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Dear Parents,

This year the Government has made a major change in the way that children in schools are to be assessed. This ties in with the New National Curriculum that was introduced by all schools in September 2014 for all year groups excepting Year 2 and Year 6, for whom it will be put in place from September 2015 (children in reception will continue to follow the EYFS framework).
It is a new way of thinking for schools, and assessment will look very different to how it has done for the past 20 years. The system of using levels will no longer be in place, and instead teachers will be assessing pupils’ progress against age-related expectations based on a one year or two year programme of study.
The Department for Education (DfE) has decided that the children who are currently in Years 2 and 6 will be the last pupils to be awarded a level in their end of Key Stage assessments. These year groups have been working toward the criteria set for the old National Curriculum during their time at school.
All other year groups have been working on the statutory requirements for the new National Curriculum. The expectations and means of assessing the new curriculum are very different to previous systems used. We are currently in a cross-over phase as we move onto a new system of assessment, fully supported by advice from county advisors and in line with other schools. It is going to be particularly difficult to track children’s progress from the old National Curriculum to the new one, as there is no correlation between the two, and the expected standards have risen.
Our main focus, as ever, will be to ensure that we are fully aware of the individual strengths of each child and the next steps needed to move their learning on.
In the Summer report, parents will receive information about whether their child is working towards or at the end of year expectations for their year group.
Please do watch the explanation of the philosophy behind these changes by Tim Oates - Group Director of Assessment Research and Development at the University of Cambridge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q5vrBXFpm0
More information about the New Primary Curriculum can be found on the DFE website https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-curriculum
Yours sincerely
Mrs Jill Dawson Headteacher, written with the agreement of the NEARS Headteachers.