National Curriculum Expectations

Years 5 and 6

Aims of the Meeting

• The national curriculum

• How we have responded as a school

• Expectations and changes in each year group

• Assessment – no levels

• Formal assessment this year

The National CurriculumThe majority of the national curriculum was introduced in September 2014. However, there were exceptions in English, maths and science for some year groups.

Why the New Curriculum?

The curriculum was revised by the DfE in order to:

• Bring the curriculum up-to-date (especially with advances in ICT since the previous curriculum was published)

• Reduce content

• Raise standards (by teaching “fewer things but in greater detail” )

• Provide freedom for schools and give them opportunity to personalise the curriculum

• All staff have received training on the new curriculum• School curriculum topics have been fully updated in line with the

changes• We are constantly updating our ICT provision to make it fit for purpose• We have purchased resources to support the revised curriculum

On our school website, you can view the content of the curriculum for each year group. In addition the teachers create a curriculum leaflet for each new topic with more specific details about what will be covered and what the children have expressed a desire to find out about.

How have we responded as a school ?

The most significant impact comes from increased expectation. More demands have been put on pupils of all ages and many objectives have been brought forward in the curriculum – in some cases by multiple years – with a number also receiving tweaks or additions in order to make them more rigorous. BUT there is an emphasis on DEPTH rather than rushing on to the next stage.

Deepening learning

Teachers at Lapal are extending and deepening the children’s knowledge so they can answer questions in a range of formats.

Much of the publicity about the changes to the curriculum has focussed on ‘higher expectations’ in various subjects, and it is certainly the case that in some areas the content of the new primary curriculum is significantly more demanding than in the past.

For example,

• by the age of nine, children will be expected to know times tables up to 12x12 (previously 10x10 by the end of primary school)

• •Simple fractions (1/4 and 1/2) will be taught from KS1, and by the end of primary school, children should be able to convert decimal fractions to simple fractions (e.g. 0.375 = 3/8)

The National Curriculum

End of Key Stage Expectations • Key Stage 2

• Reflect old 4b level (nationally expected)

• Objectives from old level 5 now appear in expectations of working at

- E.g. use of colons, semi colons, dash and hyphen were previously a level

expectation in writing, but this now appears in the expected standard of year 6

- Name and label parts of a circle (radius, diameter etc.) was KS3/year 7 & 8

objectives but is now expected in year 6

- End of Year 4-all pupils expected to know times tables up to 12 x 12

SPAG Expectations

• Modal Verbs

• Subjunctive Forms

• Adverbial Phrases

• Possessive Pronouns

• Relative clauses

• Present & Past Progressives

• Range of punctuation

Reading Expectations

• learn a wide range of poetry by heart

• prepare poems and plays to read aloud and to perform

• distinguish between statements of fact and opinion

• explain and discuss their understanding of what they have read, including through formal presentations and debates, maintaining a focus on the topic and using notes where necessary

Maths Expectations

Old Curriculum New Curriculum

• Detail of problem-solving processes no longer explicit

• Divisibility tests • Calculator skills move to KS3 • Rotation moves to KS3 • Probability moves to KS3 • Median/Mode/Range no longer required

• Compare and ordering fractions greater than 1 • Long division • 4 operations with fractions • Calculate decimal equivalent of fractions • Understand & use order of operations • Plot points in all 4 quadrants • Convert between miles and kilometres • Name radius/diameter and know relationship • Use formulae for area/volume of shapes • Calculate area of triangles & parallelograms • Calculate volume of 3-d shapes • Use letters to represent unknowns (algebra) • Generate and describe linear sequences • Find solutions to unknowns in problems

English The curriculum now incorporates:•Increased focus on reading for pleasure •Whole texts to be read and not just extracts •Focus on presentation and improving handwriting (Handwriting is now expected to be fluent, legible and speedy)•Children must be able to remember and recite poetry •Less reference to drama •Stronger emphasis on vocabulary development, grammar, punctuation and spelling •Spoken English has a greater emphasis, with children to be taught debating and presenting skill

Maths Many Maths topics are introduced at an earlier stage and taught at an accelerated place.New terminology - the curriculum is now divided into “Number” and “Geometry and Measures”.

The curriculum now aims to ensure all children: •Become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics •Are able to reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry •Solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication

Maths •Five-year-olds will be expected to learn to count up to 100 (compared to 20 under the previous curriculum) and learn number bonds to 20 (previously up to 10) •Simple fractions (1/4 and 1/2) will be taught from KS1, and by the end of primary school, children should be able to convert decimal fractions to simple fractions (e.g. 0.375 = 3/8) •By the age of nine, children will be expected to know times tables up to 12x12 (previously 10x10 by the end of primary school) •Mental arithmetic will be encouraged rather than using calculators•Stronger focus on number calculation skills in all year groups

Science •Strong focus on scientific knowledge and language, rather than understanding the nature and methods of science in abstract terms •Fossils in Year 3 •Evolution and inheritance will be taught in Year 6 •Non-core subjects like caring for animals will be replaced by topics like the human circulatory and digestive system

Design & technology •Given greater importance under the new curriculum, setting children on the path to becoming the designers and engineers of the future! •More sophisticated use of design equipment such as electronics and robotics •Prepare and cook a variety of dishes using cooking techniques •In KS2, children will learn about how key events and individuals in design and technology have shaped the world

Computing •Computing replaces Information and Communication Technology (ICT), with a greater focus on programming rather than on operating programs •From age five, children will learn ‘to write and test simple programs, and to organise, store and retrieve data’. •From seven, they will be taught to understand computer networks, including the internet •Internet safety –previously only taught from 11-16 –is now taught in primary schools

Languages •A modern foreign language or ancient language is now mandatory in KS2 •Children will be expected to master basic grammar and accurate pronunciation and to converse, present, read and write in the language in KS2

Assessment without levels

The system of levels & level descriptors have been removed and not replaced. (In previous years, children were assessed according to NC levels e.g. 1a, 1b, 1c)

‘We agreed that levels have become too abstract, do not give parents meaningful information about how their child is performing, nor give pupils information about how to improve.’ (DFE)

Schools now have the freedom to develop their own assessment approach and means of assessing pupil progress toward the end of key stage expectations.

School AssessmentsWe are using an assessment system which keeps a track of the key concepts that your child has been taught and how well that have understood them. At Lapal we use the following system to assess pupils.

• Entering (working below national expectations)achieved some of the end of year expectations

• Developing (working below national expectations)Achieved most of the end of year expectations

• Secure (Working at national expectations)achieved almost all or all of the end of year expectations and can use and apply their knowledge and skills confidently.

• Secure Plus (Working above national expectations) secure in all the end of year expectations and now working at a greater depth

If your child is achieving well, rather than moving on to the following year group’s work, we encourage more in-depth and investigative work to allow a greater mastery and understanding of concepts and ideas.

Formal Primary Testing / Assessment

• EYFS Baseline Assessment (On Entry)

• EYFS Baseline Assessment (End of year)

• Year 1 Phonics Screening

• Key Stage 1 SATs

- Reading

- Maths (Arithmetic & Reasoning)

- SPAG (Spelling, Punctuation & Grammar)

• Key Stage 2 SATs

- Reading

- Maths (Arithmetic & Reasoning)

- SPAG (Spelling, Punctuation & Grammar)

- Times Tables Tests (To be introduced for 2017 SATS-current year 5 pupils)

• Greater emphasis on testing pupils-help to prepare pupils for tests

• Ongoing, robust teacher assessment carried out daily

Formal Assessment in Year 6

Comparison of National Expectation under previous and new systems

Previous system New system

Key Stage 2 - all subjectsTests and teacher assessments graded in levels (normally numbering between level 1 and level 6 in primary school)

Level 4b was recognised as the national expectation Level 5+ was recognised as working above national expectations

Teacher assessment levels were based on a best fit judgment

Key Stage 2 - Writing Working below age related expectationsWorking at age related expectationsWorking above age related expectations

Key Stage 2 – Maths and ReadingWorking below age related expectationsWorking at age related expectations

Children now have to fulfil all criteria to reach ‘age expected’, it is no longer a best fit judgement – teacher assessment

From 2016 the tests will be reported as a scaled score. The DfE will not provide a score that represents national average until after the tests. Children who do not reach the expected level will have to resit the tests at Secondary school - test

The standards in the new curriculum have been raised dramatically. This fact, in addition to the fact that the method of assessment has changed, means that on paper, it may appear that your child has made limited progress since last year. Schools are finding this to be the case, which is why OFSTED have stated that:

“Inspectors will not expect to see a particular assessment system in place and will recognise that schools are still working towards full implementation of their preferred approach”.

As data may be misleading at this point, OFSTED have stated that they will spend a great deal more time looking at children’s books and talking to children to ensure that they can see evidence of children working towards their age related expectations.

Data Implications

At Lapal we continually monitor the children's progress and attainment. The senior leadership team regularly look at pupils books, observe lessons, and conduct learning walks. The leadership team, alongside class teachers, use our internal tracking system to assess our pupils performance.

We are continually modifying what we do in order to address DfEannouncements, and will provide more information as we receive this ourselves.

Please feel free to view the resources, exemplification materials and ask us any questions

As we move forward…