During their time in Y1 and Y2 the children will have engaged in the wide range of learning activities discussed today. This will have equipped them with the skills and knowledge needed to enter the next ‘Key Stage’ of their education – Junior school. By law schools are required, at the end of Y2, to assess children’s attainment in reading, writing, speaking and listening, maths and science, and report the national curriculum level that the children are working at to parents and carers.

You will previously have heard these assessments referred to as SATs or maybe as teacher assessments. Children were required to take a test in reading, writing, spelling and maths, which were marked in school and graded using a national curriculum level. If teachers felt the test results did not accurately reflect the level a child was working at they could change the level, provided they had evidence in children’s books to support their decision. The teacher assessment determined the final grade. Speaking and listening and science were based on teacher judgement only.

The new systems for assessing at the end of Y2 follows a similar model, but there will be some changes. There will still be test papers. English will include a reading test, which will include fiction and non- fiction, a spelling test and written work. New for this year there will also be a GAP test, which stands for grammar and punctuation.

Example: Circle the three nouns in the sentence below. A whale has an enormous heart that can weigh as much as a small car. Tick the sentence that is correct: Adam saw his friend in the park and wave. Adam saw his friend in the park and waved. Adam see his friend in the park and wave. Adam sees his friend in the park and waved. Adults are not allowed to read to the children in the reading test but may read the questions in the grammar test.

In maths there will be 2 papers. One which is arithmetic based, where children will be required to use mental maths skills and also show their working out. The other is reasoning, which focuses on problem solving and using maths in the context of worded problems. Adults may read the questions to the children in the maths test, as long as it doesn’t give them any advantage e.g. we can not read numerals or signs and symbols such as +,=, - etc.

The window for administering tests is during the month of May and they must be completed in this time. It’s not as formal as Y6, where they are taken across the country on a specific day at a specified time. We can, and will, carry out the tests in small groups in a quiet environment with the teacher. There are guide times for each test but we do not have to stick to these and children can take as long as they need. The children may take a break in the middle of a test and return to it, so it’s very flexible. We work with what is right for the individual. Most children enjoy coming to do their tests and see it as exciting and a bit special. We do not pressurise the children and always praise their efforts. For some children, with specific needs, the test may prove too much. The teacher can stop the test for that child if it is proving too much.

Teachers will be given a mark scheme for marking the tests. The results of which will go towards informing the teacher assessment judgement. If the test results do not match the teacher’s judgement and there is strong evidence in a child’s work to support this then the test result can be over-ridden. This seems fair with children who are so young and just may not perform to their best on the day.

National curriculum levels no longer exist, so schools will be reporting outcomes using a different language. Instead of referring to a child being a L1 or L2b or L3C, you will hear : Working towards the expected standard. Working at the expected standard. Working at greater depth within the expected standard.

In science the grade descriptors are only working towards the expected standard or working at the expected standard.

The creative curriculum in place throughout the school is designed to equip children with the skills and knowledge they need in a cross-curricular, fun, meaningful way. It is certainly our intention to keep teaching like this and we will NOT become a school that makes learning dull and boring because we are teaching to a set of test criteria. We love teaching and our children love learning – we want to keep it that way! Of course we will prepare the children for the tests and provide learning that is set out in a way that is similar to the tests so it seems very familiar come May. The important thing is to get the balance right and that’s what we intend to do.