Key Stage 2 Assessment Meeting 2016 (What do we know so far and what can you do to help?) I’ve included one or two notes, just in case you weren’t able to attend the meeting. There are quite a few changes this year; mainly to the format and content of the test papers. I’ve also included some updated information about the writing teacher assessment and the Government’s latest stipulations. As with all things – if you have any questions, please feel free to drop in and ask. Mr Glenn Dack (Year 6 / Head of English)

What you need to know: 1)It’s not our fault 2)The 2016 tests will begin on Monday 9 th May 3)There will be no formal writing test (more about that later) 4)There will be a spelling and grammar test (SPAGs) 5)It’s not our fault 6)There are three mathematics papers (more on that later) 7)There will be a reading test (more on that later) 8)Results are handed on to secondary schools (However, the secondary schools are equally interested in our teacher assessments of your children) 9) There will be NO advanced papers 10) Year 6 isn’t just about testing 11) Extra time or support will be provided to some children 12) Interventions are already taking place 13) Will all of the children be sitting the tests? It’s always worth stressing that this is “not our fault”. SATs are a legal requirement of every school. The data from the tests (in hand with teacher assessment) are passed on to secondary schools and that data is used to plot your child’s progress over subsequent years. Secondary schools consult with us later this year concerning test predictions and our own assessments. Often, the children are retested again once they reach secondary school – there are a number of reasons why this takes place. We do the same thing when we receive an intake from the infant school. But, the data – both teacher assessment and test assessment – are important to the schools and the children themselves.

Monday 9 th May 2016 until Thursday 12 th May 2016 The most important thing to note here, is the lack of an advanced test in mathematics and reading. For the first time, advanced questions are included within the given test papers.

Reading Test Duration: 60 minutes EVIDENCE The children are now expected to support their answers using “Evidence”. This can take the form of a quotation OR a direct reference. In prior years, questions such as this would only appear on the advanced papers.

Reading Reading – Government Age Related Expectations EVIDENCE What does the Government say? On this page you can find the Government expectation for children at the end of Year 6. The word ‘Evidence’ is used and kind of underlines the importance of reading at home – conversations between the reader and the listener need to take place to build understanding. As a teacher of some fifteen years I can honestly say that reading, like everything else in life, boils down to hard graft. My top readers read to a parent nearly every night, and the one’s who struggle tend to read the minimum of three. In basic terms – you get out what you put in. If you’re lucky enough to belong to a child that loves reading, this challenge is somewhat easier. However, it’s a battle worth fighting because - placing the test to one side for a moment - they will need to access and understand a lot of textbooks on entering Year 7.

Grammar (SPAGs) Grammar Test Duration: 45 minutes The spelling and grammar tests are fairly similar to prior years. Both scores are added together to give an indicator of your child’s ARE (which is a shame as some children excel at grammar, but find the spelling element challenging). On the website I have included a glossary of the grammar terms to help you support your child further.

Maths Test Duration: 30 minutes Maths (Arithmetic Paper 1) My maths group features struggling mathematicians. I’m always looking for commonalities within the group to help me accelerate their learning and understanding. Interestingly, nearly all of them are also children that struggle with reading. With this in mind, the new arithmetic paper is a bit of a gift as it does not rely overly heavily reading and comprehension skills. If your child is in one of our revision groups, you may also notice that we’ve focused our attention on securing understanding of these question types.

Maths Test Duration: 40 minutes Maths (Reasoning Paper 2) A few years ago, a boy in my maths class said: “Mr Dack, this is a reading question, not a maths question!” He was pretty angry. But, he was also pretty right. Reading bleeds into every area of academic life and now, unfortunately, we have two whole maths papers centred around reasoning and problem solving. “Yes,” children with weak reading skills can have questions read to them, but this may not help them if they still possess underdeveloped comprehension skills. Again, this underlines the importance of reading at home and the need for dialogue between the reader and the listener.

Maths Test Duration: 40 minutes Maths (Reasoning Paper 3)

What does the Government say? Teacher Assessment - Writing TA Handwriting is important – children with poor, ‘printed’ script can not fall into the ‘Working at Greater Depth’ standard. Spelling is important – learning difficulties, such as dyslexia, are not taken into consideration. I’ve included a child friendly version of this information on the website. Some of it sounds almost incomprehensible. This is the Government expectation for children leaving Year 6. In basic terms Age Related Expectation this year is equivalent to a 5c (above average) in prior years. Children with good writing skills will not achieve above ARE if their handwriting is poor (this was stressed to us in no uncertain terms at a recent meeting). Learning difficulties such as dyslexia are also not taken into consideration. Again, if you have any questions about this, please come and see me or Mrs Jenner after school.

Are there any questions or concerns?