Curriculum Awareness: Passport to High School

North Wootton Academy

Aims

● Outline expectations in Year 6● The rationale behind this● Curriculum difference● The impact of SATs

How is this a passport to

high school?

We needed to change parent expectations about Year 6

Short History of KS2 Assessments● 2014 - Tougher National Curriculum was introduced which expected more

at a younger age to drive up standards.

● 2015 - The new more ‘demanding’ interim testing process was announced replacing the familiar Level 4, 5, 6 etc. system with a scaled score.

● 2016 May - First cohort of children were examined using new approach to Reading, Writing, Mathematics and SPAG, with a generally disappointing result nationally and at North Wootton (53% and 5%).

● 2017 May - Second year of the testing format, the nation improved and so did North Wootton

● 2018 May - The third year of the testing format, the nation improved and so did North Wootton

The School’s Current Position

North Wootton in 2016

45%Combined

70%combined

North Wootton in 2018

Lessons Learnt

GPS - Most successful test- The one area we achieved a consistent level of homework (ave 94% per week)- Homework was based around study guides specifically design for new test

format- The school struggled considerably more in the spelling

Key Changes: - Continuing with weekly SPAG homework as revision- Adding weekly spelling tasks that are tested and tracked- Insisting upon the effort applied within spelling tests and homework

Lesson Learnt Mathematics - Worst Performing Area

- Calculation policy change is increasingly successful- Reading SAT questions- Number formation- Not enough focus on Algebra, Fraction, Decimals and Percentages- Problem solving and multi-step applied tasks

Key Change: - Extending the maths calculation policy- Basing Mathematics homework on SAT questions, reasoning and

misconceptions- Free after-school Mathematics tuition from November and breakfast

clubs from March focusing on core areas- Establishing a consistent problem solving and multi-step applied tasks

Lesson Learnt Reading - Most surprising weakness

- 2016 paper = 2200 words compared to 1300 in 2013- 35% of the children did not complete all questions- A weakness with width of vocabulary - A huge shift towards characterisation and inferring emotions

Key Change: - School setting reading homework as there was a clear link between those not

reading at home and those not finishing.- Altered guided reading sessions in class- Free after-school reading tuition from November and breakfast

clubs from March focusing on core areas- A complete change to our approach to reading

Lesson Learnt Writing -

- Spelling is a weakness within the school - Attention to minor details such as capital letters, full stops.- Parents holidaying in May and June

Key Change: - Introducing a school wide spelling scheme and tracker- Changing our approach to marking and altering the timetable to ensure there

is time for children to correct their own work

Lesson Learnt - Changes of expectations General Patterns we found:

● Children’s independence and ownership of their learning

● Children not completing their weekly homework

● Children (mainly boys) who did not read at home or chose a narrow range of texts from the school library - Diary of the Wimpy Kids

● Children who were frequently absent particularly those holidaying from February to July.

● Children competing frequently at sports in and out of school

Lesson Learnt - Changes of expectations General Patterns we found:● Children’s independence and ownership of their learning - Greater focus on

school attitude

● Children not completing their weekly homework - Homework or note

● Children (mainly boys) who did not read at home or chose a narrow range of texts from the school library - Diary of the Wimpy Kids - Set reading tasks

● Children who were frequently absent particularly those holidaying from February to July - Publish a detailed SATs calendar

● Children attending maths tuition that focussed purely on calculation strategy - Offering own tuition for free

● Children competing frequently at sports in and out of school - Restricting sporting events in Spring term

School National School National School National School National

KS2 - Y6 Reading Reading Writing Writing Maths Maths EGPS EGPS

2017 TEST

16/17

81% 66% 81% 76% 74% 70% 86%

VARIANCE TO

2016

+19% -2% +22% +15%

2016 COMBINED 43% 53% Met Greater

DepthMet Greater

Depth

2017 COMBINED 70% GPS 86% 53% 77% 31%

How will your child be assessed?The following assessments will take place in May 2019 - all tests will be externally marked:

● Punctuation, Vocabulary and Grammar (45 minutes) and Spelling Test (approximately 15 minutes)

● Reading Test (60 minutes)

● Mathematics

- Paper 1: Arithmetic (30 minutes) - Paper 2: Reasoning (40 minutes) - Paper 3: Reasoning (40 minutes)

● In addition, a sample of schools will be required to take part in Science testing

● Writing will be ‘Teacher Assessed’ internally, as in recent years

How will your child’s ability be ‘score’?

Each test score = Scaled Score out of 100 How closely they scored below or above this will decide their level

80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107

Working Towards Expected Standard Expected Standard

Working Below the Expected Standard

How will your child’s ability be ‘scored’?

Each year the 100 mark will be used to decide if the child has achieved a ‘nationally expected’ level or not.

Each year a certain high score will result in the pupil being seen as working at a greater than national expectation

88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115

Working Towards Expected Standard

Expected Standard Working at a Greater Depth

What does it look like - Writing?Working Towards Expected Standard

• using paragraphs to organise ideas

• describing settings and characters

• using some cohesive devices* within and across sentences and paragraphs

• using different verb forms mostly accurately

• using co-ordinating and subordinating conjunctions

• using capital letters, full stops, question marks, exclamation marks, commas for lists and apostrophes for contraction mostly correctly

• spelling most words correctly* (years 3 and 4)

• spelling some words correctly* (years 5 and 6)

• producing legible joined handwriting.

What does it look like - Writing?Working at Expected Standard

• creating atmosphere, and integrating dialogue to convey character and advance the action

• selecting vocabulary and grammatical structures that reflect the level of formality required mostly correctly

• using a range of cohesive devices*, including adverbials, within and across sentences and paragraphs

• using passive and modal verbs mostly appropriately

• using a wide range of clause structures, sometimes varying their position within the sentence

• using adverbs, prepositional phrases and expanded noun phrases effectively to add detail, qualification and precision

• using inverted commas, commas for clarity, and punctuation for parenthesis mostly correctly, and making some correct use of semi-colons, dashes, colons and hyphens

• spelling most words correctly* (years 5 and 6)

• maintaining legibility, fluency and speed in handwriting through choosing whether or not to join specific letters.

What does it look like - Writing?Working at Greater Depth

The pupil can write for a range of purposes and audiences:

• managing shifts between levels of formality through selecting vocabulary precisely and by manipulating grammatical structures

• selecting verb forms for meaning and effect

• using the full range of punctuation taught at key stage 2, including colons and semi-colons to mark the boundary between independent clauses, mostly correctly.

January 2016

Government produced exemplars to help teachers assess

What does it look like? GPS?

What does it look like? Mathematics?Arithmetic Paper - 36 in 30min Reasoning Paper A

Reasoning Paper B

What does it look like? Reading?

What evidence is there of Martine being determined when she met the warthogs?

…milled around in bewilderment (page 8) Explain what this description suggests about the baby warthogs

Key Dates

● From November - Monday / Friday Revision Clubs

● From February Half-Term - Tuesday to Thursday Breakfast Revision Clubs

● From Easter Everyday Breakfast Revision Clubs

● From Easter until 13th May - A little Tiring

● 14th - 17th May SATs - free breakfast

● 21st May until June 20th Writing Portfolio collected

● July 4th SAT scores given

We feel we have the

right balance - but how

do we know?

How is this a passport to

high school?

How is this a passport to high school?

- SATs are not that important particularly from next year - high schools will most likely retest upon entry and they are 11!

- Yes they will always be a measure of how our school performs

How is this a passport to high school?

- Help all of our children take ownership of their own learning

How is this a passport to high school?

- Help all of our children take ownership of their own learning

- The reward of getting out what you put in

- Develop a sense of control over their own education

- Our pupils are ready for high school