Compelling reasons why the expert panel, led by Tim Oates, decided to remove levels:

4. Dame Alison Peacock's 'Outstanding' school has never used levels and children's progress has been outstanding.

As a school, we embraced the freedom to adopt a new approach to assessing progress.

1. Children were labelling themselves as a particular level. 2. Children were encouraged to move quickly through levels without consolidating concepts, skills and ideas.3. What did Level ‘3c’ mean?• Average score in a test• Matching to a list of descriptors• Being on a threshold of a level.

What do we believe about good practise in assessment?

• We decided that Learning Ladders, underpinned our belief of assessment.

Why Learning Ladders?• Since September 2014, when the new NC was

introduced, we have been researching with the MLP a range of approaches.

• We believe it has the potential to impact significantly on the attainment and progress of our children.• In May 2014 it won the DfE’s ‘Assessment Innovation’ competition, Judges commended it as “clear, engaging and accessible for both children and parents.”• Created by teaching staff at an Outstanding School

• Both a paper based and cloud based system to track pupil progress.

• A Learning Ladder for Reading, Writing and Mathematics.

• Each rung on a ladder relates to a key learning point that in turn relates to age appropriate expectations.

What are Learning Ladders?

• Objectives are colour co-ordinated according to the year group that they belong

Year 4

Year 3• There may not be rungs

for every year group.For example no rungs for times tables exist for Yr 6 as the expectation is pupils will master these before they leave Yr 5.

There are two sets of Learning Ladders.

Children’s Learning Ladder

Cloud based Teacher’s Learning Ladder

• Year Groups shown• Used to keep a record

of coverage and to support planning

• No Year group shown• Children will have

ownership of their own booklets.

How do the Ladders work?

Each rung needs to be assessed on three separate occasions before we can be sure it has been ‘mastered’.

Introduction to the concept Concept

achieved and understood

Concept independently

applied=

Mastery of the

objective

How do the Ladders work?

• Children to ‘’ the objective when they feel they have evidence to show it has been achieved.

• Staff date the box when it has been achieved in the children’s booklet.

• Staff will update the teacher’s cloud based system.

• The children colour the box according to the year group they are in.

How do the Ladders work?

“Children are now taking charge of their own learning and are proud of their achievements. They know their next steps and their teachers tell them how to achieve them. The assessments give teachers the information they need to know in order to design the learning for their class. The Ladders enable us to assess against the new National Curriculum in 'child speak' targets. ‘Life beyond levels’ is now taking shape at St John's thanks to Learning Ladders.”

John Goodey, Executive Headteacher, St John Baptist Primary School, Lewisham

School Explained

We will be using three categories with which to assess against age expected expectations.

These are: Working towards the expected standard. Working at the expected standard. Working at greater depth within the expected standard.

It is these statements that we will formally report to parents at the end of the school year.

Assessment of progress against end of year expectations: