1.  From September 2015 it is expected that all primary schools in England will assess their pupils without using levels.  Every school is free to choose how they will implement their system of assessment.  At Gawsworth we are involved in leading in the development of one system of assessing without levels.

2. Initially primary schools nationally began by assessing children to be at a given level:- e.g. Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4 Schools then refined their assessments by giving each level a sub level:- e.g. Level 2c, Level 2b, Level 2a To further refine this assessment schools then began to attach numerical values to our sub levels:- Low 2c = 13 Average Point Score (APS) High 2c = 14 Average Point Score (APS) ALL VERY CONFUSING AT TIMES FOR THOSE NOT IN THE WORLD OF EDUCATION!!

3.  To give parents a clearer understanding of how their child is progressing:- From September 2015 it is statutory for schools to report the progress of pupils at the end of each key stage as having:-  ‘met expected standards’ as compared to their peer group nationally.  ‘exceeded expected standards’  be ‘working towards expected standards’.

4.  Under the old system of assessment there was emphasis on children working through the levels before they had chance to consolidate their learning.  There was pressure on schools to move pupils even if understanding was not fully embedded.

5.  Teachers used assessment tools and gave a ‘best fit’ level.  This often meant children could have gaps in their learning but still achieve a level.  Other high ranking countries have never used levels but have assessed a child’s depth of understanding or ‘mastery’ of key concepts taught.

6.  The New National Curriculum (2014) is built on the premise of fewer things to study but what remains is studied at greater depth.  Progress is no longer deemed to be successful in terms of ‘value added’, the speed of progress or if a child is exceeding expectations but through a child’s depth of understanding and mastery of the curriculum.

7.  There are only now three statutory expectations which are that by the end of EYFS, KS1 and KS2 a child will be fluent in their understanding of the curriculum. (Working at least at ‘age related expectations’)  There is recognition that some pupils will take longer to fully understand a concept but that by the end of a KS many of these pupils will have an understanding.  Conversely there is recognition that more able pupils will be given the opportunity to expand upon their understanding and mastery of the curriculum.

8. To ensure that our children are ‘on track’ to meet the required expectations we shall, as previously, monitor their progress closely. Through:-  Daily class room based assessment  Occasional Assessment Tasks  Data added to our computerised assessment tracking package.

9.  At Gawsworth for several years now we have planned and taught our children in phases.  EYFS  Early Phase – Years 1 and 2 (Milestone 1)  Middle Phase – Years 3 and 4 (Milestone 2)  Later Phase – Years 5 and 6 (Milestone 3)  These phase groups will continue but the terminology will change to ‘Milestone’.

10. We have taken your child’s Average Point Score from the summer term this year and converted it into one of the three new categories of assessment. They will be deemed as currently:- ‘meeting expected standards’ ‘exceeding expected standards’ ‘working towards expected standards’

11.  To provide a baseline measurement of progress every child has had their EYFS data for maths, reading and writing in-putted into the tracking system.  This will allow us to track which children are on target for meeting expected progress at the end of a key stage.  Also, which children are working towards these targets and what intervention they may need to support their achievement of expectations.

12.  Expectation of achievement in the New National Curriculum is now more rigorous.  Many learning objectives have now been put into lower year groups. Particularly in maths and English.  There will be some children who at the end of the last academic year had met their targets but as a result of the changes to curriculum content are currently ‘working towards national expectations’. Similarly some pupils under the old system had exceeded their targets but are now ‘ meeting expectations’. THIS SHOULD NOT TO BE VIEWED AS A DECLINE IN A CHILD’S PROGRESS!!!

13.  As this year progresses on-going assessment will be undertaken and data will be added to our tracking system.  At the Pupil Progress Meeting to be held in the spring term it is expected that we will be able to share the following with you:- *A forecast of expected depth of learning and good progress made from starting points of EYFS or KS1. (According to their exit data from EYFS/KS1 what should they achieve?) *Current depth of learning (Are they on track to meet end of KS expectations?) *Cumulative depth of learning incorporating previous milestone progress. (Historically how did your child progress? How does this compare current data?)

14.  Assessing without levels only became statutory at the beginning of this month. Once more Gawsworth have embraced change quickly.  We are starting out on our journey on ‘assessing without levels’ with a focus on maths, reading and writing.  Coming in the future will be science and then the foundation subjects.  We are looking forward to embarking on this exciting learning journey together.

15. Y5/6 Year 6 Classroom Y3/4 Year 3 Classroom Y1/2 Year 1 Classroom EYFS Reception Classroom Teachers will be talking at 7.25 and again at 7.45

16. EYFSEmergingExpectedExceeding Milestone 1 Years 1 & 2 EmergingExpectedExceeding 11 APS and below12-17APS18 APS and above Milestone 2 Years 3 & 4 EmergingExpectedExceeding 18 APS and below19-23 APS24 APS and above Milestone 3 Years 5 & 6 Emerging ExpectedExceeding 25 APS and below26-30 APS31 APS and above