Curriculum and Assessment at London Fields The Curriculum The National Curriculum in England is currently in a process of transition. During the course of this academic year and beyond to 2015, the obligation to teach programmes of study from the existing national curriculum will be disapplied and new programmes of study and attainment targets will replace the existing national curriculum. What is the National Curriculum anyway? The National Curriculum defines the programmes of study for key subjects in maintained/ state primary and secondary schools in England (Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own equivalents). Fundamentally, it sets out what your child should learn during their time at school. Why the big curriculum change? The main aim is to raise standards. Although the new curriculum is intended to be more challenging, the content is actually slimmer than the current curriculum, focusing on essential core subject knowledge and skills and on developing a deeper understanding of fundamentals. The main changes The table below summarises the main changes in the core subjects: Subject What s new? English Stronger emphasis on vocabulary development, grammar, punctuation and spelling (for example, the use of commas and apostrophes will be taught in KS1) Handwriting is expected to be fluent, legible and speedy Spoken English has a greater emphasis, with children to be taught debating and presenting skills. Maths Five-year-olds will be expected to learn to count up to 100 (compared to 20 under the current curriculum) and learn number bonds to 20 (currently up to 10) Simple fractions (1/4 and 1/2) will be taught from KS1, and by the end of primary school, children should be able to convert decimal fractions to simple fractions (e.g. 0.375 = 3/8) By the age of nine, children will be expected to know times tables up to 12 12 (currently 10 10 by the end of primary school) Calculators will not be introduced until near the end of KS2, to encourage mental arithmetic. Science Strong focus on scientific knowledge and language, rather than understanding the nature and methods of science in abstract terms Evolution will be taught in primary schools for the first time Non-core subjects like caring for animals will be replaced by topics like the human circulatory system Design & Technology Design and Technology has become more important in the new curriculum, setting children on the path to becoming the designers and engineers of the future More sophisticated use of design equipment such as electronics and robotics
In KS2, children will learn about how key events and individuals in design and technology have shaped the world. ICT now Computing Computing replaces Information and Communication Technology (ICT), with a greater focus on programming rather than on operating programs From age five, children will learn to write and test simple programs, and to organise, store and retrieve data From seven, they will be taught to understand computer networks, including the internet Internet safety Digital Literacy E-Safety will be taught in primary schools Languages Previously not statutory, a modern foreign language or ancient language (Latin or Greek) will be mandatory in KS2. Children will be expected to master basic grammar and accurate pronunciation and to converse, present, read and write in the language. We will learn Spanish from Nursery through to year 6 Our teaching of the National Curriculum at London Fields stems from the needs and abilities of the children we teach. We believe every member of our school community is a life-long learner and that our role is to provide them with stimulus and skills, developing a thirst for knowledge, so that our pupils are empowered to fulfil their individual potential. This means providing the best possible Teaching and Learning opportunity for every child, utilising every opportunity at our disposal. We aim to provide an outstanding curriculum, a curriculum of innovation and inspiration, which is continually evolving in the best interests of our pupils. We echo the government s desire for children to become educated citizens and so advocate a curriculum rich in literacy, containing a range of differing and stimulating experiences. It aims to be enjoyable, inclusive, engaging and link to the core values and ethos of our school. In line with guidance from the Department of Education, the New National Curriculum programmes of study have been introduced as of Autumn 2014. If you look on our How we teach page of the website you will find further details of our curriculum and details of how you can help at home. (http://www.londonfields.hackney.sch.uk/curriculum/).
Assessment from September 2014 The Department for Education (DfE) have stated that level descriptors will be removed from the National Curriculum and will not be replaced. What the impact of this decision? Historically, children s achievement and progress has been measured in national curriculum levels. By the end of year 2 children were expected to be working at a level 2 and by the end of year 6, a level 4. The table below shows the levels children should have achieved by the end of each year. A table showing levels/sublevels and age expected year group outcomes Year Below programme of study Beginning Working with Secure 1 P - 1c 1c-1b 1a 2c 2b -2a+ 2 P - 1b 1a 2c 2b- 2a 3c 3b+ 3 P 2c 2c -2b 2a -3c 3b 3a+ 4 P 2b 2c 3b 3b 3a 4c 4b+ 5 < 3 3c 3b 3a 4c 4b 4a+ 6 < 3b 3a 4c 4b 4a 5c 5b+ Table 1 The government has decided to revise the methods that school use to track progress and attainment as it feels that the old levels system is confusing for parents and does not give clear enough guidance on how well a child is achieving at school. The DfE want to avoid what has been termed The Level Race where children have moved through the old National Curriculum levels quickly to achieve higher attainment. The old National Curriculum was sub-divided into levels, but these were not linked to their national curriculum year group. For example, a child in Year 4 could be a Level 3 or even a level 5. Children were achieving Level 5 and 6 at the end of Key Stage 2, but the DfE thought that a significant number were able to achieve a Level 5 or 6 in a test but were not secure at that level. The feeling from the DfE was that the old national curriculum and the levels system failed to adequately ensure that children had a breadth and depth of knowledge at each national curriculum level. KS1 and KS2 levels will cease to exist after July 2015. Assessing Without Levels The DfE announced last year that there would no longer be National Curriculum levels, and that schools would have to set up their own way of assessing pupils. We have spent a long time researching various different methods of assessing pupils, and we have had demonstrations of various commercial software tracking systems. Almost all of the systems used the same format, which was similar to the system used in the Early Years and Foundation Stage. This was to take the end of year expectations for each year group and to split this into 3 categories as follows: Beginning/Beginning + yet to be secure in the end of year expectations. Working within/working within+ secure in the majority of the end of year expectations. Secure/Secure + solidly secure in almost all or all the end of year expectations and able to use and apply knowledge and skills confidently.
Under the old levels system children who were secure might have moved into the next level. The DfE now want children who are in the secure bracket to add more depth and breadth to their knowledge, and to have more opportunities to develop their using and applying skills. They are calling this phase of learning Mastery and Depth. Only exceptional children will move into working towards the end of year expectations from the year above. Similarly, children who are unlikely to be Beginning/Working within at the end of the year may work towards the expectations from the year below. So how will this look at the end of each Key Stage? Key Stage 1 It is anticipated that the majority of children will reach the assessment point of Year 2 Working within +, a smaller number of children will reach Year 2 Secure/Secure +, and a small number will be Year 2 Beginning, or possibly be working within the Year 1 curriculum. Key Stage 2 You may have heard of the expression Secondary Ready as the standard children must achieve by the end of Year 6. The DfE have slightly distanced themselves from this phrase and are talking about children reaching the assessment point of Year 6 Secure. Similar to Year 2 there will be some children who may be Year 6 Secure + and some children who are Year 6 Beginning. There may also be a small number of children who are still working at a lower level e.g. Year 4/5 Beginning/working within/secure. We are still waiting for firm guidance from the DfE as to how the end of key stage results will be reported/graded from 2015 onwards in national statistics. Assessment Tracking Systems After investigating many different Assessment & Tracking systems, we have decided to use the Target Tracker system (http://www.targettracker.org/), which is very good and used by many primary schools nationally. One of the biggest differences will be how we talk to you about how your child is progressing during the year. With the old National Curriculum levels, each year children were given a target for the end of the year, and during the year we would tell you what National Curriculum level your child was at. For Example: A child could finish Year 3 with a level 3a, and in Year 4 would have a target of a 4b for the end of the year. At Parent s Evenings throughout the year you may be told that they have moved to a 4c and then on to a 4b. We could use the levels system this way because there was no correlation between a level and a child s year group, and this can be seen in the way that in a Year 6 class there could be a range of levels, from level 2 to a level 6. However, the new National Curriculum sets out expectations for each year group and children will be assessed against those every year, so a child in Year 4 will always be judged in the first instance against the expectations for the end of Year 4. So how will the process in school work? In each Autumn term, by October the teachers will have had an opportunity to assess how the children are working against the End of Year statements which have been organised into Bands. These Bands are number from 1-6 and relate to the year groups, ie, Band 1 outlines the curriculum for year 1, Band 2 for year 2 and so on. By using their professional knowledge and judgement teachers will know what the children can already do and what they think the children can achieve. They will then give a forecast as to where they think a child will be by the end of the Year. So, for
example, children in Year 3 could be given a forecast of Band 3 Beginning, 3 Working within or 3 Secure. Only very exceptional children will have a forecast from a higher or lower year Band. As far as we are aware, Year 6 Secure + is likely to be the highest grading for the end of Key Stage 2. At each Parents Evening you will be able to discuss your child s progress with the class teacher and receive a report which will outline the Band your child is working on. As mentioned above, the emphasis in the new National Curriculum is for breadth and depth. This means that children will be working to deepen their knowledge and understanding over the course of the year, revisiting key concepts in different contexts and settings to ensure a thorough understanding and firm foundations. Below is an example of the report you will receive. This is an example for a child in year 2. The different colours denote the level the child is working at. Statements on a blue background are areas of the curriculum already achieved/secure Statements on a red background are areas of the curriculum not yet achieved Statements on a white background are areas of the curriculum not yet studied During the year, when we have conversations with you about your child s progress you won t be given an actual definitive position of where they are on this scale. Instead you will be told whether your child is on track to meet their end of year target. It may well be that they are above or below where they need to be, in which case their end of year target may be adjusted and the reasons for this will be discussed at Parents Evenings/meetings with the class teacher. If there are concerns about progress The assessment data is used by the class teachers and members of the senior leadership team to monitor progress. If there are concerns that your child is not making expected progress a number of catch up interventions will be considered, such as maths booster groups. If these interventions do not have an impact the class teacher may talk to the school s Special Needs Co-ordinator about whether or not a more detailed assessment may be required and if there should be a meeting with
you to consider an action plan. This may involve considering if your child has additional or Special Educational Needs (SEN). More detail about the identification of children who may have Special Educational Needs can be found within the school s SEN Policy which is available on the school s website. http://www.londonfields.hackney.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/sen-policy-nov-2014.pdf Further detail about the provision and procedures for supporting children with SEN can also be found in the school s SEN Information Report, which is also available on the website. http://www.londonfields.hackney.sch.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/sen-information-report- Schools-local-offer-Oct-2014.pdf The change over This academic year (September 2014 July 2015) is a transition year for all schools. We have decided that during this transition period - for this academic year only - teachers will continue to use levels and sub-levels alongside age appropriate expectations and report both to parents as a way of measuring progress. The table above (Table 1)details how, during this time of transition, levels/sublevels will continue to be used as a guide. In spite of so many changes nationally in education at this time, we would like to reassure you that our priority is still to provide the best possible education we can for all the children at London Fields. In essence, although there will be changes to the ways in which we report on children s achievement and progress we don t feel these changes will have a negative impact on your child as we have always used formative and summative assessment to ensure we are pitching our lessons appropriately. The main difference will be that once the new system is embedded, hopefully parents and families will find it easier to understand exactly where their child is academically, what they are working on and what the next steps will be. We hope this document has been useful. Of course, should you have any further questions please do make an appointment with your child s class teacher or a member of the Senior Leadership Team who would be very happy to answer any questions you might have.