National Curriculum 2014 Support for Teachers/SLT
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It is difficult, if not entirely impossible, to completely separate the new National Curriculum from the removal of levels. They go hand-in-hand and, although it is hard to make so many changes at once, they needed to happen together.
As the Primary Assessment Commission report says: "By no longer grouping pupils according to levels, teachers can give more focus to providing pupils with feedback which clarifies those aspects of the curriculum where their knowledge and understanding is secure and those areas where there are gaps." You can see in this quote that the curriculum and the move from levels are intrinsically linked. The new curriculum is not one which sits alongside a best fit model, therefore classroom practice for many will need to change as well as the culture we have around levels for assessing and reporting. |
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On this page, we will look at just a few of the questions we are frequently asked about assessment of the new curriculum.
The guidance expects me to teach my class the content from their current year group - what do I do for the children with gaps or those who are higher ability?
The following video talks through the process of helping students to access the curriculum at the right stage, whilst not ignoring the gaps that need filling from previous year group content, as well as looking at approaches for the more able.
How much of the curriculum should I have covered at the end of each term?
This is a bit of a "how long is a piece of string" question. There is no single answer. You have a lot of freedom in this, so the next video talks through some of the rationale behind our default step options and how this applies to how you might use the markbooks to best reflect what is happening in class, as well as what you might want to consider if you want to change thresholds and expectations for teachers.
What does the 'depth' part of the new curriculum mean?
You will have heard a lot of talk of the 'depth and breadth' of the new curriculum. Essentially, this means that the new curriculum (and in particular losing the idea of a best fit curriculum and levels) is about studying fewer things each year but in greater depth. On first look, the new curriculum does not necessarily seem slimmer than the past ones so it can be confusing to hear that there is less in it. In fact there is not "less" as such (although some things have been removed and others added in so there are changes) but because we should not be focusing on a "best fit" nature then we are not feeling pressured into moving children on swiftly.
There is a set of criteria for each year group (or in two year blocks, depending on how your framework is structured) and there is no benefit to speeding through it and into the content of the year group(s) above. We think this reflects big changes for many teachers as this lifts a weight off in terms of catering for a wide range of abilities in one class. We will not see the benefits of this until students have been working on the new curriculum for a few years but it does point towards us teaching everyone the same content at the same time. This gives you greater flexibility in terms of how you plan the teaching rather than trying to just push different children at different speeds.
There is a set of criteria for each year group (or in two year blocks, depending on how your framework is structured) and there is no benefit to speeding through it and into the content of the year group(s) above. We think this reflects big changes for many teachers as this lifts a weight off in terms of catering for a wide range of abilities in one class. We will not see the benefits of this until students have been working on the new curriculum for a few years but it does point towards us teaching everyone the same content at the same time. This gives you greater flexibility in terms of how you plan the teaching rather than trying to just push different children at different speeds.
What does mastery/working in greater depth look like?
This is a very grey area. There is already a lot of debate around what "mastery" means, let alone what it might look like. The only answer we have to this is in a number of schools who are building up their own banks of evidence. They are starting to moderate mastery by adding evidence to the markbooks when a teacher feels a child has "mastered" a skill or is applying it in a way which may be considered "greater depth". These can then be compared across the school, and indeed with other schools, to see if there is a consistent approach.
One point that we feel we need to move away from is an idea that "mastery" is some sort of end result, certainly from year to year; clearly in the end of Key Stage guidance there is the "working in greater depth" descriptor. The Primary Assessment Commission were keen to see that "mastery for all" is a genuine goal - which we interpret to mean that in all lessons every child has the opportunity to master a skill and evidence this; mastery is certainly not something which affects only your higher ability children across whole subjects. The full report provides a more in-depth definition which explains it in far more detail than we can here!
One point that we feel we need to move away from is an idea that "mastery" is some sort of end result, certainly from year to year; clearly in the end of Key Stage guidance there is the "working in greater depth" descriptor. The Primary Assessment Commission were keen to see that "mastery for all" is a genuine goal - which we interpret to mean that in all lessons every child has the opportunity to master a skill and evidence this; mastery is certainly not something which affects only your higher ability children across whole subjects. The full report provides a more in-depth definition which explains it in far more detail than we can here!
What will Ofsted be looking for when they inspect the school?
“As part of pupils’ progress, inspectors will consider the growth in pupils’ security, breadth and depth of knowledge, understanding and skills.” Ofsted Handbook, 2015
Ofsted will no longer be sitting in a room looking at graphs to get their data. They will use everything at their disposal: assessment information (you could chose to share your markbooks or the assessment summary outputs); evidence in books; evidence found while observing teaching; speaking to pupils and so on. It is worth taking a look at the DfE's Ofsted myth busting information to reassure yourself about what you will and won't be asked for.
It is important that you are making accurate assessment judgements and that this is seen to be feeding back into teaching and learning. That is not to say every single thing you do in every single lesson, but there should be evidence that the students are being given access to the curriculum content of the appropriate year group for them (taking SEND into account) and are being given opportunities to progress and apply their skills.
Ofsted will no longer be sitting in a room looking at graphs to get their data. They will use everything at their disposal: assessment information (you could chose to share your markbooks or the assessment summary outputs); evidence in books; evidence found while observing teaching; speaking to pupils and so on. It is worth taking a look at the DfE's Ofsted myth busting information to reassure yourself about what you will and won't be asked for.
It is important that you are making accurate assessment judgements and that this is seen to be feeding back into teaching and learning. That is not to say every single thing you do in every single lesson, but there should be evidence that the students are being given access to the curriculum content of the appropriate year group for them (taking SEND into account) and are being given opportunities to progress and apply their skills.
