A guide to the New Assessment Arrangements at the end of Key Stage Two (Year 6) 2016 Meeting for Parents

 To give you an outline of the new end of Key Stage Two assessment arrangements including SATS  How the results are reported to you  Ways in which you can help your child to prepare  An opportunity to look through the sample papers/tests  Discuss any concerns with teachers

 In 2014 the new National Curriculum was introduced by the government with the aim of:  Raising standards in education  Ensuring all children are taught the “Key skills for life”  Updating content such as computing

 In the summer term of 2016, children in Year 6 will be the first cohort to be assessed at the end of Key Stage Two in line with the New National Curriculum  They will be the first children to take the new SATs tests  There will also be a new marking scheme to replace the existing national curriculum levels

 At the end of Year 6 (9 th May) your children will sit tests in:  Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling (SPaG)  Maths  Reading  These tests will be both set and marked externally, and the results will be used to measure the school’s performance.  Your child’s marks will be used in conjunction with teacher assessment to give a broader picture of their attainment.

 Paper 1 – Grammar, punctuation and vocabulary  Paper 2 – Spelling test (a range of words that contain of a variety of spelling patterns, follow rules and key words)

 The reading test will be a single paper with questions based on three passages of text.  The texts will be both non-fiction and fiction examples  The questions will be based on skills such as recall, retrieval, inference, layout, opinion, use of language, etc.

 Paper 1 – Arithmetic to assess a range of mathematical operations.  Papers 2 and 3 – Assessing problem solving and mathematical reasoning  HOT OFF THE PRESS – Multiplication Tests! The Government have decided that an on-screen multiplication tables check is going to be introduced in The new check will be trialled with approximately 3,000 pupils from 80 primary schools in June 2016, before it is rolled out nationally in Schools selected for the trials will be notified by the end of April

 The children will not sit a test in writing. Writing is assessed by the teacher who will look at a range of independent writing genres that your child has produced throughout the year.  The teacher has to follow a framework when judging the children’s writing.  Children will receive one of the following judgements:  Working towards the expected standard  Working at the expected standard  Working at greater depth within the expected standard  To be awarded the judgements, a child must show evidence of all the criteria in that band.

 Teachers will be moderated on their writing assessments by county advisors, who will come in to school and discuss/look through the evidence in children’s work

 Science is also assessed by the teacher  A number of schools will be required to take part in science sampling: a test administered to a selected sample of children thought to be representative of the population as a whole. Science sampling results will be reported as National Data only

 Following the removal of the National Curriculum Levels, Scaled Scores will be used to report Year 6 test outcomes.  For the KS2 tests a scaled score of 100 will represent the ‘expected standard’.  These scaled scores will be fed back to schools (beginning to middle of July) and then parents will receive confirmation of whether their child has met the ‘expected standard’ in the end of year reports.

 Teacher Assessment judgements will also be reported to parents. These are rounded judgements based on knowledge of how the pupil has performed over time and in a variety of contexts.  Writing Teacher Assessments – covered on previous slides  Teacher Assessments in reading, maths and science will simply indicate whether children are ‘working at the expected standard’.

Writing:  Discuss different texts that you see. Reading helps writing! Talk about:  The purpose, audience, structure, language, punctuation and presentational features and “magpie” phrases/words  Encourage children to plan their paragraphs/ ideas before writing  Get them to read their writing out loud to check sense, tenses, punctuation, etc.  Encourage up levelling – inserting descriptive words, different starters, etc.

 Share texts!  Discuss words and why the author may have used them  Read between the lines – not just straight recall  Discuss presentational features, language, etc as before  The tests will be timed so reading at speed is important too – what is this paragraph about?  Scanning texts – “Where’s Wally”

 Practise spellings by:  Little and often (10mins a day)  Picking out words they may have spelt incorrectly in their homework  Make spellings fun – look for patterns, use phonics, use different pens to practise  Punctuation and Grammar:  Discuss the punctuation and word classes when reading  Your child will receive a SPAG guide – again little and often!  Play online games – mar/ mar/

 Multiplication tables are vital  Practise different written calculations  Encourage maths around you – get the children to work out the shopping cost, change, the time, etc.  The children will also receive a revision guide to help with any revision  Online games: Mymaths/Rock Star Times tables junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/ junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/

 There will be gaps in children’s knowledge. The tests are more difficult. There will be questions that many children are unable to answer  We feel strongly that at Parklands Primary School we are preparing your child for the tests. We also are determined for your child to enjoy their primary school life with enriching and engaging activities.  Your child is only10/11 – enjoy life!