The Senior Leadership Team Mr Ian Johnson: Headteacher Mrs Emma Edge: Assistant Headteacher for Teaching and Learning (KS2) Mrs Emma Balfour: Assistant Headteacher for Inclusion (KS1) Miss Jo Sidebottom: Foundation Stage Leader Mrs Laura Clayton: Lower Key Stage Two Leader Mrs Sally Shaw: School Business Manager

Assessment without Levels MARKEATON Primary School

What does this essentially mean? Levels…e.g. 1a, 4b, 5a will now no longer be used as a method of tracking, assessing and reporting progress in schools. They have been replaced by what is called Age Related Standards.

What does Age Related Standards mean? Age Related Standards are a set of benchmarks which relate to the level of understanding a child has at any point throughout the year. They are linked specifically to whichever year they are in. There are four main descriptors that we use for this level of understanding at Markeaton: beginning (B), working towards the national standard (WT), working at the national standard (WA), working at greater depth within the national standard (GD). These mirror the terminology which is used nationally. So, for example, by the end of Y5 Child A could be working towards the national standard and Child B could be working at greater depth.

Why Assessment without Levels? “Too often levels became viewed as thresholds and teaching became focused on getting pupils across the next threshold instead of ensuring they were secure in the knowledge and understanding defined in the programmes of study. Depth and breadth of understanding were sometimes sacrificed in favour of pace. Levels also used a ‘best fit’ model, which meant that a pupil could have serious gaps in their knowledge and understanding, but still be placed within the level. This meant it wasn’t always clear exactly which areas of the curriculum the child was secure in and where the gaps were.” John McIntosh CBE

What is Greater Depth? In summary, much of this shift towards assessment without levels lies within the principles of ‘greater depth’ (or Mastery as it is sometimes referred to). ‘Greater Depth’ denotes a focus on achieving a deeper understanding of fewer topics, through problem-solving, reasoning, questioning and encouraging deep thinking. This basically means that a child’s understanding must be at Greater Depth (a bit like riding a bike) in order for that learning to be secure or ‘locked in’. But how can we ‘lock in’ learning? Think about how you first learnt how to ride a bike.

So, what does this look like in the classroom? Many objectives within the new curriculum can be taught, and understood, in isolation. For example, long multiplication 32 x 59. However, how will we ever know if this is truly locked in unless they are able to use and apply it in a range of different ‘real-life’ scenarios and explore, explain and justify their understanding? If Child A is asked to calculate the surface area of the classroom floor and they are not sure how to do it then this might suggest their understanding of long multiplication is only just at the beginning stage. Similarly, if a word is spelt correctly in a spelling test but then a similar word with an identical spelling pattern is spelt incorrectly in a story then the same conclusions can be drawn.

So, what does this look like in the classroom? In previous years, under the old framework for assessment, there was much more of an emphasis on pace and rapid progression. This, in some cases, accounted for gaps in learning. A large amount of high-quality research has evaluated mastery learning and found consistent and positive impacts (e.g. Kulik et al, 1990; Guskey, 2012).

Moving forward… These are exciting times in education and this change in methodology has opened up a whole new avenue for children’s learning. Although this is what classroom teachers have always wanted, more time to embed learning, assessment without levels provides the type of vehicle to do this. Nonetheless, this does mean a few things will have to change in terms of how progress is reported.

Progress and Attainment (1) At Parent/Carer Evenings, providing it is communicated effectively, you will have been used to getting either a level or a description of your child’s general progress in each subject (Autumn Term). Under the new framework you will be given a descriptor which matches their level of understanding. As mentioned earlier, these will include beginning (B), working towards the national standard (WT), working at the national standard (WA), working at greater depth within the national standard (GD). These descriptors are based on the objectives they have covered so far and to what extent they understand and apply them.

Progress and Attainment (2) This does mean, potentially, that you will be provided with a descriptor which doesn’t necessarily correspond with previous levels and/or indicators of your child’s attainment. For example, you might have been given a level which indicates your child (let’s say Y4) is working significantly above their year group and now the judgement they have been given tells them they are beginning the Y5 curriculum. This does not mean they have ‘regressed’ or ‘moved backwards’. The content of the curriculum is now much harder and the framework for assessment, as we have discussed, is totally different. Indeed, there are far more salient ways to show progress than just a number or level on a piece of paper – looking at the children’s books and talking to them about their learning are just a few of the other, far more powerful ways of doing this.

Progress and Attainment (3) And finally, whatever stage your child is at, they will continue to be challenged and supported with equal vigour, just in a slightly different way…