Changes to Curriculum and
Assessment
 The New National Primary Curriculum was
implemented in September 2014
 Due to national testing in Year 2 and Year 6 both these
year groups were to continue working to the ‘old’
national curriculum.
 From September 2015, all year groups are now studying
the New National Curriculum
Main Changes
 The curriculum itself is more challenging. Many
objectives have been incorporated into earlier years’
work, particularly in Mathematics and English.
 Greater focus on teaching of grammar and
punctuation and reciting poetry as part of the English
curriculum.
 Curriculum maps are on the school website detailing
what children will be covering in each year group.
Assessment
 Attainment targets and levels were introduced with
the national curriculum in 1988. To align with the
introduction of the new national curriculum (2014),
statutory assessment arrangements will change in
summer 2016 to align with the content and principles
of the new curriculum.
The Commission on Assessment without Levels
July 2015
SATs for 2016
 Children in Year 2 and Year 6 will still undergo
statutory assessments
 In Year 2, these are teacher assessments in reading,
writing and maths, supported by externally set test in
reading and maths.
 A new spelling, grammar and punctuation test is to be
introduced that will support teachers’ assessment of
writing.
 Sample papers for Years 2 and 6 can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-curriculumassessments-2016-sample-materials
SATs for 2016
 At Key Stage 2, children will take external tests in
reading, mathematics and grammar, punctuation and
spelling.
 Writing will continue to be teacher assessed.
 Mathematics will have 3 papers: 2 for reasoning of
mathematics and 1 for arithmetic
SATs 2016
 At Key Stage 1, 4 performance descriptors will be used
to report children’s attainment. These are:
 Mastery standard
 National standard
 Working towards national standard
 Below national standard
SATs at Key Stage 2
 Performance descriptor used for Reading,
Mathematics, Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling will
be:
 Working at the national standard.
 A scaled score will also be used where 100 score
indicates a child working at the national standard.
SATs 2016
 Writing assessment is still teacher assessed with 5
performance descriptors:
 Mastery standard
 Above national standard
 National standard
 Working towards national standard
 Below national standard
 Science – there will be biennial sample tests with 1
performance descriptor:
 Working at the national standard
Other Year Groups
 The curriculum objectives have been carefully divided
mainly into separate year groups. This enables teachers
to assess children’s progress against a set of given
criteria.
 In mathematics, every year group has its own set of
objectives.
 In English, objectives for reading and writing have
been spread over 2 years in lower Key Stage 2, that is
Years 3 & 4, and upper Key Stage 2, that is Years 5 & 6.
 Due to the added challenge of the curriculum,
teachers are having to ‘plug gaps’ created by some
criteria moving into earlier year groups.
 The principles underlying the New Curriculum,
promoted by the Expert Panel who designed the new
curriculum, was based on the highly successful
teaching methodology of successful jurisdictions, such
as Singapore and Hong Kong.
 Their approach is every child having access to the full
curriculum – all children covering the same criteria.
All children having secure knowledge / understanding
before moving on.
Different Approach
The need to secure ‘deep learning’ in key concepts and ideas
(Expert Panel)
 No longer will teachers be trying to cover different
objectives in a lesson
 All children will be working on the same objective but
possibly using different resources / methods / support
 Those children ‘secure’ will be given opportunities to
apply their knowledge in different contexts, work
independently, show resilience and perseverance to
solve problems: to show ‘mastery’
 It is important not to move with undue pace through
the curriculum.
Different Approach
 As teachers assess against criteria they will know who
is secure and who needs further work.
 Ability groups will be a thing of the past!
 By no longer grouping pupils according to levels, teachers
can give more focus to providing pupils with personalised
feedback.
Commission on Assessment without Levels
July 2015
 Working ‘groups’ will be flexible, based on teachers’
on-going assessments of all pupils.
Different Approach
Teachers record their assessments and are able to
quickly identify those children needing further
consolidation.
Assessment
 Teachers will be able to identify even more clearly
children’s strengths and areas needing further support
and will be able to share this information with parents
and, of course, the pupils themselves.
 Any questions?
Communication
 School newsletters
 Website
 Twitter
 2 Simple (Used in Reception and Year 1)
 Class newsletters
 Text messaging
 Considering Parent App
We always try our best to keep parents informed of
forthcoming events but parents must help by checking
upcoming events.
Supporting Reading
 This year, in order to make reading a high priority
across the whole school we are participating in a
project: ‘Reading Quality Mark’.
 There will be lots of activities taking place this year,
some of which will involve parents. 
 Reading Quality Mark is about promoting ‘reading for
pleasure’. As a first task, we are asking parents to
model reading at home!
Parent Workshops
 We have recently sought the support of Knowsley
Family Learning Service.
 They are going to provide a variety of workshops across
the school year.
 We have asked them to try to offer some workshops
outside of the normal school day to support our
working parents.
 Please do keep a look out for these. They will be
advertised in the weekly newsletter.
Parent Workshops
 One of the workshops offered will be on E-Safety.
 We are asking all of our parents to monitor children’s use of
IT ensuring children are playing age appropriate games.
Some of our children are playing games that are aimed at
older children, some even 18+!
 As a school we also have concerns regarding the number of
children who are on tablets, etc. for long periods of time.
 ICT is a fantastic tool and we are not saying ‘No’ to IT. As a
school, we are fully aware how e-learning can engage our
pupils, however, there is more and more research about the
harm long periods of use can have particularly on sleep
patterns.
A study by Mariana Figueiro, of the Lighting Research
Centre at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York,
revealed that:
 Using an Ipad set at maximum brightness for at least
two hours suppresses the normal night-time release of
melatonin – a crucial hormone in the body’s clock.
 Under regular conditions, the hormone signals the body
that it is night and helps make you drowsy.
 Delaying the release of melatonin could delay sleep.
Primary school children – need about 9 to 10
hours sleep each night. Studies show that
increasing your child’s sleep by as little as half an
hour can dramatically improve school
performance.
Symptoms of sleep deprivation include:
 Moodiness and irritability
 Temper tantrums
 The tendency to emotionally ‘explode’ at the slightest
provocation
 Over-activity and hyperactive behaviour
 Daytime naps
 Grogginess when they wake up in the morning
 Reluctance to get out of bed in the morning.
 Workshops are there to support parents and will offer lots
of suggestions and advice to parents.
Any questions?