An introduction to the new National Curriculum Welcome!

Aims To inform you about changes that have been made to the National Curriculum, To share information about how we are implementing the Curriculum, To offer an insight about how children will be assessed and how this information will be shared.

What is the National Curriculum? The National Curriculum defines the programmes of study for key subjects in maintained/ state primary and secondary schools in England. Fundamentally, it sets out what your child is supposed to learn and when. A new version was introduced this September. Academies, free schools and independent schools do not have to follow the curriculum.

Changes

Why the change? The main aim is to raise standards. Although the new curriculum is intended to be more challenging, the content is actually slimmer than the current curriculum, focusing on essential core subject knowledge and skills such as times tables and computer programming.

The New National Curriculum The content of the curriculum has changed for all subjects, some more than others. This directly effects children in year 1 and upwards. There is an emphasis on children ‘going further at an earlier age.’ Each year group has core knowledge that the children should learn during that year. Children currently in years 2 and 6 will still sit SATs which give levels e.g. 2b. However, after this year levels will no longer be used.

The New English Curriculum Changes include: Stronger emphasis on vocabulary development, grammar, punctuation and spelling (for example, the use of commas and apostrophes will be taught in ks1) Handwriting (not assessed under the previous national curriculum) is expected to be fluent, legible and speedy Spoken English has a greater emphasis, with children to be taught debating and presenting skills.

The New Maths Curriculum Changes include: Five-year-olds will be expected to learn to count up to 100 (compared to 20 under the previous curriculum) and learn number bonds to 20 (previously up to 10) More emphasis on fractions and time (to the nearest 5 minutes as opposed to quarter hourly intervals) Moving on to vertical calculations in ks1 for addition and subtraction Less focus on data handling.

The New Computing Curriculum Computing replaces Information and Communication Technology (ICT), with a greater focus on programming rather than on operating programs From age five, children will learn to write and test simple programs, and to organise, store and retrieve data.

The New Science Curriculum The physics content of science has been largely removed from ks1. There is a greater focus on scientific knowledge and language. The areas to be covered in ks1 are: Plants (y1 and y2) Living things and their habitats (y2) Animals, including humans (y1 and y2) Seasonal changes (y1) Uses of everyday materials (y1 and y2).

How we are implementing the curriculum

Topics As a staff team, we have decided to introduce whole school topics e.g. Our World, which will include foundation stage. The ks1 curriculum content, in areas such as history, geography and art, has been split in half to create a 2 year cycle of learning to be covered in years 1 and 2. Foundation stage children will not access this bank of learning. Instead they will continue with their own curriculum which will be modified to fit with the delivery of school topics. To avoid FS children having repetition, the topic headings will rotate over 4 years even though the content will not.

Advantages of a whole school topic The ability to have a shared topic which all children and staff can discuss and share experiences/resources in. Being able to have whole school assemblies and events which are topic related and which further unite the school. Having the time to research an area in greater depth and allowing the children to steer their learning by asking more questions. Families, with more than one child at the school, being able to concentrate on one topic rather than 2 or 3.

Points to note Even though much of the curriculum content will be the same in years 1 and 2, the expectation of the work produced by children in year 2 will be greater. To accommodate topic teaching, and to improve writing, we have changed the books used in ks1. We now have : maths books, handwriting books, independent writing books, discovery books. The discovery books will contain any writing that the children do in areas such as literacy, science, RE and history.

How we will assess and share information

Key information When the New Curriculum was introduced the government decided against providing level descriptors e.g. level 2b. Individual schools are now allowed to choose how they assess and show progress. Schools are awaiting details as to what the end of key stage tests will look like for Current y1 children will be tested on these. Sheffield have created an assessment tool which we, and many other schools, have adopted.

How we assess…this year The current year 2 are required to sit the Standard Assessment Tests (SATs) at the end of the year. They will be the final year group to sit these tests and as such will still receive a level e.g. 2b in reading, writing, maths, science and speaking and listening. As such, these children will still sit practise papers before their final tests in the summer term. The results of these tests will inform planning and help teachers to monitor progress. However…

How we assess…this year Our current y2 children will be assessed against the New Curriculum in y3 which has no levels and are also expected to be taught the key knowledge for y2. All children in years 1 and 2 will, therefore, be assessed using the Sheffield Tracking and Assessment Tools (STAT). Foundation stage children will continue to be assessed against the statements in the foundation stage profile. On a day-to-day basis, the school will continue to use the mark scheme which was introduced last year.

Sheffield Tracking and Assessment Tools (STAT) NGIS, NGJS and many other schools in Sheffield have agreed to adopt the STAT. This allows us to share a common assessment language and ensures that the means of assessment is rigorous. The STAT involves checking that each child has met key points in their learning according to National Curriculum requirements. Grids have been provided for Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPAG), writing, reading and maths.

Year 1 SPAG example

Year 2 maths example

Sharing information All children in years 1 and 2 will have STAT grids for the 4 key areas (SPAG, reading, writing and maths). These will be shared with parents/carers at parents evenings, IEP reviews etc. as a means of discussing progress and areas to develop. FS2 children will continue with their profile which will also be shared at the aforementioned meetings. Reading records, books etc. will continue to be marked as usual and you will be able to gain an insight as to how your child is doing. Teachers will continue to keep you informed via letters home and the school website.

Any questions?