1. Assessment at Cromer Road School
Information for Parents
Wednesday January 13th 2016

2. Aims of the session
To give the background to Government changes to the National Curriculum
To explain changes to assessment and the removal of levels
To explain how progress and attainment is tracked
To explain what Assessment for Learning is and the impact on progress
To give information about updated Statutory assessment

3. National Curriculum change
New National Curriculum introduced on
September 1st 2014
Higher focus on knowledge base and emphasis on technical language
Content brought down to earlier years [higher expectations]
Curriculum set out in end of KS expectations. Core subjects also divided into end of year 4 and year 6 [upper and lower KS2]

4. Assessment changes
To avoid ‘The level race’ where children moved through NC levels quickly to achieve higher attainment
Previously levels were not linked to NC year group so children could achieve higher levels without being secure in their understanding
The DfE felt that the old national curriculum and levels system failed to adequately ensure that children had a breadth and depth of knowledge at each national curriculum level.

5. Assessment changes
From September 2015, schools should not continue to use levels to track children’s progress and attainment
‘Schools will be free to design their approaches to assessment to support pupil attainment and progression’ DFE

6. Assessing without levels
Assessments are made against the objectives and end of year expectations from the National Curriculum.
Models of assessing without levels are all similar to the system in EYFS, taking end of year expectations for each year group
Emerging, expected, exceeding

7. School Pupil Tracker Online
Vocabulary for reporting at Cromer Road is:
Emerging – working towards end of year expectation [still requiring support]
Developing – secure in significant proportion of end of year expectations
Secure – secure in vast majority of end of year expectations

8. Assessing without levels
At the beginning of the year every child is expected to be emerging
Children who are fully secure with the end of year expectations will be expected to add more depth and breadth to their knowledge. [Mastery and depth]
Children who are unlikely to be emerging at the end of the year may work towards expectations from the year below

9. Assessment for learning
Any practice which provides information to pupils about what to do to improve
Also known as formative assessment
Ongoing in the classroom
Informs planning and next steps for children

11. Assessment for learning in practice
Make the comment here about writing specifically – AfL is ‘you could have done this’ (but you didn’t) –
For it to move into assessment as learning, we need to give children the opportunity to apply the feedback given. 11

12. Year of transition
Interim teacher assessment frameworks for Y2 and Y6 in May – week of 9th May
Y1 Phonics Check – week of 13th June
Baseline for Reception (2016)

13. In a Nutshell
New NC is designed to increase depth of learning not to race through levels
Levels are no longer being used to assess progress and attainment
Formative assessment is ongoing in the classroom and helps to inform children of their ‘next steps to learning’
Summative assessment is judged against age related expectations
Parents will be informed about whether their child is likely to reach their age related expectation

14. Any Questions?