1. National moderator training
KS1 Writing
The administration of the external moderation of KS1 teacher assessment on behalf of STA is part of the LA’s statutory duty.
These materials are confidential to those invited by the LA to be considered for inclusion in the LA KS1 moderation team. They should not be shared with a wider audience, including on social media.

2. Dispelling myths Some common misconceptions
This session focuses on some of the statements from the key stage 1 interim teacher assessment framework for writing.
It addresses some common misconceptions and provides clarity to ensure consistency in the application of the statements in the interim framework.
N.B. This session is designed to be delivered briskly as the main focus of the training is identifying the evidence.

3. Using sentences with different forms
To meet the requirements of this statement, there may be appropriate use of each sentence form across a collection of writing, or multiple examples within a single piece of writing, for example commands in a set of instructions
Evidence for this statement must include sentences which use the appropriate syntax for all 4 sentence forms (statements, questions, exclamations and commands)

4. Using sentences with different forms
Providing the syntax is correct, this statement is met, even if the sentence demarcation has been omitted, for example, the question mark omitted at the end of a question. (The correct demarcation of sentences is assessed separately.)
The statement refers to sentences with different forms
Therefore, evidence for exclamations must be full sentences, for example What a fantastic goal he scored
Whilst not incorrect, exclamative phrases, such as What an amazing adventure! don’t provide evidence for this statement

5. Using sentences with different forms
It is not always necessary to demarcate an exclamation with an exclamation mark, for example What a sad day it was for Sally. How strange this afternoon has been…
An exclamation mark can also be used to demarcate a command or a statement
The need for an exclamation mark to demarcate an exclamative sentence can be dependent on context and intonation.

6. Using expanded noun phrases
It is possible to expand a noun phrase by adding words appropriately before and/or after the noun
There is no requirement for an expanded noun phrase to include a specific number of adjectives

7. Expanded noun phrases one cold night (Piece C)
the deep dark wood (Piece C)
yellowish fur with black spots (Piece A)
the grasslands of the burning Africa (Piece A)
the biggest midnight feast in their life (Piece B)
These examples of expanded noun phrases are taken from ‘2016 teacher assessment exemplification: end of key stage 1 – English writing – ‘Working at the expected standard: Sam’.
The head noun in each expanded noun phrase is highlighted in blue.
eyes like fire (Piece C)

8. Adding suffixes to spell some/most words correctly
If the root word and suffix follow the spelling requirements of the KS1 programme of study, both must be spelt correctly, for example sadly, suddenly, closely
This guidance can be found in ‘2017 teacher assessment external moderation: key stage 1’ – Section 5. Additional guidance for English writing – 5.3 Spelling (page 14).
If the pupil has chosen to use more adventurous words (e.g. words which use spelling rules from the KS2 programme of study), and spelt the root word incorrectly, but the suffix correctly, then this should be accepted as evidence towards this pupil can statement.  For example purposeful spelt ‘purpusful’; famously spelt ‘famusly’ or nervously spelt ‘nervusly’.

9. Common exception words
The year 1 and year 2 common exception words are non- statutory
Pupils are not required to evidence all the given common exception words in Appendix 1 across a range of writing
This guidance can be found in ‘2017 teacher assessment external moderation: key stage 1’ – Section 5. Additional guidance for English writing – 5.4 Word lists (page 14).
This guidance can be found in ‘2017 teacher assessment external moderation: key stage 1’ – Section 5. Additional guidance for English writing – 5.3 Spelling (page 14).

10. Spelling
Incorrect spelling of words that require application of the statutory requirements for key stage 2 (see Appendix 1) should be disregarded, for example science (Y3/4)

11. Evidence for moderation
Teachers must base their teacher assessment judgement on a broad range of evidence from across the curriculum for each pupil
The evidence used can include the optional key stage 1 English grammar, punctuation and spelling test
This information can be found in ‘Interim teacher assessment frameworks at the end of key stage 1’ - Dec 2016.
As for 2016, the KS1 English grammar, punctuation and spelling test will be optional in 2017: where schools choose to use it, it may provide part of the evidence base for KS1 teacher assessment of writing.'

12. Independence of work Writing is independent if it:
Has been independently edited and / or redrafted by the pupil. This may be in response to self, peer, or group evaluation
Is informed by clear learning objectives and limited success criteria which are not over detailed and do not over-aid pupils
Is produced by pupils who have independently drawn on classroom resources such as dictionaries, thesauruses, word banks, classroom displays, books or websites for support or ideas
Writing is not independent if:
Edited as a result of direct intervention by a teacher or other adult, for example where the pupil has been directed to change specific words for greater impact, or where incorrect or omitted punctuation has been indicated
Supported by success criteria that are over-detailed and over-aids pupils
Produced with the support of electronic aids that automatically provide correct spelling, synonyms, punctuation, or predictive text

13. Success criteria
Success criteria provide pupils with a means of successfully demonstrating their learning
They can also support teachers’ judgements as to whether a pupil has achieved specific learning intentions in a piece of writing
Pupils can use success criteria to assess their own work, address their own concerns, and identify areas for improvement
This guidance can be found in ‘2017 teacher assessment external moderation: key stage 1’ – Section 5. Additional guidance for English writing – 5.1 Independent writing (page 13).

14. Success criteria
If success criteria are over-detailed, they can impact on the independent nature of the writing, for example
I have started a sentence with Suddenly or Quickly
I have used when or because in some of my sentences
I have used can’t, don’t or isn’t in my writing
Success criteria should encourage pupils to focus on the criteria against which the work will be assessed, without modelling or over-scaffolding the expected outcome
This guidance can be found in ‘2017 teacher assessment external moderation: key stage 1’ – Section 5 Additional guidance for English writing – 5.1 Independent writing (page 13).

15. Identifying the evidence
Working at the expected standard
This session focuses on identifying evidence for the expected standard.
N.B. It is suggested that approximately one hour should be allocated for this session.

16. Activity
Your pack contains 5 pieces of writing, taken from one pupil’s collection, which was moderated as ‘working at the expected standard’
These pieces are representative of a broader range of writing seen during the moderation visit
a story
a fact sheet
diary entries
information writing
a recount
You also have some brief contextual information for each piece and an extract from the 2016 KS1 GPaS test.

17. Activity (continued)
Your task is to expand the partially populated supporting commentary, using evidence from the pupil’s writing to show how it meets each of the interim TA framework statements for the expected standard
You should aim to:
provide further bullet points for each statement
comment on all 5 pieces of writing across the commentary as a whole
consider how the evidence from the optional GPaS test might support the TA judgement
There is no expectation for moderators to produce such commentaries themselves.

18. Identifying the evidence
Read the exemplified commentary
Consider how your comments and examples correspond to those within the exemplified commentary
Agree reasons why this collection of evidence does not meet the requirements for ‘working at greater depth within the expected standard’
This commentary is designed to support moderators in successfully completing the standardisation exercise. Following standardisation, moderators will receive similar commentaries on the standardisation collections.

19. Next steps
All prospective LA moderators must successfully complete the KS1 standardisation exercise.
Names of successful and unsuccessful moderators will be reported to STA.
KS1 standardisation exercise window is 17 March to 3 May
STA will send letters to successful moderators by 12 May to confirm they are approved to conduct LA KS1 moderation visits
On completion of this training, all prospective LA moderators will be required to successfully complete the KS1 standardisation exercise. This will be administered and assessed by each LA KS1 moderation manager who will report to STA the names of both those who have been successful and those who have not been successful.
The window for completion of the KS1 standardisation exercise opens on 15 March and closes on 3 May
STA will send letters to successful moderators confirming that they have successfully completed the KS1 standardisation exercise and are approved by STA to conduct LA KS1 external moderation visits by 12 May