ASSESSMENT WITHOUT LEVELS Age Appropriate Learning

The New National Curriculum The National Curriculum sets out what your child is to learn and when. In September 2014 a new national curriculum was introduced in all subject areas. Which once again has ‘raised the bar’ on expectations and outcomes which are considerably higher for any given year group. Some of the content is new, existing topics will be introduced a year or two earlier. As part of the curriculum reform the DfE removed National curriculum levels. Which meant for Y1, 3, 4 and 5 levels, last year, were no longer appropriate to assess pupils progress and attainment. Each school now has to devise their own methods for recording progress and attainment. As a school we carried on using levels across the school until this year. This was so the whole school changed to the new system together. If you are interested in finding out more about the reasons why levels will not be used to measure progress and attainment then please watch Tim Oates on assessment - on You tube.

Changes English A stronger emphasis on Vocabulary development, grammar, punctuation and spelling (for example, the use of commas and apostrophes will be taught in Key Stage 1) There is also a Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation test at the end of KS1 Handwriting is expected to be fluent, legible and speedy. Spoken English has a greater emphasis, with children to be taught debating and presenting skills. We are also focusing on all children answering questions using a full sentence.

Changes Mathematics Again a huge emphasis on vocabulary as well as fluency. 5 year olds will learn to count up to, recognise and write numbers up to 100 (compared to 20 under the old curriculum) and learn number bonds up to 20. Simple fractions will be taught from KS1 and by the end of primary school children should be able to convert decimal fractions to simple fractions (e.g = 3/8) By the age of nine, children will be expected to know times tables up to 12x12. Calculators will not be introduced until near the end of KS2 to encourage mental arithmetic. These are just a few examples!

The new national curriculum The new curriculum breaks learning down into year by year frameworks, meaning that there are a set of objectives for each year group. There is a copy of this on the website ‘A parents guide to year group expectations’ We are required to teach fewer objectives but required to teach them in greater depth. This approach is intended to promote deeper understanding so that children are able to better apply their learning to new and unfamiliar situations.

Age Appropriate Learning In day to day learning, activities and questions that we use in lessons enables us to assess your child’s progress and decide what their next steps need to be. This is then communicated to your child in an age appropriate way using verbal and/or written feedback, as we have previously done. As before Children are in regular communication with their teachers about their targets, what they are aiming for and their next steps which they need to work on and achieve. Please ask your children about the ‘Next step trees’ in their classes and the targets they are working towards! Day to day learning is no longer about moving children up levels but rather ensuring that they engage in learning in a deep way and if they can, are able to apply their new learning to unfamiliar contexts and situations. The children’s learning journey books are much more a record of their progress. Within their books you will clearly see how they respond to feedback and make improvements to their work.

Tracking our children We have always tracked each child closely to try and ensure everyone makes maximum progress. Teachers meet on a termly basis with Miss Read and myself to discuss the children’s progress in the class. We used to discuss a child and their progress in levels but now we make a record of where children are in relation to year group expectations. Teachers will communicate children’s learning now as: Beginning towards year group expectations, Developing year group expectations Embedding year group expectations Demonstrating mastery of year group expectations.

Parents How will you know what progress your child is making? Each pupil is being tracked against the National Curriculum statements that they have been introduced to, developed and then achieved. In the front of your children’s learning journey books they will have a copy of the year group expectations.

Parents As the children are introduced and taught concepts and make progress. Teachers will mark off against particular objectives A dot (.) will be used for beginning One line (/) will be used to indicate developing A cross (X) will be used indicating embedded It is really important for you to come in and look through your children's work books regularly, especially at drop in sessions as well as formal ‘learning conversations’. This will help to keep you informed as to how your child is progressing. At the end of every half term Teachers will then use this data to make an informed judgement on where your child is overall within that given subject.

Teachers are planning lessons according to the needs of their pupils in terms of the statements they have achieved and what comes next. Lessons are still differentiated to support appropriate challenge for all students. You will notice this is different as the pupils choose the differentiated task they start with. Please ask your children what these are called, in some classes the challenges are called mild, hot, spicy. Children will work in groups but the colours no longer suggest learning ability! Children and teachers evaluate against learning for each lesson, success criteria, on what they have achieved and what they need to work on in the next lesson.

Personalised Learning Children throughout the school are encouraged to make decisions about how much challenge they can attempt. Through the ‘Brainwave’ topic children have a strong sense that they can over come learning that is tricky through perseverance, working collaboratively with others and practising and applying their skills. We encourage children to say ‘I can’t do it ….yet’ The culture of the school for both children and adults is that learning is an on-going process; when something is difficult it is because more practice is needed