New CurriculumTeaching, Learning and AssessmentParent Workshop

Thursday 19th November 2015

Mr Vitarana, Miss Hughes, Miss Sharrock

Aims of the workshop

• To outline the key changes to the new national curriculum.

• To outline the changes in assessment.

• To share changes in the teaching and learning of maths and English.

• To outline changes to the statutory tests at the end of KS1 and 2.

Changes to the new curriculum

What we will look at:

• The key principles of the new curriculum

• Raised expectations

• Some of the major changes in the content of what children will learn.

Key PrinciplesChanges to the new curriculum

• The new curriculum is set out in year group objectives. The aim is for children to cover and have a secure understanding of all of the objectives for the year group they are in.

• Pupils who grasp concepts rapidly should be challenged through being offered rich and sophisticated problems to apply their knowledge by combining their skills.

• Children who do not grasp concepts should practise and consolidate their understanding before moving on.

• It may be the case that some children, have gaps in their knowledge from previous year group objectives that also need to be covered. This will particularly be the case where new curriculum content has been added to each year group.

• Age related assessment focus – the new statutory assessments will determine whether a child is ‘age related’ for the year group they are in.

Raised Expectations• English and Maths remain very important and are considered

the core subjects in both primary and secondary education. The National Curriculum sets out in some detail what must be taught in each of these subjects, and they will take up a substantial part of your child’s learning week.

• Alongside these, are other subjects: Science, Art, Computing, Design & Technology, Foreign Languages (KS2 only), Geography, History, Music, and Physical Education. For these subjects, the details in the curriculum are significantly briefer: as a school have much more flexibility regarding what they cover in these subjects.

Raised Expectations

Much of the publicity about the changes to the curriculum has focussed on ‘higher expectations’ in various subjects, and it is certainly the case that in many areas, the content of the new primary curriculum is significantly more demanding than in the past.

It is more demanding because:• Some of the content is brand new (e.g. learning

Roman numerals in maths) and;• There is a much higher expectation of the level of

learning e.g. by the end of year 4, all children need to know their times tables up to 12 x 12.

Changes to assessment

We will look at:• Why levels have been

removed.• What we have done as a school

to prepare for the change.• How we assess your child.• How we will communicate with

you about your child’s progress.

No level assessment• Alongside the introduction to the

new National Curriculum, levels have been removed.

• From now on, at the end of KS1 and KS2 (Year 2 and 6) when pupils take the statutory tests, they will be given a performance descriptor against the expected standard for their year group.

• These performance descriptors are whether a child is below, at or above the expected standard for their age.

Changes to assessment

Why have levels been removed?The government outlined that…• There was undue pace – focus was on moving

through the levels rather than promoting deep and secure understanding of key skills and content.

• Levels were a snapshot judgement and children couldn’t necessarily do all the things at that level that they were given.

• Some children were ‘just in’ a level which meant that they may have had a lot of progress to make to reach the next level.

• As a result of all of this, self-esteem could have been affected due to the ‘label’ of a level.

Changes to assessment

How have we prepared for this change?

• All teachers are up to date and have received training on the new curriculum and assessment systems.

• As a school, we have purchased resources to support teaching and learning of the new curriculum.

• We have adapted our assessment systems to reflect the curriculum changes.

• We are working in conjunction with other schools to moderate our assessments to ensure that they are accurate.

Changes to assessment

How we assess your child?We find out what your child can do and what their gaps are (indicating their next steps) using:• Everyday learning in their books• Questioning in class• Small group work• 1 to 1 work in class• Homework• Mini-assessments• Interventions• Times tables, mental maths and spelling tests• Summative testing (tests that take place at the end of the

half-term or term)

Changes to assessment

Target TrackerWe use a system called Target Tracker to record the skills your child can do. This shows us what they need to go onto learn (next steps).

Changes to assessment

How will we communicate with you about your child’s assessment?We will be able to tell you:• what your child is able to do really well/what they have learnt

this term and what their gaps are (what they need to learn next).

• What their targets are for the next half term.• At the end of the academic year, we will tell you whether your

child is working below, at or above expected standards for their age in relation to the new curriculum.

• Y2 and Y6 SATs results will not provide us with the children’s score. The results will only tell whether a child is below/at/ above the national standard.

Changes to assessment

Teaching and learning of Maths and English

What we will look at:• What will we teach and when.• How all children will be challenged in

the new curriculum.• Teaching of mastery

Changes to teaching• We will continue to use gaps in the children’s knowledge

and skills to inform our planning and teaching.• In the New Curriculum, there is greater emphasis on each

child gaining a deep understanding of what they are learning rather than pushing them onto learning new skills they have not been exposed to before.

• This will mean that:Future learning is built on solid foundations that do not

need to be retaught.Children are better able to keep up with their peers, so

that gaps in attainment are narrowed whilst the attainment of all is raised.

Teaching and learning of maths and English

Challenge in the New Curriculum• At each stage of learning, pupils should learn and demonstrate

sufficient grasp of the subject relevant to their year group, so that their learning is sustainable over time and can be built upon in subsequent years.

• The ultimate aim is for children to leave school being “secondary ready”.

• It is inevitable that some pupils will grasp concepts to this standard more rapidly than others. These children will need to be stimulated and challenged to ensure continued progression.

• Research indicates that these pupils benefit more from enrichment and deepening of content, rather than acceleration into new content.

• Acceleration onto new topics is likely to promote superficial understanding, rather than the true depth and rigour of knowledge that is a foundation for higher learning.

Teaching and learning of maths and English

Mastery• If a child has developed a deep understanding of a skill or concept, and is

able to apply this learning, independently, to a range of different contexts we can say they have “mastered” that topic.

• To be assessed as this in a particular skill, the child will need to have demonstrated in a range of different contexts and situations, that they can apply the skill securely and confidently.

• Mastery is not a fixed state but a continuum. Mastery of facts, procedures and contexts needs time to explore the concept in detail and time to allow for sufficient practice to develop fluency.

• Mastery does not only apply to more able children. Children can master skills and concepts at whatever stage they are working at.

• If a child is secure in a skill, we will provide them with different opportunities to deepen their understanding and achieve mastery of that topic. This might be a problem solving activity, an independent task or an activity that requires them to apply their learning in a different context alongside other skills.

Teaching and learning of maths and English

Changes in testing at the end of Year 2 and Year 6

What we will look at:• The statutory tests the children will sit

at the end of Year 2 and Year 6.• Some samples of the expected level at

the end of both key stages.

Statutory tests Year 2• Reading – there are two components to the test; one integrated reading

and answer booklet and one separate reading booklet with an associated reading answer booklet. Children will have access to all components but teachers can stop the child at any stage of the test that they feel is appropriate. The total testing time is approx 60 minutes.

• Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling – Children will sit 3 papers Paper 1 – Grammar and Punctuation. Short written task, 20 mins, 15

marks. Children will be provided with a prompt and stimulus. Paper 2- Grammar, Punctuation and Vocabulary questions, two 10

minutes tasks, 25 marks. Will consist of:

+ Selected response, short answer

+ Constructed response, answer of their own Paper 3 – Spelling, 20 questions, 10 marks.• Handwriting will also be assessed.

Changes in testing at the end of Year 2 and Year 6.

Statutory tests Year 2

Children will take two maths papers:• Paper 1 – arithmetic, 15 marks, 15 minutes, context free

calculations.• Paper 2 – fluency, solving problems and reasoning. 35

marks, 35 minutes. A range of contexts. 5 questions at the start will be aural, and in the approximate order of difficulty. The paper will include the following types of questions:

+ Selected response

+ Multiple choice

+ Matching

+ True-false

Changes in testing at the end of Year 2 and Year 6.

Statutory English tests Year 6• Reading

The reading test will be a single paper with questions based on 3 or 4 unrelated texts of between 1800 and 2300 words. There will be an emphasis on comprehension. The test takes 1 hour, including reading time, and there are a total of 50 marks available.

• Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling test

Grammar and punctuation paper – short answer questions. 45 minutes

Aural Spelling Test – 20 words (approx 15 mins)

• Writing

No formal test – ongoing teacher assessment.

Changes in testing at the end of Year 2 and Year 6

Statutory Maths tests Year 6Paper 1 – arithmetic (number, calculations, fractions, decimals and percentages). • 30 minutes, 30 marks• Children will have to give the correct answer to

calculations, including long multiplication and division. • Each question will have a grid to encourage working

out.• Questions will be context free.

Paper 2 and 3 • Will assess children’s ability to apply their

mathematical knowledge to problems.

Changes in testing at the end of Year 2 and Year 6

Sample KS1 maths questions

Sample KS1 grammar questions

Sample KS2 maths questions

Sample KS2 Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling questions

Where to find information on our school website

Thank you for listening!

Please take an assessment handout if you do not have one already.

If you have any questions, please come and ask a member of staff.