1. Harold Wood Primary School A parents’ guide to how we assess ATTAINMENT AND PROGRESS November 2015

2. Introduction Attainment Targets and levels were introduced with the national curriculum in 1988. A new national curriculum was published in 2014 and statutory assessment arrangements will change in summer 2016 to align with its content and principles. From September 2015, levels will no longer be used for statutory assessments. Although Attainment Targets remain in the national curriculum orders, they now refer explicitly to ensuring all pupils know, apply and understand the matters, skills and processes specified in the relevant programme of study.

3. From summer 2016 the results of national curriculum tests at Key Stage 1 and 2 will be reported in the form of scaled scores. The Department has been clear, however, that schools should have the freedom to develop their own approaches to in-school assessment between key stages

4. How we assess children’s learning now that levels have gone.

5. Symphony Assessment System [SAS] From September 2015, at Harold Wood, we use the Symphony Assessment System. The New National Curriculum defines clear steps for pupils to make towards age related expectations. SAS translates this into meaningful descriptors for teachers to measure against. For reading, writing and mathematics, children work towards end of year expectations where the end of Year 1 is defined as Grade 1S and the end of Year 2 is Grade 2S etc up to Year 6 being Grade 6S. In each year, we have step 1 [Autumn] and step 2 [Spring] which provide descriptors for the milestones we feel children should reach on their way to achieving the end of year expectations (these correspond, loosely, to half-termly & termly progress). The descriptors for each milestone have been defined by experienced teachers and leaders in Leicestershire Schools and they meet the increased expectations of the new Primary National Curriculum.

6. A guide to termly expectations Term 1 Emerging [E] Term 2 Developing [D] Term 3 (end of year expectation) Secure [S] Year 11E1D1S Year 22E2D2S Year 33E3D3S Year 44E4D4S Year 55E5D5S Year 66E6D6S

7. ‘Attainment Bands’ In each year, there are three ‘Steps’ with the aim that all pupils at least meet the expected, third step by the end of the academic year. It has to be noted that these new expectations, in line with the New National Curriculum, are higher than had previously been the case with the old National Curriculum Levels. There may therefore be a period of adjustment as children ‘catch up’ with the new, higher expectations. The Symphony Assessment System will help school leaders to ensure that teachers’ expectations are sufficiently high to meet the increased demands.

8. ‘Gradings’ Symphony Assessment Grades are related directly to Year Groups (i.e. a pupil who has achieved the age-related expectations for Y3 has a grade of 3S). Teachers can also decide that a child might be between bands eg a 3d+ This means they are achieving more than a 3D but not quite meeting the end of year expectations [3S] NB we have called our grades E [emerging]; D[developing]; S [secure] Symphony uses A,B & C

9. Measuring Progress The expectation is that pupils make a minimum of 6 points progress per year, every year. [Which equates to 2 points progress each term] Unlike the old national curriculum, [where children were expected to make at least 2 levels progress across KS2 or 2/3 level each year],the Symphony Attainment Bands are in equal steps from Year 1 to Year 6.

10. How do teachers use the new assessment system? SAS is a formative assessment tool and prepares pupils for every stage in their learning. Teachers assess pupils’ understanding of a topic and identify where there are gaps. This tells the teacher what to focus on in future lessons and prompts the teacher to consider how his or her teaching approach can be adapted to improve pupils’ understanding. SAS provides teachers with every opportunity to ensure that pupils are secure in their knowledge.

11. SAS clearly defines steps in learning and identifies gaps. Teachers can use their formative assessment, using SAS to plan for future learning for individuals and groups.

12. The new national curriculum puts greater emphasis on the specific knowledge pupils should acquire by the end of each key stage and requires greater depth and detail of learning. SAS allows schools to measure this and how assessment of pupils' attainment can be used to inform planning to develop this 'depth' of pupils skills and knowledge.

13. Parent’s evening Please note that there will not be an Interim Report this term At the forthcoming parents’ meetings, your child’s teacher will discuss the attainment and progress of your child, based on the new assessment system.

14. Thank you for attending Any questions?