Assessment 2015 “Life after Levels” The new National Curriculum and methods for assessing children’s progress

Opening prayer Good and loving God, Source of every grace and blessing, We give You thanks this day for the many gifts you have given us. We seek to be good stewards, Lord. Bless us as we gather here to share Your gifts. Send us Your Spirit and be present among us in the mouths of all who speak, in the ears of all who listen, and at the heart of all we say and do. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen

Government School Policy May 2013: current ‘levels’ used to report attainment and progress removed – not replaced Schools to freedom to decide how to teach the curriculum how to track progress National Curriculum from September 2014 specific, age-related content Assessing without specific levels In May 2013, the Secretary of State announced: ‘as part of our reforms to the national curriculum, the current system of ‘levels’ used to report children’s attainment and progress will be removed. It will not be replaced.’ It went on to say that ‘schools should have the freedom to decide how to teach their curriculum and how to track the progress that pupils make’ (DfE, 2014: p4). The messages about the National Curriculum have been clear from the start – school’s must teach the NC with an understanding that the NC this is not the full curriculum on offer from a school e.g. in our Catholic school, RE and worship also form part of what we do. Our focus upon social development is also unique for our own school. These announcements made it clear that central government would no longer going to dictate how schools should record and report progress between statutory tests (although statutory testing will still take place at key points in the child's educational journey). However, school systems must be clear and robust enough to stand up to scrutiny when a school is inspected. The school has been working on improving its systems, and assessment falls into line with the next broad aspects that need to be strengthened. The new National Curriculum offers far more specific age-related content, which the school has been working on throughout this academic year, enabling the bridge from the former NC to the new NC without too much disturbance. However NC has also set new, more challenging age-related expectations – it has raised the bar on expectations – due to the wider economic pressures that rest with the children, the workforce of the future.

Assessment after levels working within the expected range of attainment for his/her age working below the expected range working towards working beyond Year Six standards – “securely within” means ready for secondary school This national change – the removal of levels alongside the design of the curriculum itself– means that, when we discuss your child’s attainment with you, either in meetings or written reports, we will no longer be reporting levels, as these no longer have any relevance to the curriculum. As stated earlier the bar has been raised, expectations are higher, which is why the former levels are no longer relevant. Instead we will refer to your child’s current level of attainment using phrases such as: working below the expected range of attainment working towards the expected range of attainment working within the expected range of attainment for his/her age working beyond the expected range of attainment We will also comment on whether your child has made good progress over the year, and give details of any specific areas of the curriculum where he/she has achieved well and any areas where further development or support is needed.   A note here for children in Y6. In order to be ready for secondary school a child needs to be working securely within the expectations of the year group – to be what is known as “secondary ready”.

Decisions Made Assessment system Language of reporting 2015 only: former NC level; new NC measure Tracking progress year on year The decision to work with a specific assessment system has been based upon our research of the different systems on offer. In may ways all of the new systems on offer were similar – tracking through the objectives contained in the National Curriculum Programmes of Study and the criteria for assessment, which are known as Key Performance Indicators. These are grouped into the whole year’s assessment to produce the final outcome and judgements made. It is very much the same system as that running now, although does not make use of levels. The approach that we have decided to follow works best with the moderation, the technical support provided to enable us to track progress electronically as we do now, it keeps its focus upon the teaching and learning, and also makes use of the common language of assessment that can be best used with schools in the area/Merton/Mitcham. We are charged to share moderation across schools in order to make sure that the agreed standards are maintained. Our system makes use of the language of progress and assessment that we have outlined earlier For this year only we are going to enable a smooth transition from pre 2014 NC to the new one by reporting both the previous level and the new measure. There is a warning here that the two no longer match, as the levels are technically associated with the NC from before September 2014. However, we know that these are terminologies that parents know and are familiar with. In regards to tracking children’s progress, it will work like this: Y2 “within” to Y3 within child making expected progress as NC has an in-built progression element; if Y2 within to Y3 beyond, child will be exceeding progress (picture to highlight). In this way the child will access the learning for their year group at their level. Once they are secure they will be taught how to move deeper into the learning and how to strengthen their learning – not simply moving into the next year group’s programme. However, parents can be assured that the children will still be challenged, within the framework of that year group’s Programme of Study.

Level 1b Level 1a Level 2c Level 2b Y2 Level 2a Level 3c Level 3b Y4 SS Peter and Paul Catholic Primary School Pre-2014 Progression Chart National Curriculum levels and end of year Age Related Expectations Level 1b   Level 1a Level 2c Level 2b Y2 Level 2a Level 3c Level 3b Y4 Level 3a Level 4c Level 4b Y6 Level 4a Level 5c Previous system

Year One Year Two Year Three Year Four SS Peter and Paul Catholic Primary School 2015 Progression Chart National Curriculum and end of year Age Related Expectations Year One working below the expected range of attainment working towards the expected range of attainment working within the expected range of attainment working beyond the expected range of attainment Year Two Year Three Year Four Future system

Tracking Progress daily assessments – assessment for learning (AfL) termly testing moderation The current approach to gathering information about a child’s learning will continue each day. This happens in every lesson and forms a core part of the teacher’s skill set as they continuously plan – assess – adjust. This is known in educational circles as AfL (or assessment for learning). This will continue. Termly testing We will be using termly assessments to inform pupils, teachers and parents of progress. These will be undertaken termly to support the day to day assessments. They will also highlight where children still have gaps in their learning, knowledge and skills, so that plans can be adjusted to ensure the gaps are closed up. These are going to be published materials and will be used at the end of this year to ensure accuracy of the child’s starting point for next year. We ask parents not to purchase these themselves so that they will not be practised ahead of the actual assessment. Moderation We already use a system of moderation each term in our school. Moderation is a simple principle – where a teacher has judged a child to be at a specific place in regards to assessment, the evidence for that judgement is scrutinised by another person – a second opinion if you like. This can go to further scrutiny if needed, for a third opinion. We are fortunate at this time to have trained moderators on the staff: Mrs Bryant and Miss Stroud/Byrne are Merton moderators so have a broad knowledge base. However, the Mitcham group of schools are also going to be undertaking cross school moderation. This will ensure accuracy in judgements as well as locally agreed standards. This is in keeping with the government’s desire that schools collaborate with each other. This combination will serve to provide an overall assessment judgement in subjects from which next steps can be planned.

Statutory Assessments Reception baseline Early Years Foundation Stage profile Y1 Phonics screening (Y2 re-screening) Key Stage One – Year Two Key Stage Two – Year Six Reception baseline   As a school we will be undertaking the Reception baseline measure to assess progress for children who start reception in September 2015 and beyond. The Early Years Foundation Stage profile will continue to be statutory. Phonics check The phonics check near the end of Y1 will remain unchanged (and for those children who do not meet the national standard, they are retested in Y2). End of Key Stage 1 and 2 At the end of Key Stage 1, teacher assessment in mathematics and reading will be informed by externally set, internally marked tests. There will also be an externally set test in grammar, punctuation and spelling which will help to inform the teacher assessment of writing. The tests will be updated to reflect the new national curriculum and results will be expressed as a scaled score, with the 100 as the average. The new assessments first will take place in summer 2016. Reporting will cover the test scores and the teacher assessment. Teacher assessment of speaking and listening and science will continue. Our school has been approached to take part in the trialling of the new KS1 tests this summer, further evidence that the school is remaining proactive in its forward movement. At the end of Key Stage 2 pupils will continue to sit externally set and marked tests in mathematics, reading, and grammar, punctuation and spelling. Parents will be provided with their child’s score alongside the average for their school and nationally at both KS1 and 2.

Summary – What to Expect no further levels new language of assessment termly testing and tracking “dual” report for 2015 clear understanding of expectations description of where the child is at improved conversations between teachers and pupils regarding next steps clear picture of the school’s overall performance Quickly go over these: Top four plus Clear understanding of what esxpectations are for their child’s year in the vatrious curricu;lum subjects areas then offer questions out to the floor. Thanks for coming and we look forward to continuing our partnership.