b

At the end of Junior School - the end of KS2  Previously, children were assessed from a combination of formal tests (SATs) and teacher assessments  SATs were taken in Reading, SPAG (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar) and Maths (an oral mental maths paper and 2 written papers) – these tests gave the children a level – 3, 4 or 5  Teacher assessments (in levels) were made for writing and science  The average 11 year old was expected to achieve a level 4b  Some children could be entered for separate level 6 tests if they were achieving very highly – if successful and, if they achieved a 5 in the other paper, they would be given a level 6

But this has changed this year!  Your children will still take tests – SATs (during the week starting 9 th May 2016)  Teacher assessments will also be made – but not in levels  The tests will be as follows:  Reading  Spelling  Grammar and Punctuation  Mathematics  The tests will be reported as a ‘scaled score’

What information will parents receive ? With the end of year school report, you will also receive:  Your child’s scaled score for Reading, Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation, and Mathematics with information on whether or not they have achieved the national average  A teacher assessment for each of the above and for Writing and Science  Teacher assessments will be reported as:  Writing – working towards the expected standard, working at the expected standard, work at greater depth within the expected standard  Maths and Science – whether the children are working at the expected standard

What is a scaled score ?  A scaled score will be a score based around 100  100 will be the score achieved by an average 11 year old – they will be at national expectations  Children scoring below 100 will be achieving below national expectations  Children scoring above 100 will be achieving above national expectations

How will scaled scores be calculated ?  Exactly how this will look is unknown at the moment!  When the children take the tests across the country, they will get a raw score – the number of questions they get correct  The DfE will then calculate the average raw score for each test – a child achieving the same raw score as this average will be given a scaled score of 100  The DfE will then compute a scaled score to fit with the rest of the raw scores  Until the children sit the tests this summer, we do not know what raw score will represent the average, and this mark will change year on year

What does this mean for your child ?  Your child will take the following tests:  Monday 9 th May – Reading  A 50 minute test paper based on a reading booklet  Tuesday 10 th May - SPAG  A 20 minute spelling test and a 45 minute grammar and punctuation test  Wednesday 11 th May - Mathematics  A maths arithmetic paper and a reasoning paper  Thursday 12 th May - Mathematics  A second reasoning paper

How are these tests different to previous years ? Reading  There is only one paper  (before everyone took the level 3-5 paper and a small number also took the level 6 paper)  The new paper has questions which get progressively harder – the hardest questions are equivalent to level 6  The children have 1 hour to read the booklet containing 3 texts and answer the questions

Reading Test

How are these tests different to previous years ? Spelling  The format of this paper is the same as previously, with 20 spellings read out by the teacher – it takes approximately 15 minutes  The words tested are from the new national curriculum (introduced in September 2014)  The words the children are expected to know are more difficult than in the previous curriculum

How are these tests different to previous years ?Grammar and Punctuation  Grammar and Punctuation  The format of this paper is again similar to previous years, but there is just one paper rather than separate tests for levels 3-5 and level 6 – children have 45 minutes to complete the test  However, the grammar knowledge expected in the new curriculum is significantly higher than from the previous curriculum  The children are expected to have a detailed understanding of grammatical terminology, some of which has been renamed  The test overall is more difficult and contains questions equivalent to level 6

Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation

Some tricky grammar questions…

Some tricky grammar questions ….

How are these tests different to previous years ?Mathematics  M athematics  There is no longer an oral mental arithmetic test  Instead there is an arithmetic paper and 2 reasoning papers  The mathematics curriculum has also changed significantly  Many topics have been moved into lower year groups so some aspects taught in years 3 and 4 have been put in year2 and some aspects taught in years 7 and 8 are now taught in years 5 and 6

Arithmetic  This is a calculation paper and takes 30 minutes  The questions cover the four rules, fractions, decimals and percentages  Questions include long multiplication and long division

Mathematics

Reasoning  There are 2 papers, each 40 minutes long  The questions cover the whole maths curriculum  Questions are varied and jump from topic to topic  Children are expected to choose appropriate calculations to find an answer and, in some questions, explain their thinking

Tricky reasoning questions ….

Writing – teacher assessment Teacher assessments will put your child as: Working towards the expected standard Working at the expected standard Working at greater depth within the expected standard Your child has to show they are secure in each statement, across a range of their work, before the teacher can assess them at that standard

What do the assessments mean for my child’s future ? Not very much although..  The government will use the scaled scores at the end of Key Stage 2 to set targets for GCSE – children will be expected to achieve an average score across a certain range of GCSE subjects: Maths, English, highest scores from 3 Ebacc subjects (science, computer science, humanities and languages) and highest scores from 3 others. This is called the Progress 8 measure  As children move through secondary school, their progress will be measured and, if they are not achieving in line with their predicted grade, the school will investigate and put in extra support if necessary  It is an advantage to your child, therefore, to do as well as they can in the KS2 SATs because this will ensure the secondary school keep them on track to achieve the best GCSE results they can

What can parents do to help ?  The children work hard at school and it is important for them to have some 'down‘ time and time to relax and play  If parents do want to help their children with their work, the school’s website is a great place to start – you will find our calculation policy which explains how we teach the main calculation skills the children need in maths, the glossary of the grammar terminology used and other information  It is also beneficial for children to talk about their reading and current affairs  The best thing parents can do is help their child achieve a healthy lifestyle – a balanced diet, plenty of exercise and of course getting a good night’s sleep every night