Information for Parents Why is this change happening? the current - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Assessment in the New National Curriculum – ‘Life After Levels’

Information for Parents

Why is this change happening?

“… the current system of national curriculum levels and level descriptions will be removed and not replaced.”

Department for Education (July 2013)

• A new National Curriculum was introduced in

September 2014.

• The existing levels don’t work as a way of assessing

children’s attainment against the new curriculum.

• The Government have not replaced levels and have left

it up to schools to design their own assessment framework. “Schools need to be conscious that the new curriculum is not in alignment with the old national curriculum levels.”

NAHT Commission on Assessment (February 2014)

Why a new Curriculum?

• In order to raise standards, and bring the UK in

line with other countries, in particular South East Asian countries, the content of the new National Curriculum (Sept 2014), has become harder.

• In some areas of the curriculum, in particular

Maths and Literacy, there are now topics being taught at a greater breadth and depth in year groups lower down the school than previously.

• For example, elements of “Time” that were

previously taught in Year 4 are now being taught in Year 2.

Why were levels removed?

• As Professor Dylan Wiliam's paper, Level Best?

(2001), made clear, more than a dozen years after their introduction, national curriculum levels sat uneasily with academics who were concerned that they were simply a best-fit that, were often inaccurate and did not really represent a child's true attainment – precisely the reasons that they have now been discarded.

Written by: John Viner | Published: 03 March 2015

• Then there was the trip-hazard of being

"just in" a level – thank goodness the pupil was just in Level 4. 
 This led us to push pupils into the next steps of learning before they were ready, which is why progress for these pupils was

• ften fragile.

Written by: John Viner | Published: 03 March 2015

Which children in school will be affected?

Year Group

This Year (2015-16)

FS2

Still assessed in the same way (transition tool will be used as they go into Y1)

Y1

New system of attainment

Y2

New system of attainment End of Year SATs

Y3

New system of attainment

Y4

New system of attainment

Y5

New system of attainment

Y6

New system of attainment End of Year SATs

• Children in Foundation Stage are not affected by these changes.
• Children in Years 1 to Year 6 will now be assessed using

a new system of attainment steps.

Why have we chosen the STAT Sheffield approach?

• The materials have been developed by schools for schools ... this

has been a big city wide project involving a broad group of professionals in Sheffield.

• A shared solution leaves the school less isolated and more able to

work in partnership with other schools.

• The materials are high quality and have been quality assured .

Robert Pritchard was in charge of OFSTED in Yorkshire & Humber Steve Anwyll has worked with project leaders. Mick Walker advised the NAHT Commission.

• The NAHT assessment framework was developed with members of

the project team and drew on the principles underpinning the STAT Sheffield materials.

• The materials have continued to be developed … refining the grids

based on feedback, taking account of national developments & developing materials to support teachers.

What will replace the levels?

• Attainment Stages will be used to

describe Yr 1 to Yr 6 children’s attainment in Maths, Reading, Writing and SPaG (Spelling, Punctuation & Grammar).

• The stages are organised in the same way

that the new curriculum is, so that they provide expectations for each year group.

• Just as before, each class will have

children at different stages of development and understanding.

Step Appropriate Curriculum 1-15 Pre-Y1 attainment stages 16 Curriculum Year 1 Entering 17 Developing 18 Secure 19 Curriculum Year 2 Entering 20 Developing 21 Secure 22 Curriculum Year 3 Entering 23 Developing 24 Secure 25 Curriculum Year 4 Entering 26 Developing 27 Secure 28 Curriculum Year 5 Entering 29 Developing 30 Secure 31 Curriculum Year 6 Entering 32 Developing 33 Secure 34 + Post-Y6 attainment stages

• Teachers will use a grid, like this one, as a tool to support them in making the decision about which step a child is on

now.

• The grids do this by identifying the proportion of the appropriate curriculum that a child has mastered.

How will teachers decide how my child is doing?

Over the course of a school year, it is expected that most children will start the year at the “Entering” step for their academic year.

Step Curriculum Source 1-15 Pre-Y1 attainment stages 16 Curriculum Year 1 Entering 17 Developing 18 Secure 19 Curriculum Year 2 Entering 20 Developing 21 Secure 22 Curriculum Year 3 Entering 23 Developing 24 Secure 25 Curriculum Year 4 Entering 26 Developing 27 Secure 28 Curriculum Year 5 Entering 29 Developing 30 Secure 31 Curriculum Year 6 Entering 32 Developing 33 Secure 34 + Post-Y6 attainment stages

During the year, each child will be continually assessed through good classroom practice, using questioning, marking written work and mini- tests and formal assessments. Teachers will use the evidence from the continual assessment to ensure children have secured the knowledge they need before moving them onto the next stage, be that “Developing”

• r “Secure”.

By the end of the academic year, most children will have developed a “Secure” knowledge of their year group’s curriculum. For a few children by the end of the academic year, they may not have moved through the stages for their year group as expected, and may therefore not finish the school year as “Secure” in their year group’s curriculum.

• Teachers will use a grid, like this one, as a tool to support them in making the decision about which step a child is on

now.

• The grids do this by identifying the proportion of the appropriate curriculum that a child has mastered.

How will teachers decide how my child is doing?

What information will I receive about how my child is doing?

Step Curriculum Source 1-15 Pre-Y1 attainment stages 16 Curriculum Year 1 Entering 17 Developing 18 Secure 19 Curriculum Year 2 Entering 20 Developing 21 Secure 22 Curriculum Year 3 Entering 23 Developing 24 Secure 25 Curriculum Year 4 Entering 26 Developing 27 Secure 28 Curriculum Year 5 Entering 29 Developing 30 Secure 31 Curriculum Year 6 Entering 32 Developing 33 Secure 34 + Post-Y6 attainment stages

• We will share with you your

child’s attainment during our Spring Term Parent Interviews and your child’s end-of-year written report.

• When children in Yr 2 and Yr 6

take their Yr 2 and Yr 6 SATs in May 2016, they will be tested on the new curriculum. This will be reported differently than before.

• Mrs O’Gorman and Mrs Dilbert

will be talking about this in greater depth.

What do we expect from the children?

• Attendance – every day counts!
• Independence
• Readiness to work
• Effort in classwork and homework
• To ask for help if needed
• Times tables
• Reading as much as possible

• The new curriculum is harder so children will be

covering topics that were previously taught in higher classes.

• Teachers will use a range of ways to gather the

evidence to assess the children’s progress.

• One of the rationales for having new assessment

procedures is that children spend longer embedding the knowledge they have learnt, rather than rushing through objectives to get to the next level without having a secure understanding of the concepts they have learnt. What are the important things to remember?