Assessment in the New Curriculum Parents Meeting March 2016

The New Primary Curriculum In July 2014, the DfE launched the new Primary National Curriculum. The curriculum was revised for two main reasons: *to bring the curriculum up-to-date (especially with advances in ICT since the previous curriculum was published) *to raise standards across the nation by teaching “fewer things but in greater detail”

Key changes between the old and new Curriculum The old curriculum detailed key stage expectations for each subject whereas the new curriculum is divided into age-related expectations for each year group. Expectations have been raised and yet the content has actually been slimmed down, to ensure that key knowledge, skills and understanding are properly embedded during early education. This should then form a firm foundation for future learning.

Main Maths Changes ● Five-year-olds will be expected to learn to count up to 100 (compared to 20 under the old curriculum) and learn number bonds to 20(previously up to 10) ● Simple fractions (1/4 and 1/2) 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. 0.375 = 3/8) ● By the age of nine, children will be expected to know times tables up to 12x12 (previously 10x10 by the end of primary school) ● Calculators will not be introduced until near the end of KS2, to encourage mental arithmetic skills

Main Maths Changes Continued... *A strong emphasis has been placed on mental and written calculations of whole numbers, decimals and fractions. *Many Maths topics are introduced at an earlier stage and taught at an accelerated pace. *New terminology - the curriculum is now divided into “Number” and “Geometry and Measures”. *A strong emphasis on using and applying Maths skills in a variety of ways and contexts.

How have we prepared for it? All staff have received training on the new curriculum ● School curriculum topics have been fully updated in line with the changes ● We have prioritised updating our ICT provision to make it fit for purpose ● We are researching/piloting schemes for development of SPAG (spelling, punctuation and grammar) We are also looking at published mathematic schemes of work

Curriculum Topic webs/Letters On our school website, you can view the content of the curriculum for each year group. In addition, every term, the teachers create a curriculum letter for their current topic with more specific details about what will be covered and what the children have expressed a desire to find out about.

How do we assess your child? DfE – statutory assessments: • Reception – Baseline, EYFS profile • Year 1 (and 2) - Phonics Check • Year 2 and 6 - end of Key stage assessments Other assessments: • Ongoing assessment throughout the year in lessons Suffolk Reading Tests-Y2-Y6-Autumn Term PUMA Maths Assessments-Y1-Y6-termly • R- Y6, Termly data check-points, all curriculum areas • Y1 – 6 , half termly “Big Write” assessments

New Reception Baseline As of September 2016, the Government has decided that schools must complete a Reception baseline assessment. This September we trialled the CEM (Centre for Evaluation and Moderation) DFE accredited package in preparation for September 2016. Baseline Assessment will form the starting point from which the school’s progress will be measured.

What will the baseline entail? *All Reception children will be assessed on a 1:1 basis on entry to school using a government approved scheme. *Schools can choose from a range of schemes and most of the schools in the Easingwold Cluster chose to trial the CEM scheme. *The test will be mainly observation based (just like the Early Years Curriculum) and will assess the children’s ability across a range of curriculum areas. *Schools should have a very accurate picture of the children’s attainment on entry and therefore, an equally clear picture of how children are progressing through Key Stage 1 and 2.

EYFS Profile: • The EYFS profile assessment is carried out in the final term of Reception • The main purpose of the EYFS profile is to provide a reliable, valid and accurate assessment of individual children at the end of the EYFS. • EYFS profile data is used to: inform parents about their child’s development against the early learning goals (ELGs) and the characteristics of their learning • help year 1 teachers plan an effective, responsive and appropriate curriculum that will meet the needs of your child

Phonics Screening Check, Year 1 • The Phonics Screening Check demonstrates how well your child can use the phonics skills they’ve learned up to the end of Year 1, and to identify students who need extra phonics help. • The checks consist of 40 words and non-words that your child will be asked to read one on-one with a teacher. Non-words (or nonsense words, or pseudo words) are a collection of letters that will follow phonics rules your child has been taught, but don’t mean anything. • The 40 words and non-words are divided into two sections – one with simple word structures of three or four letters, and one with more complex word structures of five or six letters. • Your child will be scored against a national standard, and the main result will be whether or not they fall below, within or above this standard • Children who do not meet the required standard in Year 1 will be re-checked in Year 2.

KS1 English, Year 2 Reading • The reading test is comprised of two components; one integrated reading and answer booklet and one separate reading booklet with an associated reading answer booklet. Children will have access to all components but teachers can stop the child at any stage of the test that they feel is appropriate for that particular child. The total testing time is approximately 60 minutes. Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling • Children will sit three papers, • Paper 1 Grammar and punctuation, short written task, 20 minutes, 15 marks. Children will be provided with a prompt and stimulus. • Paper 2, Grammar, Punctuation and Vocabulary questions, 2 10 minutes tasks, 25 marks. Will consist of: • Selected response, short answer • Constructed response, answer of their own • Paper 3 – Spelling, 20 questions, 10 marks. • Handwriting will also be assessed

KS1 Maths, Year 2 Children will take two maths papers: • Paper 1, arithmetic, 15 marks, 15 minutes, context free calculations. • Paper 2, fluency, solving problems and reasoning, 35 marks, 35 minutes. A range of contexts, 5 questions at the start will be aural, and in the approximate order of difficulty. The paper will include the following types of questions: • Selected response, • multiple choice, • matching, • true–false,

KS2 English, Year 6 Reading • The reading test will be a single paper with questions based on 3 or 4 unrelated texts of between 1800 and 2300 words, there will be an emphasis on comprehension. One hour, including reading time, to complete the test, 50 marks available. Grammar, punctuation and spelling test • The grammar, punctuation and spelling test will consist of two parts: a grammar and punctuation paper requiring short answers, lasting 45 minutes, and an aural spelling test of 20 words, lasting around 15 minutes. (70 marks in total) Writing • No formal test, ongoing teacher assessment

KS2 Maths, Year 6 There will be three papers in maths: • Paper 1: arithmetic, (number, calculations and fractions, decimals and percentages) 30minutes (30 marks) • Papers 2 and 3: mathematical fluency, solving problems and reasoning, 40 minutes per paper (80 marks in total) • Paper 1 will consist of fixed response questions, where children have to give the correct answer to calculations, including long multiplication and division. Each question will have a grid to encourage working out, questions will be context free. • Papers 2 and 3 will assess children’s ability to apply mathematics to problems and to reason, they will involve a number of question types, contextualised and context free, including: • Multiple choice • True or false • Constrained questions, e.g. giving the answer to a calculation, drawing a shape or completing a table or chart • Less constrained questions, where children will have to explain their approach for solving a problem

No More Levels! In previous years, children were assessed according to NC levels e.g. 1a, 1b, 1c. However, in the current curriculum, these levels have been removed because the government felt that: *children were too focussed on levels, rather than on the specific next steps given to them by their teachers. *parents did not really understand what the different levels entailed *even when two children were assessed as being the same level, one child may have just missed out on the next level up while another child could have just scraped that level which has implications on their future targets and progress.

How do we assess without levels at Sutton on the Forest? Children will be assessed against the objectives for their year group as set out by the New National Curriculum. ● We will be using the terms ‘Beginning’, ‘Working Towards’ and ‘Mastered’ to track their progress against these targets. ● At the end of the year most children will be expected to achieve a ‘Mastered’ which means they would have met their ‘Age Related Expectation’. ● Some children may not reach this stage and will be reported accordingly. ● A small number of children may exceed these expectations and these will be reported as ‘exceeding’.

Reporting to Parents Bands will replace levels to reference attainment. The bands relate to each year group. Each band is roughly 3 terms of learning. This is denoted in steps: B/T/M B - if a child is Beginning that band, T – If a child is working Towards the Age Related Expectations for that band. M- If a child has mastered Age Related Expectations for that band and is ready to move on to the next band. A ‘+’ will indicate when a child is well within that step The school uses an online data tracking package “Otrack”, which provides termly progress reports for each child in school.   Yr Autumn Spring End of year/ summer 1 B1 T1 M1 2 B2 T2 M2 3 B3 T3 M3 4 B4 T4 M4 5 B5 T5 M5 6 B6 T6 M6

Reporting to Parents continued… The termly progress reports inform you of the band your child is working within, you can see whether your child has just entered that band, is working well within it or has mastered that band and will soon be beginning the next band up. This will allow you to have not only a clear picture of your child’s attainment but also a realistic expectation about their future progress. Annual Report to Parents We have made changes to our annual report to parents to reflect the changes. Two graded boxes indicate achievement, effort and attitude. These show how your child’s achievements compare with age related expectations (ARE) and how much effort your child is making in lessons as well as application and commitment to work in lessons. In addition, there are 2 parent consultations annually, 1 informal evening in the Autumn Term and 1 formal evening in the Spring Term.

Pupil Tracker *We enter data at the end of each term for every child. *We use an online program called OTrack. *We enter data at the end of each term for every child. *All of the NC objectives are on Otrack and using ClassTrack we can assess whether the children have achieved each objective, mostly achieved it or are still working towards it.

OFSTED’s View on Assessment When OFSTED inspect schools, they assess both attainment and progress. Although we can still accurately measure the attainment of children using the new system, showing progress within it is more challenging as some children may need a considerable amount of time to move from one judgement to the next. Furthermore, changes to the curriculum and to assessment procedures mean that we are currently trying to marry up two different versions of data.

Data Implications The standards in the new curriculum have been raised dramatically. This fact, in addition to the fact that the method of assessment has changed, means that on paper, it may appear that your child has made little or no progress since last year. Many schools are finding this to be the case, which is why OFSTED have stated that: “Inspectors will not expect to see a particular assessment system in place and will recognise that schools are still working towards full implementation of their preferred approach”. As data may be misleading at this point, OFSTED have stated that they will spend a great deal more time looking at children’s books and talking to children to ensure that they can see evidence of children working towards their age related expectations.

Next Steps For Us! Research and trial Reception baseline assessment *Await further information on scaled scores from the Government *Research initiatives from other countries that Government say out-perform England e.g. Singapore Maths *Collect feedback from parents on the new system and how well this has been explained

Any Questions?