Life after levels

The removal of national curriculum levels aims to move the spotlight onto a pupil’s knowledge and skills. Or as Sir Michael Wilshaw puts it, ‘What matters is that schools can show what their pupils know, understand and can do.’ Rather than asking “is the pupil working at level 3a or 4c?” we will be asking the question “has the pupil learnt that skill or achieved that particular standard?” Therefore whatever you decide is best for your school you need to make sure you record attainment against these criteria and ensure that all the standards are being taught fully.

The focus is not on children moving through the standards as quickly as possible, as was often associated with levels, where schools and teachers were often judged on how many levels or points they progressed across the term/year. Instead it is all about mastering the standards and studying them in greater depth. Schools are not encouraged to move the children onto the next years standards unless in absolute exceptional circumstances, such as with a gifted pupil. The thinking behind this is that pupils are then really secure in the age appropriate standards and therefore, by the end of the year/key stage, are ready to progress. It will allow gaps in learning to be plugged and encourage teachers to set up activities that allow children to apply their skills and learning to different contexts. This is where the term ‘secondary ready’ comes from.  The performance descriptors to be used for statutory end of key stage assessment are still out to consultation but can be viewed here - https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/368298/KS1-KS2_Performance_descriptors_consultation.pdf

One main difference I can see is that the assessment system would be day to day as opposed to just giving a level at the end of a term. Therefore assessment would be more frequent and closely linked to teaching and learning - as it should be!

There are an increasing number of ways being presented of recording a child’s attainment against the standards. Some plan to use something similar to the EYFS stages - for example SIMs is going to use - emerging, developing, secure and mastered as the four stages. The floor standard for pupils in year 6 is that at least 85% of pupils achieve the expected standard (in the above example ‘secure’). Attaching points to these would not serve the same purpose as the current system, given that children will be expected to master the standards and not necessarily progress to the standards of the next year group.

As a result, measuring progress will be much more focused on evidence in books and pupil voice. This was something discussed in detail at a recent Ofsted training seminar. There will be the need to assess more frequently and most importantly to create a benchmark so that progress can clearly be demonstrated. For example, in maths, the teacher may give the pupils an activity or test on an area at the beginning of the unit, teach the unit to the needs to the class and then assess again. This would clearly allow the teacher to demonstrate progress that the children have made. This benchmarking may happen termly or as often as fortnightly depending on the standard being taught. There are many commercial resources that will help achieve this but teachers could also develop their own assessments and activities. Whatever the approach, the need of moderation at all levels will be as important as ever.

Our Great at Grammar PowerPoint activity resource has proved to be incredibly popular this term. Below are just a few comments of what our customers think of the resource.

I bought the Great at Grammar resource to support my teaching of grammar this year particularly as it is the first year of the new SPAG test in May. It was recommended on the PTRC forum and comes at a reasonable price. I find for me the best way of using the activities is in one block on a Friday morning, as a part of a review. The children have SPAG books and sometimes we jot down answers, sometimes we do them orally as a whole class. I have copied them onto SMART board files so that the children can come up and be interactive with the texts as well. I like the fact that they are short and sharp and reinforce grammar in all areas; the children like the snappiness of the sessions and it is definitely helping them remember rules of grammar and punctuation. 'I like the way we work through them as a class and aren't copying from a text book.' by Andrew in my class. Amy

Following the comments from Sir Michael Wilshaw about teachers pay; do teachers need to work harder to justify an increase in pay? Perhaps what should be discussed is 'can teachers work any harder?' which is certainly the case in the primary schools in the area I live. I have seen no evidence of teachers finishing work at 3pm and then going home and putting their feet up - quite the opposite in fact. Most teachers will arrive at school between 7.30am and 8.00am and will not leave until gone 5.30pm. This is not to mention the number of late nights such as parents evenings, prospective parent evenings and special events. For those who do leave at 3pm it is usually because of child care commitments which will then see then working well into the evening once the little ones are safely tucked up. 

Surely this is yet another kick in the teeth for the teaching profession, a profession that is already wounded. Some, outside of teaching will claim we get paid well, we have over 12 weeks of holiday a year and have great pensions. Maybe so, but we don't get the big bonuses of the people who got us in this financial mess and we are the ones who are educating the future of today. On the whole teachers are doing a fantastic job but we need to feel we are working in partnership with Ofsted and the government and not in opposition. Speaking as a teacher I know what can be achieved with a child when the school, parents and individual work together in partnership. However I also know the harm that can be done if one doesn't understand the other. This is clearly the case here and if these key issues are not addressed soon then the goodwill of the teaching profession will be lost forever.

Welcome to the PTRC blog where you will find articles about topical issues as well as all the latest news from the Primary Teacher Resource Centre including special offers. The last few months have been incredibly busy for us following our #sbs win (standing for 'Small Business Sunday'). This is a competition run by Dragon Den's star Theo Paphitis who, every week, identifies and rewards six small businesses for their work and innovative approach. The win meant that 'The PTRC website' was retweeted to over a quarter of a million people resulting in the profile of our website increasing hugely. We now proudly display the #sbs logo on our website!

At the same time we released our 'Great at Grammar' and 'Magic at Maths' teaching packs which have proved to be incredibly popular and are being used by over 200 teachers around the world. However we continue to offer a complete service with over 300 resources available for instant download. The introduction of our blog will complement our increasingly popular FREE teaching forum which has over 1000 active members.