Changes to assessment and reporting of children’s attainment A guide for Parents and Carers Please use the SPACE bar to move this slideshow at your own pace Beaver Road Academy Trust

First of all…why has this document been updated? Along with schools across the nation, we have had to develop our own assessment format with the removal of “Levels”. As with all new systems in school they need tweaking in response to external changes and new knowledge and information gathered throughout an academic year. We have listened to feedback from consultants (Rising Stars and FOCUS Education) teachers and parents about last year’s system. Beaver Road Academy Trust

We have adjusted the % threshold to reach “Expected” to 80% across all year groups for all subjects - outlined on page 12. WHY? The end of year assessments, produced by Rising Stars, we used last year in Y3, Y4 and Y5 gave a pass rate for “Expected” as 65%. However, these tests only test against a sample of the Curriculum content, plus not all of the curriculum can be assessed in a written exam. Rising Stars assessments are deemed to be the closest in format to those we expect to see for the new external KS1 and KS2 SATS. FOCUS EDUCATION, who we have used since the very beginning of our transition away from levels, still recommend a % closer to 100%. Our SLT has agreed 80% of End of Year Expectations to be a fair compromise between the above. Beaver Road Academy Trust So what are the changes?

We have removed the Handwriting expectations from the Writing Expectations – Handwriting will be graded separately. WHY? Well some of our children are fantastic writers. They produce high quality writing of excellent content. However if their handwriting is poor, it may have meant that they wouldn’t have achieved 2 or 3 of the old Writing Expectations that focused on presentation/handwriting. Therefore these children could be graded Emerging, yet possibly the best writer for their age. As an SLT, we have removed the Handwriting Expectations from each year group’s Writing Expectations for this year. Handwriting will be graded separately in your child’s End of Year Report. MASTERY has replaced the word EXCEEDING. WHY? MASTERY is now the phrase used by the DfE, Educationalists and other consultants, so we have incorporated it into our own school’s assessment language. We have new information about the new KS1 and KS2 SATS – page 17 onwards. Beaver Road Academy Trust

What changes have come from the Department for Education (DfE)? Beaver Road Academy Trust

“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 from September 2014 and will not be replaced. By removing levels we will allow teachers greater flexibility in the way that they plan and assess pupils’ learning. The programmes of study within the new National Curriculum (NC) set out expectations at the end of each key stage, and all maintained schools will be free to develop a curriculum relevant to their pupils that teaches this content. The curriculum must include an assessment system which enables schools to check what pupils have learned and whether they are on track to meet expectations at the end of the key stage, and to report regularly to parents.” National curriculum and assessment from September 2014: information for schools Beaver Road Academy Trust

How will this change the assessment and reporting of my child’s attainment? Beaver Road Academy Trust

Moving assessment at Beaver Road forward With levels now gone, all schools have been given the freedom to select an assessment procedure that is clearer for parents and carers. As a school we must report back on whether a pupil is achieving the expectations for the end of each key stage. At Beaver Road we have taken this a step further and have split the national curriculum in to ‘End of Year Expectations’ for English and Mathematics. This is a list of the key objectives that pupils need to know by the end of each academic year. Beaver Road Academy Trust

How will we report back to parents? From Year 1 to Year 6, every pupil has a set of ‘End of Year Expectations’ to achieve by the end of each academic year in English and Mathematics. At parental consultations you will be notified if your child is “on track” to achieve the Expected grade – along with some areas you can support your child’s learning at home. If you child is NOT “on track” you will be provided with information about what the school is doing to support your child for the upcoming term, as well as how you can support your child’s learning at home. For your child’s end of year report, you will be given information on: an assessment of either Emerging (split into 3 stages), Expected or Mastery based on the percentage of expectations they have met AND suggested targets to help support your pupil over the Summer break ready for September and a new set of expectations The ultimate aim is by the end of Year 6, is for every pupil to be ready for Secondary school, by achieving the Year 6 Expected grade. Beaver Road Academy Trust

It is important to note that… the new curriculum is very challenging. The bar has been raised for every year group. to achieve an ‘Expected’ grade in Year 6, researchers and educationalists have compared it to an old level 4A/5C. Previously, a child only had to reach the level 4C threshold to have met the old national expectations for the end of Key Stage 2. Beaver Road Academy Trust

So what will this new system look like? Beaver Road Academy Trust

Level 6 Level 5a Level 5b Level 5c Level 4a Level 4b Level 4c Level 3a Level 3b Level 3c Level 2a Level 2b Emerging Expected MASTERY Year 6 Emerging 1 Year 6 Emerging 2 Year 6 Emerging 3 Year 6 Expected Year 6 MASTERY Year 5 Emerging 1 Year 5 Emerging 2 Year 5 Emerging 3 Year 5 Expected Year 5 MASTERY Year 4 Emerging 1 Year 4 Emerging 2 Year 4 Emerging 3 Year 4 Expected Year 4 MASTERY Year 3 Emerging 1 Year 3 Emerging 2 Year 3 Emerging 3 Year 3 Expected Year 3 MASTERY Year 2 Emerging 1 Year 2 Emerging 2 Year 2 Emerging 3 Year 2 Expected Year 2 MASTERY Year 1 Emerging 1 Year 1 Emerging 2 Year 1 Emerging 3 Year 1 Expected Year 1 MASTERY We move away from an assessment system that runs throughout the School and across Year Groups where children are encouraged to accelerate through the levels. We moved to a system where pupils are assessed against a key set of expectations per Year Group. The children are learning in greater depth and apply their learning to a wide variety of situations. They are not accelerated through levels, instead they are developing a deeper understanding and an ability to apply this understanding across other subjects and in a variety of situations. At the beginning of each year they face the challenge of a new set of End of Year Expectations

How will our assessment system work within each Year Group? Beaver Road Academy Trust

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 ‘Expected’. This is the desired grade for the end of each academic year, to be ready/prepared for the following Year. Beaver Road Academy Trust potential progression throughout the year Emerging is split into 3 parts to aid monitoring progress throughout the early portion of the school year, when the children are beginning their work towards achieving a new set of expectations. Expected is the aim for children to achieve by the end of each academic year. Achieving a “Mastery” standard for an expectation? For children to reach the “mastery” standard for an expectation they must show continually that: They make no mistakes They work at a rapid pace They can consistently apply that objective in a range of situations They can apply what they know to other subjects They have an “unconscious competence” – they can do it without thinking Below the National Standard Emerging 1Emerging 2Emerging 3EXPECTEDMASTERY Exceptional Children are not able to access their age-related expectations and are working on expectations from previous year groups Children are meeting 50% or below of the Expectations Children are meeting between 50% and 65% of the Expectations Children are meeting between 65% and 80% of the Expectations Children have met 80% to 100% of the Expectations and can apply them to different contexts. Children have met 100% of the Expectations and 25% of the Expectations are to a “Mastery” standard Children have completed 100% of the Expectations to a “Mastery” standard. This is the stage that describes children with attainment significantly beyond age typical expectations.

How will Teachers know which stage my child is at? Beaver Road Academy Trust

Example – Below is the Year 4 End of Year Expectations for Mathematics Teachers will keep a running record of children’s understanding of these expectations Teachers will make a judgment of when a child has achieved an expectation – adding notes where necessary A percentage can be then calculated of expectations achieved against expectations needed, to show an assessment of Emerging 1, Emerging 2, Emerging 3, Expected If a child completes all the end of year expectations before the end of the year, they begin to work on the expectations in a variety of situations and settings, where they can apply their knowledge IN DEPTH – Mastery. Beaver Road Academy Trust

When does this new assessment and reporting system begin? Beaver Road Academy Trust

It is already in place… Since June 2014, with this expected change in mind, the Beaver Road Senior Leadership Team and Subject Leaders in English and Mathematics, began creating the ‘End of Year Expectations’. Since the start of last academic year, lessons have been taught to begin achieving these expectations in line with the new National Curriculum requirements. ‘End of Year Expectations’ have been added to the front of children’s books, and teachers are beginning to make their judgments. At your next parental consultation evening, you will be able to view your child’s progress towards achieving these ‘End of Year Expectations’. We have updated our end of year reports in response to the curriculum changes and subsequent changes we have made to our assessment procedures. Year Group expectations can be found on your child’s Year Group Page at Beaver Road Academy Trust

What about the new KS1 and KS2 end of year assessments? Beaver Road Academy Trust

Key stage 1 Tests that are externally set but internally marked continue as before but with new tests to reflect the new curriculum from summer The output of the tests will be scaled scores. A scaled score is defined as ‘a score where 100 will represent the new expected standard for that stage’. The scaled scores will inform teacher assessment. Little detail is given about scaled scores other than pupils with a score of 100 or above will have met the new standard and those with a score of less than 100 will not. It is not clear how the scaled score will relate to current measures for KS1. Beaver Road Academy Trust

Key stage 2 New, more challenging, externally set and marked national tests will be introduced from 2016 for use at the end of KS2 in mathematics, reading and GPS. Sampling tests for science will continue as will teacher assessments for mathematics, reading, writing and science. The output from the reading, mathematics and GPS national tests will be scaled scores (similar to Key Stage 1 tests). Parents will receive details of their own child’s score, the average score for the school, local area and nationally. Beaver Road Academy Trust

Assessment Changes November 2015 Beaver Road Academy Trust