Ryarsh Primary School New Curriculum New Assessment Approach

Curriculum Introduced by the government last year (September 2014). Applies to all maintained schools. Academies and Free Schools are exempt, although still required to offer a broad and balanced curriculum Now fully embedded in Ryarsh Primary School

Why have a new Curriculum ? The previous National Curriculum was published and has been followed since Society, education and governments have all moved on since this time. Aims to raise standards Produce creative, productive, well-educated students Provide greater challenge Provide an outline of core knowledge

The big changes The National Curriculum is now organised into Programmes of Study for each year group. There is a clear emphasis on deep and secure learning for all (more things on the same topic) rather than undue pace and progression (rapidly moving on to new content)

English Reading for pleasure as well as information A stronger emphasis on vocabulary development, grammar, punctuation and spelling, including correct grammatical terms – for example, adverbial, by Y2 apostrophes for possession, by Y6 correct spelling of words like pronunciation Handwriting has a higher profile - by Y3, ‘joined handwriting should be the norm’ The importance of spoken language is emphasised - in particular its importance in developing reading and writing (explanation, discussion, debate, drama, poetry)

Maths A higher emphasis placed on number skills. Raised expectations (counting to 100 forwards and backwards Y1 – was 20; fractions ½ and ¼ Y1; tables up to 12x12 Y4; numbers to 10 million, associate fractions with division and calculate 3/8=0.375) New terminology (Geometry, Statistics) Reasoning Solving Problems

Science Focus on scientific knowledge and language New topics - for example: evolution, the circulatory system

Foundation Art and Design – sketch books, artists, architects and designers, drawing, painting and sculpture Computing – algorithms, create and debug simple programs (KS1), understand computer networks, evaluate digital content (KS2), e-safety Design and Technology – cooking (predominantly savoury dishes), seasonality Languages (any modern or ancient foreign language) – more emphasis on written recording

Foundation Geography – reorganisation rather than change History – chronological narrative. Change in some areas (for example, the introduction of Stone Age to Iron Age Britain, the loss of World War 2 and The Tudors) PE – includes healthy lifestyles, emphasis on team games and some competitive games at KS2. Swimming (must provide at either KS1 or KS2) Music – no real changes RE – follow LA guidance

Assessment “The successful implementation of the new national curriculum requires change, from one which has been too dominated by the testing regime to one where the focus needs to be on high-quality, in-depth teaching, supported by in-class formative assessment” Final report of the Commission on Assessment without Levels.

Why change assessment? Levels were introduced with the old curriculum in Levels were distorted and used for in-school assessment despite the intention to only use them for statutory assessments. Levels became focus of conversation with pupils and parents – created a ‘label’. This encourages children and parents to have a ‘fixed mind-set’ where ability is set, and children either succeed or fail.

Where have levels gone? As part of reforms to the national curriculum, the current system of ‘levels’ used to report children’s attainment and progress will be removed from September 2014 and will not be replaced. Removing levels will allow teachers greater flexibility in the way that they plan and assess pupils’ learning. It is for schools to determine how best to assess their pupils between these statutory end of key stage assessments. DFE

The benefits of assessment without levels Pupils take more responsibility for their achievements by reflecting on their progress, understanding what their strengths are and identifying what they need to do to improve. Communication with parents will be more focused on how to support their children to build and consolidate learning – which skills children need to work on rather than what level they are.

The benefits of assessment without levels Removing the ‘label’ of levels can help to improve pupils belief about their own ability. Assessment without levels encourages a ‘growth mind-set’ where children do not compare themselves with others, but seek to improve their own performance.

What changes will you see? The changes will be broken down into two key areas: Changes to the statutory assessments Changes to the in-year assessment

Scaled Scores A pupil’s scaled score will be based on their raw score. The raw score is the total number of marks a pupil receives in a test, based on the number of questions they answered correctly. The pupil’s raw score will be translated into a scaled score using a conversion table. A pupil who achieves the national standard will have demonstrated sufficient knowledge in the areas assessed by the tests. We can’t give full information about what the scale will look like yet. We need to wait until pupils have taken the tests and the tests have been marked before we can set the national standard and the rest of the scale.

2016 Assessment in more detail Reception baseline assessment from Sept 2015 – Early excellence. KS1 still teacher assessment informed by tests (externally set but internally marked) KS2 tests for reading, maths, spelling & grammar. Teacher assessment for writing and science (sampling will be used for science). Progress (2023) measured from Reception to KS2 for an all-through primary.

New Test Specifications – Yr 1 Year 1 will continue to have the Phonics Screening Test. This tests the children on their ability to decode 40 words (including 20 ‘nonsense’ words). Children need to achieve a score of at least 32 (2015) to pass the phonics screening. If a child scores less than 32, they will retake the test in Year 2

New test specifications – Yr 2 English Reading 2 papers – 1 with text and questions combined and 1 more challenging text with the questions in a separate booklet. Greater emphasis on comprehension elements of the new curriculum Each test includes a selection of unrelated texts of increasing difficulty

New test specifications – Yr 2 Grammar, punctuation and spelling Emphasis on technical aspects of grammar Separate spelling test No English writing test Mathematics New arithmetic test introduced

New Test Specifications – Yr 6 English Reading Retained a similar structure to the previous KS2 reading test Greater emphasis on the comprehension elements of the new curriculum Each test will have 3-4 unrelated texts of increasing difficulty There will be a mixture of text types Greater focus on fictional texts

New Test Specifications – Yr 6 Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling 1 short answer paper with questions, 50 marks available 1 spelling test with questions, 20 marks available Greater focus on knowing and applying grammatical terminology with the full range of punctuation tested Technical terms in grammar tested Spelling patterns and methodologies form the basis of spellings tested

New Test Specifications – Yr 6 Mathematics Mental mathematics test removed 3 papers – 1 arithmetic paper and 2 reasoning papers Arithmetic test introduced to assess basic mathematical calculations 36 questions, 40 marks available, 30 minutes duration Questions will cover: straightforward addition and subtraction more complex calculations with fractions long divisions and long multiplications

Statutory reporting Phonics Screening Score in Yr 1 Results at the end of Year 2 Working towards the expected standard Working at the expected standard Working at greater depth within the expected standard Results at the end of Year 6 Working at the expected standard (with the exception of writing, which is as above)

What about in-between the Key Stage assessment points? No national system No levels Schools have the freedom to develop their own approach to assessing progress

The Ryarsh Approach Teachers will continue to assess the children on an ongoing basis against the criteria set out in the new national curriculum. The very large majority of children will be working for the whole year within the programme of study for their age. The aim is to ‘master’ the year-group curriculum and broaden and deepen children’s knowledge and understanding of criteria/objectives. Some formal testing will be used to support summative assessment of each child.

How will you know?

Reporting to Parents No levels – the new curriculum is no longer divided into levels. Share next learning steps based on on-going assessments and based on the year group’s objectives. This can be done at any point. Summary of where the children are at working at in terms of the programme of study. Standardised score twice a year in both English and Maths. Share pupil’s ‘behaviour for learning’ (effort)

Please be patient Little support has come from government No publication of what ‘expected’ is until after tests have been taken. No links between scaled scores and national curriculum objectives yet. New system for us too!