1. Information for Parents Key Stage 3 Statutory Assessment Arrangements
[Suggested notes for presentation. Begin with a school introduction and welcome to parents by the principal or another member of staff.]
The aim of this presentation is to help you understand how your child will be assessed in the first three years at post-primary school. It focuses on requirements that apply to children in our school and throughout Northern Ireland.

2. The Curriculum and Learning
The Northern Ireland Curriculum defines what your child should be learning through Areas of Learning:
subject knowledge, understanding and skills
Cross-Curricular Skills
Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities.
First, I’d like to set assessment in the context of what your child is learning.
The Northern Ireland Curriculum was revised in 2007, and it defines what your child should be learning through Areas of Learning – and subjects – in terms of:
knowledge, understanding and skills in each particular subject – English, Mathematics, Science and Technology, and others;
Cross-Curricular Skills; and
Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities.
One of the main changes in 2007 was a new emphasis on particular skills. Although pupils would have developed these types of skills before, now the curriculum sets outs and defines specific Cross-Curricular Skills and Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities that should be taught. Teachers in all subjects across the curriculum have to teach these skills and capabilities.

3. The Curriculum and Learning
The three Cross-Curricular Skills are:
Communication
Talking and Listening
Reading
Writing
Using Mathematics
Using ICT
The three Cross-Curricular Skills are:
Communication, which includes Talking and Listening, Reading, and Writing;
Using Mathematics; and
Using Information and Communications Technology, usually called Using ICT.
The emphasis is on teachers providing pupils with opportunities to acquire, develop, transfer and apply these skills in different contexts and real-life situations.

4. The Curriculum and Learning
The Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities are:
Thinking Skills
Managing Information
Thinking, Problem-Solving and Decision-Making
Being Creative
Personal Capabilities
Working with Others
Self-Management
The Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities encourage children to manage information; to think, solve problems and make decisions; to be creative; to work with others; and to manage their own work.
They enable young people to take more responsibility for their own learning and become more independent learners.

5. Subject Learning In each subject your child is taught:
knowledge and understanding of the subject
subject skills
Cross-Curricular Skills
Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities.
So, in each subject your child learns to develop subject knowledge, understanding and skills alongside the Cross-Curricular Skills and Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities.
For example, in Geography they might focus on knowledge and understanding about people’s impact on the environment; in Science, they might be learning about forces and energy. [Add examples if appropriate.]
Your child also is taught subject skills. In Geography these will include fieldwork and mapping skills; in Science, they’ll include investigative skills and how to do experiments.
At the same time, teachers give your child opportunities to develop their Cross-Curricular Skills of Communication, Using Mathematics and Using ICT. Communication skills are important for improving literacy, and skills in Using Mathematics are essential for improving numeracy.
In each subject across the curriculum your child is also taught Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities.
So all these aspects of the curriculum are taught in each subject.

6. Key Stage 3 Assessment
To improve your child’s learning, we need to know:
what stage they are at in their learning
how well they are doing
how we can help them do better.
We assess each child’s learning through:
classroom observation
discussion and asking questions
homework
class tests
school examinations
tasks and assessment activities.
To improve your child’s learning in all these areas, teachers need to know what stage they are at in their learning, how well they are doing and how we can help them do better. At our school we assess each child’s learning in a range of ways, through:
classroom observation;
discussion and asking questions;
homework;
class tests;
school examinations; and
tasks and assessment activities.
Teachers gather, record and use this information to gain an understanding of each child’s ability and performance, their strengths and areas for development.

7. Key Stage 3 Statutory Assessment
Your child’s progress will be assessed each year in:
subject learning (knowledge, understanding and skills)
Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities
Cross-Curricular Skills.
Assessing the Cross-Curricular Skills
In Years 8–10, schools must use the Levels of Progression
for assessing and reporting pupils’ progress.
In Year 10, the numerical level your child has achieved will be
reported to you.
Throughout Key Stage 3 – in Years 8, 9 and 10 – your child’s progress will be assessed each year in all these aspects of their learning:
subject learning – knowledge, understanding and skills;
Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities; and
Cross-Curricular Skills.
Each school is free to choose how they will assess pupils’ subject knowledge and understanding, and their Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities – but all schools now have to follow certain requirements for assessing the Cross-Curricular Skills at Key Stage 3.
In Year 10 for the Cross-Curricular Skills of Communication, Using Mathematics and Using ICT, a numerical level will also be given beside the teacher's comment. I will explain more about the levels of Progression in the next slide.

8. Statutory Assessment of the Cross-Curricular Skills
The Levels of Progression:
apply to Communication, Using Mathematics and Using ICT
range from Level 1 to Level 7
describe what ‘pupils can’ do
indicate the knowledge, understanding and skills your child needs to demonstrate to achieve each level.
See
So, what are the Levels of Progression?
There are levels for Communication, Using Mathematics and Using ICT – all three of the Cross-Curricular Skills.
They range from Level 1 – the lowest – to Level 7 – the highest.
They are set out as a series of statements that describe what ‘pupils can’ do at each level.
They indicate the knowledge, understanding and skills your child needs to demonstrate in order to achieve each level.
You can view the Levels of Progression on the Northern Ireland Curriculum website at

9. Levels of Progression Writing
As an example, here’s what Levels 4 to 7 of the Levels of Progression for Communication look like.
On the left are the three modes of Communication that we assess – Talking and Listening, Reading, and Writing – and the basic Requirements for Communication. The levels to the right elaborate on these Requirements.
Now we’ll take a closer look at one small section of the levels, to see the sort of language they use.
Here you can see the assessment criteria that your child needs to meet to achieve a Level 5 in Writing.
For example, when writing a letter or a story, they need to show they can act on feedback from the teacher. They can redraft work, correcting mistakes and making improvements. They write in a logical, coherent way and present their information in a style that is appropriate for their audience. They need to use precise vocabulary and accurate spelling, punctuation and grammar.

10. Key Stage 3 Statutory Assessment of the Cross-Curricular Skills
Teachers assess your child’s skills in an ongoing way through:
classroom observation
discussion and asking questions
monitoring their work and progress.
This helps them understand:
the level at which your child is working
how best to help your child improve their learning.
So how do teachers assess the level your child is working at in each of the Cross-Curricular Skills? [Mention the subjects that will be contributing to the assessment of the Cross-Curricular Skills in your school.]
At school, day to day, your child will be taking part in activities and tasks that allow them to demonstrate their skills in Communication, Using Mathematics and Using ICT.
As part of their daily practice, teachers will be assessing each child’s progress in their skills in an ongoing way through observation, discussion and monitoring their work.
This helps teachers gain an understanding of:
the level your child is working at in each skill; and
how best to help your child improve their learning.

11. End of Key Stage 3 Statutory Assessment
At the end of Key Stage 3, teachers will decide the level your child has achieved in each skill, based on:
their knowledge of your child
assessment information they have gathered and
your child’s performance in planned assessment activities/tasks.
At the end of Key Stage 3 (in Year 10), teachers will use the Levels of Progression to make an overall judgement about the level that your child is working at in Communication, Using Mathematics and Using ICT.
They’ll base this on:
their knowledge of your child and assessment information they have gathered; and
your child’s overall performance in a number of planned assessment activities or tasks.
You will then be told which level your child has achieved – Level 4, Level 5 etc.

12. Expected Levels for the Cross-Curricular Skills
The Levels through the Key Stages
Key Stage
Levels of Progression 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1 (Years 3–4)
2 (Years 5–7)
3 (Years 8–10)
Now, the Department of Education has specified the levels it expects most pupils to attain for each of the Cross-Curricular Skills by the end of each Key Stage.
First, as you can see from this table:
children at Key Stage 1 should be working between Levels 1 and 3 in Communication, Using Mathematics and Using ICT – and at the end of Key Stage 1, they can achieve between Level 1 (the lowest) and Level 3 (the highest);
at the end of Key Stage 2, children can achieve between Level 1 and Level 5; and
at the end of Key Stage 3, children can achieve between Level 1 and Level 7.

13. Expected Levels for the Cross-Curricular Skills
Expected Levels at the End of Each Key Stage
End of Key Stage 1 (Year 4)
Level 2
End of Key Stage 2 (Year 7)
Level 4
End of Key Stage 3 (Year 10)
Level 5
You can see here that by the end of Key Stage 3 most pupils are expected to achieve Level 5 in Communication, Using Mathematics and Using ICT.
Most children at the end of Year 7, moving into post-primary school, would be expected to have achieved Level 4 in each of these skills.

14. Expected Levels for the Cross-Curricular Skills
Expected Levels at the End of Each Key Stage
End of Key Stage 1 (Year 4)
Level 2
End of Key Stage 2 (Year 7)
Level 4
End of Key Stage 3 (Year 10)
Level 5
There is also:
‘a very clear expectation that individual pupils should
progress at least one level between each Key Stage.’
(Department of Education, May 2010)
There is also ‘a very clear expectation’ from the Department of Education ‘that individual pupils should progress at least one level between Key Stages’.
So, for example, if a child is working at Level 3 in Communication in Year 7 – not the expected Level 4 – we would expect that child to progress at least one level and achieve Level 4 by the end of Key Stage 3.
There’s a focus on every child making progress.

15. Levels of Progression and Levels of Attainment
Note
The Levels of Progression replace Levels of Attainment.
The new levels place greater emphasis on skills
(not only knowledge and understanding) –
so they are expected to be more challenging.
Now, here’s a note that will be especially relevant if you have an older child who has already gone through end of Key Stage assessment.
The Levels of Progression replace an older framework called Levels of Attainment. The new levels place a greater emphasis on pupils’ skills, rather than just knowledge and understanding.
Children may have a good grasp of knowledge and understanding but not yet have developed the skills to apply them in different situations.
Because of this focus on skills, you might notice that the new levels seem to be more challenging for children. So, an older child who you think has equal capabilities in Communication, Using Mathematics or Using ICT might have achieved a higher level than a child assessed this year using the Levels of Progression – and the new emphasis on skills might explain why.

16. Quality Assurance and Quality Control
The Moderation Process
This will involve:
teachers in each school working together to agree standards
schools providing samples of pupil work to CCEA for external moderation.
There’s a moderation process in place for this assessment, so you can be confident that – no matter what school your child attends – all schools are following the same process and working to the same standards.
Teachers have training in levelling pupil work, and teachers in each school will work together to agree standards – to make sure that, for example, if one teacher decides that a piece of work would be at Level 5, other teachers in the school agree that the work is Level 5 standard.
Schools will also provide samples of pupil work to the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) for review, or ‘external moderation’, to make sure the levels they have awarded are consistent with those awarded by other schools.

17. Annual Reports
The Annual Report will give you information about your child's progress in every aspect of the curriculum, including:
For pupils in Years 8 and 9
a teacher’s comment only about progress in Communication, Using Mathematics and Using ICT
For pupils in Year 10
a numerical level and a teacher’s comment
for Communication, Using Mathematics and Using ICT.
At the end of each school year, the Annual Report that the school sends to you will give you information about your child's progress in every aspect of the curriculum. This includes the Cross-Curricular Skills of Communication, Using Mathematics and Using ICT.
For children in Years 8 and 9 the report will include a comment only about your child’s progress in each skill – Communication, Using Mathematics and Using ICT.
For children in Year 10, you’ll receive more details. The Annual Report will include a numerical level, as well as a teacher’s comment for Communication, Using Mathematics and Using ICT.

18. Annual Reports For pupils in Year 10
The Annual Report will tell you the
percentage of pupils in your school who:
attained this level
attained the expected level (Level 5) or above
are working towards the expected level
are exempt from assessment.
[You may wish to give more details here on reporting levels in your school.]
In Year 10 these Annual Reports will also give you information about the performance of other children in the school. They will tell you the percentage of pupils who:
attained the same level as your child;
attained the expected level or above (Level 5);
are working towards the expected level (Level 5); and
are exempt from assessment.
This will allow you and your child's teachers to make comparisons between your child’s performance and that of other children in the same year group.
[The principal or another member of staff closes the presentation.]