Assessment at OLOL - Information for Parents

ASSESSMENT WITHOUT LEVELS at Our Lady of Lourdes

Changes to assessment and reporting of pupil’s attainment

THE PREVIOUS SYSTEM

NATIONAL CURRICULUM LEVELS - YEAR 1 TO YEAR 6 All schools have been directed to move away from an assessment

system that runs throughout the school and across year groups, where children were encouraged to accelerate through the levels.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT… The new curriculum is very challenging. The bar has been raised for every year group.

To achieve an ‘expected’ grade in Year 6, researchers and educationalists have compared it to an old level 4A/5C. Previously, a child only had to reach the level 4C threshold to have met the old national expectations for the end of Key Stage 2.

SO WHAT WILL THIS NEW SYSTEM LOOK LIKE? Along with all schools nationally, we have had to develop our own assessment format with the removal of “levels”.

We moved to a system where pupils are assessed against a key set of expectations per year group. The pupils are learning in greater depth and applying their learning to a wide variety of situations.

The pupils are not accelerated through levels, instead they are developing a deeper understanding and an ability to apply this understanding across other subjects and in a variety of situations.

At the beginning of each year they face the challenge of a new set of ‘end of year expectations’.

HOW WILL OUR ASSESSMENT SYSTEM WORK WITHIN EACH YEAR GROUP?

All children at the start of each year begin at ‘emerging’. As they begin to achieve the objectives for that year, they move towards ‘meeting’. This is the desired grade for the end of each academic year, to be ready/prepared for the following year.

Potential progression throughout the year

‘Meeting’ is the aim for pupils to achieve by the end of each academic year.

‘MEETING’ THE END OF YEAR EXPECTATIONS ‘Emerging’

‘Exceeding’

‘Meeting’

‘EXCEEDING’ THE END OF YEAR EXPECTATIONS

Once the pupils have ‘met’ the expected end of year expectations, the pupils are assessed against a set of ‘exceeding’ statements. For pupils to reach this exceeding standard they must continually show that: • They make no mistakes • They work at a rapid pace • They can consistently apply that objective in a range of situations • They can apply what they know to other subjects • They have an “unconscious competence” – they can do it without thinking • They show exceptional ability for their age

‘EXCEEDING’ IS NOT AUTOMATICALLY MOVING INTO NEXT YEAR’S EXPECTATIONS

HOW WILL WE REPORT BACK TO PARENTS? From Year 1 to Year 6, every pupil has a set of ‘end of year expectations’ to achieve by the end of each academic year in English, mathematics and science.

At CHaT meetings, parents will be notified if their child is “on track” to meet these ‘end of year expectations’, along with some areas in which they can support their child’s learning at home.

If the child is NOT “on track” the parents will be provided with information about what the school is doing to support their child for the upcoming term, as well as how they can support their child’s learning at home.

For their child’s end of year report, parents will be given an assessment of either emerging, meeting or exceeding the ‘end of year expectations’ based on the percentage of expectations they have met. Also they will be given suggested targets to help support their child over the summer break ready for September and a new set of expectations.

The ultimate aim by the end of Year 6, is for every pupil to be ready for Secondary school, by meeting the Year 6 ‘end of year expectations’.

REPORTING TO PARENTS

Assessment of pupil: Terminology used for reporting to parents/ carers

Reported to Parents:

Emerging

working towards meeting the end of year expectations.

Meeting

‘meeting’ the end of year expectations OR

working towards ‘exceeding’ the end of year expectations.

Exceeding

‘exceeding’ the end of year expectations

HOW WILL TEACHERS KNOW WHICH STAGE MY CHILD IS AT? Here are the Year 4 End of Year Expectations for Mathematics

Teachers will keep a running record of pupil’s understanding of these expectations, using the web-based programme from OTrack called Class Track.

Teachers will make a judgement of when a pupil has achieved an expectation.

A percentage of the number of expectations achieved can be then calculated to show an assessment of ‘emerging’ or ‘meeting’.

If a child completes all the ‘end of year expectations’ before the end of the year, they begin to work on the ‘exceeding’ expectations in a variety of situations and settings, where they can apply their knowledge IN DEPTH.

ASSESSMENT CHANGES What about the new KS1 and KS2 end of year assessments?

KEY STAGE 1 Tests that are externally set but internally marked continue as before, however the tests will reflect the new curriculum from summer 2016.

The output of the tests will be scaled scores. A scaled score is defined as ‘a score where 100 will represent the new expected standard for that stage’.

Little detail is given about scaled scores other than pupils with a score of 100 or above will have met the new standard and those with a score of less than 100 will not.

It is not clear how the scaled score will relate to current measures for KS1.

While there are no set days, they are to be administered during May 2016 The KS1 tests: • English reading papers • A new Grammar, punctuation and spelling test (SPAG Test) • Mathematics papers and a new arithmetic test introduced

• No English writing test (Teacher Assessed)

KEY STAGE 2 New, more challenging, externally set and marked national tests will be introduced from 2016 for use at the end of KS2 in mathematics, reading and SPAG (Grammar, punctuation and spelling test).

Sampling tests for science will continue, as will teacher assessments for mathematics, reading, writing and science.

The output from the reading, mathematics and SPAG national tests will be scaled scores (similar to Key Stage 1 tests).

National standard will be ‘100’.

Pupils will receive a raw score, scaled score and confirmation of attainment of the national standard.

Administered during May 2016 The KS2 tests: • English reading paper • English grammar, punctuation and spelling papers (SPAG test) • 2 Mathematics papers • Mental maths test will be replaced with an arithmetic test • No English writing test (this will continue to be Teacher assessed) No level 6 tests as all pupils will take just 1 set of tests. These tests will include a small number of questions that are designed to stretch the most able pupils.

On-screen multiplication tests -2017 In 2016, Year 6 pupils in 80 primary schools take part in a pilot of what the DfE are calling an on-screen multiplication tables check, with the test due to be rolled out across the country in 2017. Pupils will be asked to give timed responses to a series of multiplication questions, with answers scored instantly.