The new curriculum and assessment without levels at Halton School Aims:  to explain key curriculum changes in English and maths  to help parents understand how children are assessed in school and how this will be reported under the new assessment without levels framework

The curriculum was introduced in 2014 with full implementation in 2015 There is an expectation that all pupils can and will achieve and that the majority of pupils will move through the programmes of study at broadly the same pace. Pupils who grasp concepts quickly will be challenged by rich, deeper opportunities to apply what they know, rather than accelerating through the new content. Pupils who are not sufficiently fluent in the earlier stages in the curriculum will consolidate their understanding through additional practice before moving on.

 The new primary curriculum demonstrates ‘higher expectations’ for all pupils and in some areas the content of the new curriculum is significantly more demanding than in the past.  The new curriculum sets out what is be taught in each year group and has Performance Descriptors for the end of each Key Stage. Concepts and content have been moved around so ‘old’ levels could not be used as they no longer fit with the new curriculum coverage

In English there is now more attention paid to the study of grammar and to spelling, handwriting and drafting/re-drafting work.

Writing:  Increased challenge, including developing ‘stamina’ for writing  Longer compositions and proof-reading of own writing  Increased focus on composition, structure and convention  Deeper focus on learning grammar and punctuation  Correctly joined writing expected in Year 2 Reading:  Emphasis on reading widely for pleasure, re-reading books and reading aloud  Increased focus on engaging with and interpreting texts  Learning and reciting of poetry Spelling:  Specific spellings, e.g. days of the week, prefixes & suffixes  Pupils expected to write sentences dictated by the teacher

Writing:  Greatly increased expectations in grammar and punctuation  Pupils to identify and label complex grammatical concepts, punctuation and spelling rules  Expectation that pupils expertly use and apply grammar and punctuation concepts in independent writing to create specific effects  Expectation that handwriting is always fluently joined and neat Reading:  Reading for pleasure  Word reading: pupils applying their knowledge to understand the meaning of new words  Learning and reciting classic & modern poetry Spelling:  Statutory lists of words to be learnt in Years  Specific spelling rules to be taught

In maths, mathematical fluency and mathematical reasoning are key - there is now much greater focus on the skills of arithmetic and also on working with fractions.

What is there less of? Emphasis on estimation Work on data handling (statistics) What is out? Calculators Separate strand for using and applying Use of apparatus in KS1 SATs tests What is there more of? More challenging objectives, especially in number Formal written methods in KS2 Instant recall and mathematical fluency More work on fractions and decimals Problem solving and reasoning What is in? Roman numerals Times tables up to 12 x 12 Equivalence between metric and imperial Long division and algebra (Y6)

The DfE want to avoid what they termed ‘The level race’ where children moved through the old National Curriculum (NC) levels quickly to show higher attainment. The old curriculum was sub-divided into levels, but these were not linked to year groups. It was felt that the levels system was difficult for parents to understand and did not adequately ensure that pupils had a breadth and depth of knowledge at each NC level. By removing levels we will allow teachers greater flexibility in the way that they plan and assess pupils’ learning. DfE The new curriculum sets out what is to be taught in each year; it has Performance Descriptors for what should be known at the end of each Key Stage but does not provide any system or structure for on going assessment of pupil progress. This is a new way of thinking for schools - assessment now looks very different to how has for the past 20 years. In 2015 Year 2 and Year 6 SATs results were reported as NC levels, but this year all year groups will assessed without levels.

The system of NC levels had critics who felt that some inappropriate practice had developed over time; the framework did, however, provide a common language for assessment and a consistent set of criteria across England. All schools now have the freedom to make their own professional judgments about how children are learning the knowledge, skills and concepts within the new National Curriculum. All schools can now decide how to monitor progress and how to report to parents and pupils about where the pupil is and what they need to do next to make progress. The new assessment framework echoes the language of judgments made at the end of Foundation Stage - Emerging, Expected, Exceeding Progress is of paramount importance. Schools will continue to use ‘formative’ assessments as well as summative assessments and will seek to show pupil progress in a wide range of ways, particularly through evidence in pupils’ books. Assessment is not simply used as a measure of a child’s ability at school but as a tool to inform planning, to develop pupils’ ability to learn, and to develop their knowledge, understanding and skills.

The government anticipate that 85% of pupils will achieve the age-related expectations the curriculum for their year group. Under the new National Curriculum, all pupils should work on the objectives for their year group and should not be taught skills from a higher year group. For those high- achieving pupils who have reached their end of year expectations, teachers will provide a range of learning opportunities that offer a greater depth and breadth of understanding specific to their year group.

 After much research, schools in the John Colet Liaison group have agreed to use the same assessment framework to ensure consistency across local schools and to enable moderation of work to take place.  HfL is an internal school system to enable schools to measure progress and to see if pupils are on track to meet expected standards in statutory tests. It is not a reporting system.  Curriculum 2014 sets out content in terms of year groups and phases – the HFL assessment framework tracks children in phases and steps within the phases. There are 3 steps within each academic year and an expectation that pupils will move 3 steps per year  HfL provides a clear way for schools to assess against age related expectations for each year group and to identify when pupils are working within these expectations. Key performance indicators enable progress to be measured.

Reporting processes will remain the same - with parent consultation evenings in the autumn and spring terms and an end of year report. The key difference is that we will share assessment information that is linked to age related expectations (ARE) rather than the ‘old’ national curriculum levels and sub-levels. This will give clarity to where your child is working in regard to age related expectations

In year groups 1-6 there are 4 statements that will be used in annual reports and at consultation evenings:  working at age related expectations (ARE)  working above age related expectations  working below age related expectations  working significantly below age related expectations

Teachers will discuss these statements in relation to individual children but, as a rough guide, ‘working below ARE’ will equate to working one term behind expectations and ‘significantly below’ will indicate that a pupils is working two terms or more behind ARE. Consultation evening appointments will continue to focus on reading, writing and maths - progress within steps, strengths and areas for development will be the foundation for discussion, along with behaviour for learning.

As expectations are higher in the new curriculum, pupils reported to be working at an ‘average’ level last year may be reported as working below expectations as children tackle new curriculum content and as we move to the new assessment framework. Some children may be working within a phase below their chronological age - this is especially likely in the new curriculum which has higher expectations than the previous National Curriculum. Where this is the case, pupils will be assessed using previous phase/ year group information. Although the language of reported assessment has changed, progress will still be the key focus.

There will be a new ‘expected standard’ for pupils at the end of Year 2 (a higher standard than in 2015) with outcomes reported as scaled scores rather than levels.  There will be a new test for spelling, punctuation and grammar  There will be two maths and two reading papers  Although the tests are set externally, they will be marked by teachers within the school  Children will be given a scaled score although this may not be communicated to parents.  Teacher assessments will continue to be used to build up a picture of each pupil’s learning and achievements. In addition, children will receive an overall result saying whether they have achieved the required standard in the tests.

This will be a new ‘expected standard’ (a higher standard than in 2015) with outcomes reported as scaled scores rather than levels.  There will be new national curriculum tests in reading and maths  Pupils will be given a standardised score in reading and maths with a scaled score of 100 being the age related expectation.  Pupils’ writing will be teacher assessed as ‘working at the expected standard’ or ‘working at greater depth in the expected standard’.  DfE will only be able to confirm what constitutes achieving a high scaled score in maths and reading after the new KS 2 tests have been taken in summer  Each pupil’s score, alongside the average for their school, the local area and nationally will be reported to parents.