Deanshanger Primary School ‘Assessment Without Levels’ A guide for parents and carers

The main aim of this presentation is to explain how we use assessment at DPS to help you to help us support your child on their learning journey to be the best they can be.

Assessment Changes As part of reforms to the national curriculum, the system of ‘levels’ used to report children’s attainment and progress was removed from September 2014. By removing levels it was hoped that teachers would have greater flexibility in the way that they planned and assessed pupils’ learning. The programmes of study within the new National Curriculum (NC) set out expectations at the end of each key stage. These expectations were higher. All schools would be free to develop a curriculum relevant to their pupils that taught the content of the new NC. The curriculum had to include an assessment system which enabled schools to check what pupils had learned and whether they were on track to meet expectations at the end of the key stage, and to report regularly to parents.

We tracked each child throughout their school life through levels. Until September 2014, we had worked with levels in schools for over 15 years. The levels of attainment were expected bench marks for each year group. We tracked each child throughout their school life through levels. Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Average Level 1a 2b 2a/3c 3b 3a/4c 4b Currently, children in Year 6 are the only children to have been assessed against levels at the end of Year 2.

Our current assessment system and how we report on how well children are doing at Deanshanger Primary School?

At DPS this includes children at the end of: EYFS – Foundation Stage As a school we must report back on whether a pupil is achieving the expectations for the end of each key stage. At DPS this includes children at the end of: EYFS – Foundation Stage Key Stage One – Year 2 Key Stage Two – Year 6

Our assessment system and what it looks like

Assessment Pathways in reading, SPaG and writing Tapestry Meaningful green, pink and purple marking and feedback. Clear learning objectives. Formative WAGOLLS (What a good one looks like). Assessment SUMMATIVE Regular tests. Abacus half termly tests NFER tests Statutory assessments in Foundation Stage, Y2 and Y6.

Additional support will be put in place to support these children. All children at the start of each year begin at Emerging (1) . As they begin to achieve the objectives for that year, they move towards meeting expectations – EXPECTED(3). This is the desired grade for the end of each academic year, to be ready/prepared for the following year. For each year group, there are a set of ‘Exceeding Expectations’(4 or 5) for children who have met almost all the Year Group expectations, To achieve these ‘Exceeding Expectations’ (4 or 5) a child must show that: They make no mistakes; They work at a rapid pace; They can consistently apply that objective in a range of differing situations and contexts; They can apply what they know to other subjects. For children working below year group expectations, they will be working towards year group expectations. Additional support will be put in place to support these children. Meeting Expectations – ‘EXPECTED’ is the aim for children to achieve by the end of each academic year.

This means they have made good progress. So for a Year 3 child, who is doing well and meeting year group expectations, they may well make the following academic progress over 4 years: 2018 Meeting Y3 expectations 2019 Meeting Y4 expectations 2020 Meeting Y5 expectations 2021 Meeting Y6 expectations This means they have made good progress.

How will teachers assess achievement ? By using the year group expectations. These will be used to provide ‘ongoing’ teacher assessment of reading, writing and maths . Additionally, children will have sat interim tests in maths and reading. At the end of the academic year children will sit tests in maths and reading. Teachers will also use green, pink and purple marking to inform their judgements about pupil achievement. There will be termly moderation meetings across the school and cluster schools to ensure that teacher judgements are ‘in line’ with each other and national standards. The local authority also undertake moderation visits to ensure our visits are ‘in line’ with national standards.

Year 5 Writing An example NON NEGOTIABLES These must be achieved every writing session Child Teacher I can use capital letters correctly most of the time.   I can use full stops correctly most of the time. I can use question marks correctly most of the time. I can use exclamation marks correctly most of the time. I can use commas for lists correctly most of the time. I can use apostrophes for contraction and possession correctly most of the time. I can write using clear, neat and accurate joined-up handwriting. I can use subordinating conjunctions (although, however, nevertheless, despite, contrary to, as well as). I use lots of different sentence openers to make my work interesting including use an adverbial phrase at the start of a sentence e.g. Later that day, I heard the bad news. I can use paragraphs to organise my ideas. Year 5 Writing An example I can produce writing which is well structured and organised using a range of layouts.   I can use appropriate formal and informal styles confidently. I can use imaginative and ambitious vocabulary (and spell them correctly). I can use different techniques to end (conclude) my work (opinion, summary, justification, comment). I can use complex sentences. I can use punctuation to create effect: exclamation marks (!), dashes (-), ellipses (…). I can use the passive voice for variety and to change focus (The cake was eaten by the child). I can use a range of narrative techniques (e.g. action, dialogue, quotation, formal or informal style, aside, observation, suspense). I can vary sentence length and word order to add interest. I can use a range of layout techniques to help the reader (e.g. headings, sub-headings, bullets, underlining, parenthesis, footnote, contents, bibliography) I can use punctuation to divide clauses, to vary pace, to create atmosphere, to sub-divide (e.g. commas, colons, semi-colons, dashes, ellipses). I can use literary features to create effect (alliteration, onomatopoeia, figurative language) I can understand the following terms: Modal verb, relative pronoun, Relative clause. Parenthesis, bracket, dash. Cohesion, ambiguity.

How will we report back to parents? In September and March you will be invited to attend our annual Parents’ Evenings You will be given information about how your child is progressing. This will relate to how they are getting on socially and emotionally as well as in aspects of reading, writing and maths. Your child’s teacher should be able to tell you whether your child is ‘on track’ to achieve the end of year expectations or not. Targets to work on should also be given. If your child is not on track to achieve the expected standard, you should be told what the class teacher is doing to ensure their progress. You should be given information about strategies to be used to help your child. WE NEED YOU TO SUPPORT US! In July you will receive your child’s end of year report For ALL YEAR GROUPS every pupil has a set of ‘End of Year Expectations’ to achieve by the end of this academic year in Reading, Writing and Maths. In your child’s end of year report, you will be given information on whether your child is : Not Yet Meeting ( also known as Emerging) the end of year expectations Meeting the end of year expectations Exceeding the end of year expectations The ultimate aim by the end of Year 6, is for every pupil to be ready for secondary school, by at least achieving the Year 6 expectations.

For Foundation Stage, Years 2 and 6 additional information will also be given. Foundation Stage parents will receive information about how their child has performed at the end of Foundation Stage. (Emerging, Expected and Exceeded). Parents of Year 2 and 6 pupils will receive: a raw score (number of raw marks awarded). a scaled score. confirmation of whether or not they attained the national standard. This will be in reading, maths and SPAG (Spelling, punctuation and grammar). Writing assessment details will provide information about whether children have achieved the national standard or not.

Examples of questions from Y2 and Y6 SATS papers.

Future actions There will be Y6 and Y2 evenings about the SATS in greater detail. Further details will also be shared about the EYFS assessments made via Tapestry. There will be a Y1 phonics information sessions for parents. There will be a curriculum parents’ sessions about the new curriculum expectations. This presentation and leaflet will be placed on the school website for information. We will be asking for your feedback on the assessment system and curriculum via our annual parent questionnaire. We will be using this feedback to further improve our assessment system and curriculum. It is really important that we have your support to help your children so any feedback you have to give is important.

Thank you for attending this session. Any questions? Thank you for attending this session. Your continued support is much appreciated.