Parents’ forum September 2015 Assessment

Welcome to the very first forum!  Held termly- September, January, May for approx 1 hour.  Each forum will operate in three sections: - The first is a quick news update section - The second will be around a pre- determined topic with a short presentation from Mr Edge with questions from parents. - The third part is an open Q&A.  It is not for dealing with individual issues.

School news  New staff - Mrs Hull, Falcon (all day Monday, Tuesday- Friday afternoons) - Miss Inkpen, Kingfisher (half of Wednesday, Thursday & Friday all day) - Miss Boswell, cover (Tuesday & Thursday afternoons) - Mrs Binmore, music (Wednesday afternoon)  Vision morning held for all staff and governors last Wednesday  Parents’ survey actions: - Additional clubs for KS1 and non-sport - Termly curriculum letter to share with parents topics that will be covered - Each class will present a class assembly twice a year (Autumn and Spring term). Dates and times on website/newsletter.  Additional teaching assistant time in Wren, Kingfisher and Kestrel.

Forum focus: Assessment

  Why has this change happened?   Which children in school are affected?   What will replace the levels?   What is mastery? Key questions

  Schools are expected to demonstrate their assessment of pupils’ attainment and progress and share this with parents.   At Upottery, we have continued to assess attainment and progress through: Observations of the children learning Looking at learning in the children’s books Talking with the children about their learning Formal assessments of learning   The new curriculum encourages teachers and children to look at what the children can do and what the children need to do next, identifying strengths and areas for development. What is assessment?

Why has this change happened?  “… the current system of levels and level descriptions will be removed and not replaced.” Department for Education (July 2013)  “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)  A new national curriculum was introduced in September The new curriculum is more challenging therefore expectations are higher.  The government have removed levels and are leaving it up to individual schools to design their own individual framework.

Which children are affected?   Children in Foundation Stage are not affected by these changes.   From September 2015, all children from Y1 to Y6 are being assessed using a new system based on Age Related Expectations (ARE).

What will replace levels?   The Curriculum has been split up in to Schemes of Work.   Each scheme of work sets out the objectives which must be achieved at each year group.   Teachers at Upottery assess which objectives each child has grasped and which objectives they still need to master.   They form a judgement of where the child sits according to age related expectations and assess whether they are: Low in a Year group: child has mastered up to 1/3 of objectives Mid in a Year group: child has mastered up to 2/3 of objectives High in a Year group: child has mastered over 2/3 of objectives   If a child is working at a High level at the end of the year, that child is said to be working At Age Related Expectations.

What will replace levels? Cont.   With the changes to the National Curriculum, expectations at each year group have changed.   Children are expected to be working at a higher level.   Objectives have moved to younger year groups.   Due to this, many children are currently learning objectives which are in a lower year group to that of their age.   These children will be assessed at being Low, Mid or High in the appropriate year group.

What is mastery?   The new National Curriculum is called a Mastery Curriculum.   Teachers have to teach the objectives of the year group.   If your child is achieving well and has achieved the objectives for their year group, rather than moving on to the following year group’s objectives, we have to encourage more in-depth and investigative work to allow a greater mastery and understanding of concepts and ideas.   If a child can demonstrate a comprehensive and broad application of their understanding (a mastery), then we are able to push them in to the objectives of the next year, although this is a very small number.

How does this affect Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 SATs?  Statutory assessment in Year 2 and Year 6 continue but no levels given.  A scaled score will be given. “…100 will always represent the ‘national standard’” Department for Education (June 2015)  No information has been given for what is above and below average (see quote below).  “We do know the scale will have a lower end point below 100 and an upper end point above 100. Once we have set the national standard we will use a statistical technique called ‘scaling’ to transform the raw score into a scaled score. We will publish this after the first tests have been administered.” Department for Education (June 2015)  Children in years 1, 3, 4 and 5 will set end-of-year tests much like the old optional SATs. However, these are not DfE approved.

What about parents’ evening?  While some of this terminology may be used, the staff have been asked to focus on communicating if a child is at, above or below age-related expectations to ensure parents understand where their child is.  Discussions should focus on children’s next steps.

Above all…   Do not worry!   This is a positive move for children and their learning.   This will take time.   Any questions about assessment?

General Q&A

Next forum…  The focus will be on homework.  Thursday 14 th January, 7.30pm in the hall.