Lythe Church of England School
Friday 12th February 2016
Not sure what’s going on? Worried or unhappy about something in school? Would you like to speak
to your child’s teacher? Please call the office on 893373 or email on [email protected]
Nursery News
Come and join the musical fun!
The Nursery children have been learning all
about Pancake Day and preparing for Lent.
They really enjoyed making and eating the
pancakes. They weighed out the ingredients
recognising numbers on the scales. They
talked about the changes that occured during
mixing and cooking the ingredients. They had
to decide which topping to choose-I am sorry
there was no peanut butter Seb!! Lastly they
practised cutting up their own pancake,
enjoyed eating it and helped with the
washing up!!!
Many of you supported me with the
Tuesday Singers at a recent concert in
school. Please consider lending your
support again at a light-hearted concert
this Saturday in the St John Ambulance
Hall, Back St. Hilda’s Terrace, at 7.30pm.
Items such as “Teddy Bear’s Picnic,” “Old
MacDonald’s Farm” and “When I’m 64”
(many of us are perilously close – or past
it!) will appeal to all ages.
There is no entry charge but a raffle and
retiring collection will support the work of
the St. John Ambulance organisation.
Thank you – and have a good holiday.
Mrs Sue Mason
Seashells Lego Request
Do you have any Lego at home which
your children no longer use?
Seashells would love to have a collection
of Lego for the children to play with, so if
you have any that you do not need and
would like to donate, they would be
absolutely delighted to hear from you.
We will be celebrating World
Book Day in school on
Wednesday 2nd March (a day
early this year so that we don’t clash with
swimming and staff training!)
Our school theme this year will be “British
Authors and Illustrators” and children will
be invited to come to school in a costume
that is related in some way to one of their
favourites.
There will be a full day of reading-based
activities to focus on the joy and value of
reading and children will receive a £1
book token to spend. More news to
follow next term!
Sports Thanks
On behalf of the governors, I would like to say how delighted we are with all the recent sporting
achievements. We would like to congratulate all the children involved and their coaches.
To all the children who took part in the Gymnastic Key Steps 1,2,and 3 at Eskdale School, a very well done!
For gaining the Sainsburys School Games Bronze Award: congratulations.
The success of the football team this season is nothing short of remarkable! To win the entire Whitby and
Ryedale Schools Competition, playing against teams from schools with many more pupils, is truly
amazing! Playing at York, too, on a 3G pitch must have been so hard, but you all persevered in difficult
circumstances. Well done!
We would especially like to thank Mr. Stansfield and Mr. Welford for all their hard work. Congratulations!
We are very proud of you all.
Mrs Wendy Norman, on behalf of Lythe School Governing Body
SATs update
Miss Jackson and Mr Stansfield will be sending holiday homework so that children can keep their
learning and revision “on the boil” over the break. Please can you help your child work through this
and make a note of any areas of difficulty that you would like the teacher to address on your return.
The homework books contain questions that are very similar in standard and content to the tests that
the children will take, so they are very helpful for letting children know what to expect.
You can also support your child by continuing to read regularly with them and helping them learn
their times tables.
Some very good videos have been produced to explain the 2016 SATs tests to parents and these can
be found by following links on our website (www.lytheschool.co.uk).
Below is information to explain how the new tests will be marked:
Key Stage 2 (Year 6) SATs marking (from www.examninja.co.uk)
Pupils used to be awarded a "level", such as 2a, 3b and 4c, that corresponded to their "raw marks".
E.g. if a pupil got 84/110 then it would correspond to a “level 5”. KS2 SATs papers have been updated
for May 2016 to be fully in line with the new national curriculum. As well as the content and structure
of the papers being changed (expectations are now higher than in previous years), the marks
reporting method has too. This means that from May 2016, children will not be given a level and will
instead be given a scaled score.
What are scaled scores?
Scaled scores are simply a different way of reporting your child’s exam marks. Instead of being given
their “raw score” of 84/110, your child’s raw score will be moderated (alongside everyone else’s exam
marks) and converted into a scaled score out of 100. The interpretation of these scores is as follows:
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Below 100: Those that score below 100 will have not reached the nationally set “expected standard”
and will need further support and development before and indeed at secondary school.
Within close proximity of 100: Those that get 100 will have reached the national standard that’s
expected of them. In other words: "Bravo, you’re ready for secondary school little Jimmy!"
Above 100: Those that score significantly higher than 100 will have exceeded the standard that’s
expected of them.

Why are they using scaled scores instead of levels?
No two tests are exactly the same and it’s unlikely that your child will find two KS2 SATs tests to be
exactly the same difficulty. Hence, the reason for this change is because the moderation process
allows test results to be reported consistently from one year to the next. This means they maintain
their meaning over time, so if two children achieve the same scaled score on two different tests
(despite possibly having entirely different "raw scores"), they will have demonstrated the same
attainment.
What difference does it make to us?
For parents and pupils, very little. The most frustrating thing is that until now, your child would have
had their progress tracked using levels and now they’re not! Do be aware though that your child’s
scaled score will be reported to their secondary school so that they can prepare for their arrival
appropriately.
What scaled score should my child be aiming for?
There’s no trick here: the more marks your child achieves in their KS2 SATs, the higher their scaled
score will be. Work hard and aim high!
Continued…
How will we measure progress?
We have always measured progress by looking at the difference in the levels the child achieved
between Key Stage 1 (Year 2) and Key Stage 2 (Year 6). Each level was given a numerical score and
children were expected to make a certain amount of progress during their time in school. This year
we will still look at the numerical scores that the children achieved at Key Stage 1, but this year they
will be compared with the Key Stage 2 scaled score, and we can then see how much progress your
child has made. We will not know exactly what will count as “good progress” until after the tests have
been taken.
A good video which explains in more detail how the government will measure your child’s progress
can be found by following the link on our website.
As in previous years, there will also be a Teacher Assessment of your child’s attainment in maths,
reading and writing. More information on this will follow next term.
Diary Dates
12th
Friday
February: last day of term
Monday 22nd February: back to school