2015-16

School Improvement

March 2016 Version 1.3

Statutory Assessment and Moderation Handbook for EYFS, KS1 & KS2

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Contents

Section 1

Introduction and Local Authority Contacts

Section 2

Timeline

Section 3

Local Authority Data Submission Dates

Section 4

Statutory Assessment & Moderation Support Meetings, Network Meetings

Section 5

EYFS

Section 6

Year 1 Phonics Screening (including FAQs)

Section 7

Year 2 Statutory Assessment (including FAQs)

Section 8

Year 6 Statutory Assessment (including FAQs)

Section 9

Statutory Moderation and Monitoring (including FAQs)

Section 10

Maladministration

Section 11

Moderation Appeals Process

Section 12

Useful Contacts

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Section 1 - Introduction & Local Authority Contacts

Purpose

The purpose of this handbook is to provide schools with an overview of the statutory assessment

requirements, including collection of data, moderation and monitoring across all primary key stages.

More detailed information can be found in:

EYFS Assessment and Recording Arrangements (ARA) booklet

EYFSP Handbook (2016 (Revised December 2015))

Key Stage 1 Assessment and Recording Arrangements (ARA) booklet 2016

Key Stage 2 Assessment and Recording Arrangements (ARA) booklet 2016

Interim Teacher Assessment Framework at the end of KS1 2016 (including pre-keystage)

Interim Teacher Assessment Framework at the end of KS2 2016 (including pre-key stage)

Guidance for Key Stage 1 Teacher Assessment and Moderation 2016

Guidance for Key Stage 2 Teacher Assessment and Moderation 2016

Guidance for Key Stage 1 & 2 LA Monitoring Visits 2016

Foundation Stage Assessment & Moderation

Janet Mitchell (EYFS Profile Moderation Manager) Amanda Scrivens (Early Years Consultant)

janetmitchell@wakefield.gov.uk 01977 721506 ascrivens@wakefield.gov.uk 01977 721506

Key Stage 1 & 2 Statutory Assessment & Moderation

Jaqui Spedding (Assessment & Moderation Coordinator)

jspedding@wakefield.gov.uk 01977 721506

Data Team

Family Intelligence Unit Stephen Wood – Data Intelligence Manager, FIU Liz Phoenix – Business Intelligence Officer, FIU Louise Atkin – Business Intelligence Officer, FIU

Generic e-mail address – MIC@wakefield.gov.uk 01924 305276 – swood@wakefield.gov.uk 01924 305543 – lphoenix@wakefield.gov.uk 01924 305514 – latkin@wakefield.gov.uk

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Autumn Term 2015

Date

Activity

Monday 28 September 2015

KS1 & 2 - Test orders section of NCA tools (https://ncatools.education.gov.uk/) opens for schools to order modified versions of the KS1 & KS2 English reading; English grammar, punctuation and spelling; and mathematics tests. Maintained schools, academies and free schools do not need to order standard versions of the tests. The quantities of standard test materials schools require will be based on their Autumn census data.

w/c Monday 2

November 2015 EYFS - Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP) Moderation Information pack will be on ipoint.

Friday 27 November

2015 KS1 & 2 - Deadline for maintained schools, academies and free schools to order modified versions of the KS1 & KS2 tests.

Friday 27 November 2015

KS1 - Deadline for special schools, PRUs, hospital schools and secure units to confirm zero test orders on NCA tools (https:/ncatools.education.gov.uk/) where all pupils are working below the standard of the tests.

Autumn Term KS1 & 2 Modified versions of sample tests published.

End of Autumn Term KS1 - Academies to have chosen which LA will undertake their monitoring of the KS1 national curriculum assessments. KS2 - Academies to have chosen which LA will undertake their monitoring of the KS2 tests and reported the information to the STA.

Section 2 – Timeline (key dates for your diary)

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Spring Term 2016

Date

Activity

Monday 1 February 2016

KS2 - NCA Tools Access Arrangements section opens for applications for additional time, early opening, compensatory marks and timetable variations.

Monday 22 February 2016

KS2 - NCA Tools Pupil Registration section opens.

Monday 29 February

2016 KS2 - Deadline for schools to submit applications for early opening and compensatory marks.

March 2016 KS1 - Phonics screening check administration guidance (https://gov.uk/government/publications/phonics-screening-check-2015-materials) published for the 2016 administration period.

March 2016 KS2 - Test administration guidance (Test administrators’ guide) for the 2016 administration period published on www.gov.uk/government/publications/2014-test-administrators-guide-key-stage-2

Friday 18 March

2016

KS2 - Deadline for schools to complete pupil registration.

Summer Term 2016

Date

Activity

April 2016 KS1 & KS2 - Revised monitoring visit guidance due to be published.

Monday 11 April 2016 KS2 - All schools that have applied for early opening will have been notified of the outcome of their application via NCA tools.

Monday 11 April 2016 KS2 – Deadline for schools to submit applications for additional time.

Monday 11 April to Friday 22 April 2016

KS1 - Selected schools to administer KS1 tests early to inform standard setting. School responsible for administering, marking and returning item level data.

w/c Monday 18 April 2016

KS1 - Schools receive their standard and modified versions of the KS1 tests.

Friday 22 April 2016 KS1 - Schools to contact NCA national helpline on 0300 303 3013 if KS1 test materials have not been received.

w/c Monday 25 April 2016

KS2 – Schools receive their KS2 test materials (standard and modified versions) and stationary items.

Friday 29 April 2016 KS2 – Schools to contact NCA national helpline on 0300 303 3013.

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Summer Term 2016

Date

Activity

May 2016 KS1 - Test administration window.

Tuesday 3rd

May 2016 KS1 Mark Scheme available via NCA Tools

Friday 6 May 2016 KS1 – Deadline for ordering braille versions of the phonics screening check from

STA’s modified tests agency 0300 303 3019.

Monday 9 May to

Thursday 12 May 2016

KS2 - Test week

Friday 13 May 2016 KS2 – Access arrangements section of the NCA tools opens for application for special consideration.

Monday 16 May 2016 KS2 - NCA Tools Teacher Assessment section opens.

Friday 20 May 2016 KS2 – Deadline for schools to submit the Headteacher’s declaration form. Deadline for schools to submit special consideration applications.

Monday 23rd

May 2016 KS1 & KS2 – Schools notified if selected for moderation visit.

Monday 23 May 2016 KS2 - Mark schemes available to download.

Friday 27 May 2016 KS2 – Deadline to submit teacher assessment data to STA via the Teacher Assessment section of the NCA tools website.

Beginning of June 2016

KS1 - Publication of raw score to scaled score conversion tables for KS1 tests on GOV.UK.

Monday 6 June to Friday 10 June 2016

KS1 - Schools receive phonics screening check materials.

Monday 6th June to

Friday 24th June 2016

KS1 & 2 Moderation Window

Monday 6 June to Friday 17 June 2016

KS2 – Science sampling test period. Schools selected will be contacted to arrange a suitable date during this period for the administration of the tests.

Monday 13 June 2016 KS1 - NCA Tools Phonics Screening Check section opens for schools to download additional materials. This includes the mark sheet and modified version of the check, excluding braille.

w/c Monday 13 June 2016

KS1 - Schools administer the phonics screening check. Test packs must not be opened until this date.

w/c Monday 20 June 2016

KS1 - Timetable variation week for pupils who were absent during phonics check week.

Friday 24 June 2016 KS1 - Deadline for schools to submit the Headteacher’s declaration forms for the KS1 tests and phonics screening check on NCA tools (https://ncatools.education.gov.uk/)

Friday 24 June 2016 KS1 – Deadline for phonics screening check results to LA.

Monday 27 June 2016 KS1 - Phonics screening check threshold published on GOV.UK.

Thursday 30th June

2016 KS1 – Deadline for submitting KS1 TA data to LA.

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Please Note : Dates may be subject to further change by the DfE/STA.

Summer Term 2016

Date

Activity

Thursday 30

th June

2016 KS2 – Deadline for submitting KS2 TA data via NCA Tools

Friday 1st July 2016

KS1 Phonics screening check data submission deadline

Tuesday 5 July 2016 KS2 Pupil results (raw scores and scaled scores) and marked script images available on NCA tools. Raw Score to scaled score conversion tables available on GOV.UK.

Friday 15 July 2016 KS2 - Deadline for schools to submit review applications.

By the end of the summer term (or sixth term) 2016

KS1 & KS2 – Schools report achievements, general progress, attendance record and where appropriate outcomes of national curriculum tests (including phonics screening score).

End of July 2016 KS1 - LAs submit phonics screening check and end of KS1 outcomes to DfE.

Friday 2 September

2016 KS2 - Review outcomes returned to schools.

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Phase

Deadline

Foundation Stage

Friday 24 June 2016 to Wakefield LA

Year 1 Phonics

Friday 1st July 2016 to Wakefield LA

Key Stage 1 Teacher Assessments

Thursday 30th June 2016 to Wakefield LA

Key Stage 2 Teacher Assessments

Thursday June 2016 to STA via NCA tools (window opens Monday 17th May 2016)

NOTE : It is important that these deadlines are met.

If for any reason a school is not able to meet the deadline for KS1 and/or KS2 teacher

assessments the school must inform the LA and/or the STA.

It would be really helpful if schools could submit their teacher assessments at the

earliest opportunity.

Section 3 – Local Authority Data Submission Dates

(Important Deadlines)

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Section 4 – Statutory Assessment & Moderation

Courses and Support Meetings

Please ensure you pass relevant dates on to your colleagues in school.

All the sessions listed below will take place at Chesneys Centre, Regent Street, Featherstone, WF7 5EW, unless otherwise indicated. To book places, please apply via the CPD website http://cpdsupport.wakefield.yhgfl.net or telephone the CPD Team on 01977 721522.

Date

Event

Time

Friday 18 September 2015 A Flying Start to EYFS: An essential toolkit for teachers new to EYFS

9.00am – 4.00pm

Wednesday 7 October 2015 Capturing the unique child’s progress: gathering, using and summarising information in EYFS.

9.00am – 4.00pm

Monday 9 November 2015

Early Years Profile Moderation Network 4.00pm – 6.00pm

Tuesday 10 November 2015

Early Years Profile Moderation Network (repeat meetings)

9.00am – 11.00am 1.00pm – 3.00pm 4.00pm – 6.00pm

Thursday 12 November 2015 Early Years Profile Moderation Network (repeat) Venue – St Swithun’s

4.00pm – 6.00pm

Wednesday 25 November 2015

Assessment Leaders’ Meeting

1.30pm – 3.30pm

Friday 27 November 2015 Assessment Leaders’ Meeting

9.30am – 11.30am

Tuesday 1 December 2015 KS1 (Year 2) Statutory Assessment & Moderation

9.30am – 11.30am

Wednesday 2 December 2015 KS1 (Year 2) Statutory Assessment & Moderation (repeat)

1.30pm – 3.30pm

Tuesday 8 December 2015 KS2 (Year 6) Statutory Assessment & Moderation

9.30am – 11.30am

Wednesday 9 December 2015 KS2 (Year 6) Statutory Assessment & Moderation (repeat)

1.30pm – 3.30pm

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Date

Event

Time

Wednesday 27 January 2016 Ready to Run in Key Stage 1 – smooth and seamless transitions from EYFS to Year 1. Session 1 of 3.

9.00am – 12.00noon

Wednesday 3 February 2016 Ready to Run in Key Stage 1 – smooth and seamless transitions from EYFS to Year 1. Session 2 of 3.

1.00pm – 4.00pm

Monday 22 February 2016

Early Years Profile Moderation Network 4.00pm – 6.00pm

Monday 22 February 2016 KS1 & Statutory Assessment & Moderation Briefing for Headteachers, senior leaders and assessment leaders

4.00pm – 6.00pm

Tuesday 23 February 2016 KS1 & Statutory Assessment & Moderation Briefing for Headteachers, senior leaders and assessment leaders (repeat)

4.00pm – 6.00pm

Tuesday 23 February 2016

Early Years Profile Moderation Network (repeat meetings)

9.00am – 11.00am 1.00pm – 3.00pm 4.00pm – 6.00pm

Thursday 25 February 2016

Early Years Profile Moderation Network (repeat) Venue – St Swithun’s

4.00pm – 6.00pm

Friday 4 March 2016 Information meeting for schools that will be receiving a visit from an LA moderator ( by invitation only)

9.00am-12.00noon

Monday 14 March 2016

Year 6 Statutory Assessment & Moderation Writing

9.00am – 12.00noon OR 1.00pm – 4.00pm

Tuesday 15 March 2016

Year 2 Statutory Assessment & Moderation (focus dependent on exemplification materials available from STA)

9.00am – 12.00noon OR 1.00pm – 4.00pm

Thursday 17 March 2016

Year 6 Statutory Assessment & Moderation Writing (repeat)

9.00am – 12.00noon OR 1.00pm – 4.00pm

Friday 18 March 2016 Year 2 Statutory Assessment & Moderation (focus dependent on exemplification materials available from STA) (repeat)

9.00am – 12.00noon OR 1.00pm – 4.00pm

Tuesday 5 April 2016 Assessment Leaders’ Meeting

1.00pm – 4.00pm

Wednesday 6 April 2016 Assessment Leaders’ Meeting (repeat)

9.00am – 12.00noon

Monday 18 April 2016 Year 6 Statutory Assessment and Moderation Writing (Cross Pyramid)

9.00am – 12.00noon OR 1.00pm – 4.00pm

Wednesday 20 April 2016 Year 6 Statutory Assessment and Moderation Writing (Cross Pyramid) (repeat)

9.00am – 12.00noon

Friday 22 April 2016 Year 6 Statutory Assessment and Moderation Writing (Cross Pyramid) (repeat)

1.00pm – 4.00pm

Monday 25 April 2016 Phonics Screening Check Briefing (Year 1 & 2)

4.00pm – 6.00pm

Tuesday 26 April 2016 Phonics Screening Check Briefing (Year 1 & 2)

1.00pm – 3.00pm

Wednesday 27 April 2016 Phonics Screening Check Briefing (Year 1 & 2)

4.00pm – 6.00pm

Wednesday 4 May 2016 Year 2 Statutory Assessment & Moderation (Cross Pyramid)

8.30 am – 12.00noon OR 1.00pm – 4.30pm

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Date

Event

Time

Friday 6 May 2016 Year 2 Statutory Assessment & Moderation (Cross Pyramid) (repeat)

8.30am – 12.00noon OR 1.00pm – 4.30pm

Monday 23 May 2016 Statutory EYFS Profile Agreement Trialling 2016

9.00am – 12.00noon OR 1.00pm – 4.00pm

Tuesday 24 May 2016 Statutory EYFS Profile Agreement Trialling 2016

9.00am – 12noon OR 1.00pm – 4.00pm

Wednesday 25 May 2016 Statutory EYFS Profile Agreement Trialling 2016

9.00am – 12noon OR 1.00pm – 4.00pm

Friday 1 July 2016

Ready to Run in Key Stage 1 – smooth and seamless transitions from EYFS to Year 1. Session 3 of 3.

9.00am – 12noon

Tuesday 12 July 2016 Assessment Leaders’ Meeting

9.00am – 12.00noon

Wednesday 13 July 2016 Assessment Leaders’ Meeting (repeat)

1.00pm – 4.00pm

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Section 5 – EYFS

Recording and Reporting Arrangements 2016

Section 40(2)(a) of the Childcare Act 2006 stipulates that early years providers must secure that their provision meets the learning and development requirements as specified in the EYFS (Learning and Development Requirements) Order 2007 (S.I. 2007/1772) (amended in 2014) The Act states that this Order can specify the arrangements which are required for assessing children for the purpose of ascertaining what they have achieved in relation to the early learning goals (ELGs). The ARA for EYFSP 2016 can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/2016-early-years-foundation-stage-assessment-and-reporting-arrangements-ara; The ARA applies to all early years’ settings including maintained schools, non-maintained schools and independent schools with early years provision. Academies must implement the requirements of the EYFS (by virtue of section 40 of the Childcare Act 2006). Unlike other key stages the EYFS profile must be moderated by the academy’s geographical LA. An academy must comply with its moderation requirements. Schools are required to report Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP) results to Wakefield Local Authority for reporting to DfE. Detailed information can be found in the Assessment and Reporting Arrangements (ARA).

Headteacher responsibilities

ensure an EYFS profile is completed for all eligible pupils and data is quality assured.

ensure provision is made to meet the requirements of all children with special educational needs.

take responsibility for the reliability of their EYFS profile outcome and ensure that the data accurately reflects the level of attainment of the current cohort of pupils.

ensure teacher judgements are monitored.

ensure EYFS profile data is returned to the Local Authority in accordance with the table in section 2 of the ARA.

provide EYFS profile assessments to their school’s governing body to enable it to comply with national data submission requirements and report to parents.

ensure the statutory requirements for the transfer of records between providers are fulfilled, including the completion of the common transfer file.

Headteachers must also provide parents with a written report of their child’s progress against the EYFS ELGs and the opportunity to discuss the profile. If a parent requests it, you will need to provide a copy of the EYFS profile report on their child’s progress free of charge.

Headteachers, governing bodies and managers of early years settings are responsible for the reliability of the EYFS profile outcomes.

They MUST:

use quality assurance processes to ensure that the data accurately reflects the attainment of the current cohort of pupils;

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arrange for practitioners who are involved in completing EYFS profiles to take part in Local Authority moderation activities at least once a year;

meet reasonable requests from the LA moderator to enter the premises to carry out the visit; to amend assessments; for practitioners to take part in further training or moderation activities. In addition they MUST:

allow their LA to examine and take copies of documents and other articles relating to the EYFS profile and assessments; and

provide their Local Authority with such information relating to the EYFS profile and assessment as it may reasonably request.

They are also responsible for ensuring that any of your practitioners who are involved in making the assessments have the opportunity to become familiar with effective practice. This may involve:

attendance at training courses;

visits by moderators to settings;

moderation meetings within settings (in-house moderation);

moderation meetings with practitioners from other settings. Key recommendations to support effective EYFS Profile assessment and moderation:

Reception year / Foundation 2 (YR) practitioners attend appropriate training and/or support meetings;

YR practitioners are able to moderate together (where there is more than one YR class);

YR practitioners are able to engage in cross phase EYFS Profile moderation with teachers from other year groups and with subject leaders;

practitioners engage in EYFS moderation meetings with other schools;

Year 1 teachers have an understanding of the Profile and participate in moderation discussion with EYFS practitioners;

EYFS Profile judgements are shared and the data is quality assured by senior leaders.

If moderated:

read the moderation report and endorse its contents by emailing a response form;

ensure that Reception Teachers address any agreed actions that have been identified through discussions with the moderator.

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Reporting to parents

All EYFS providers must give parents a written summary of a child’s attainment against the ELGs. For each ELG this must state whether the pupil is:

meeting expected levels of development;

exceeding expected levels; or

not yet reaching expected levels (‘emerging’). At the end of the reception year, practitioners should give parents a written report which:

states the pupil’s attainment against the ELGs;

summarises attainment in all areas of learning;

comments on general progress including the characteristics of effective learning;

explains arrangements for discussing the profile. Reports should:

be specific to the pupil;

be concise and informative;

help to identify appropriate next steps.

Pupils who transfer to a new school

The Education (Pupil Information) (England)Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/1437) require schools to transfer a pupil’s educational record and common transfer file to any new school to which a pupil transfers in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. If a pupil transfers schools before the summer half term holiday, the new setting must report the child’s results to its Local Authority. If a pupil transfers schools during the second half of the summer term then the previous school is responsible for reporting to the LA. For further details please refer to the ARA.

The EYFS Profile Handbook

The EYFS Profile handbook 2016 and exemplification materials are available for download at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-profile-handbook

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EYFS Profile 2015 - 16 at a glance: some key points

Purposes and Main Uses of the EYFS Profile: Primary Purpose: To provide a reliable, valid and accurate assessment of individual children at the end of the EYFS. EYFS Profile data is used :

to inform parents about their child’s development against the ELGs and the characteristics of their learning;

to support a smooth transition to Key Stage 1 by informing the professional dialogue between EYFS and Key Stage 1 teachers;

to help Year 1 teachers plan an effective, responsive and appropriate curriculum that will meet the needs of all pupils.

In addition, the EYFS Profile provides an accurate national data set relating to levels of children’s development at the end of the EYFS which the Department for Education can use to monitor changes in levels of children’s development and their readiness for the next phase of their education both nationally and locally. Principles of the EYFS Profile

reliable and accurate assessment is based primarily on practitioner knowledge of the child;

responsible pedagogy must be in place so that the provision enables each pupil to demonstrate their learning and development fully;

embedded learning is identified by assessing what a pupil can do consistently and independently in a range of situations;

an effective assessment presents a holistic view of a pupil’s learning and development;

accurate assessments take account of contributions from a range of perspectives including the pupil, their parents and other relevant adults.

Making the Judgements Practitioners must make a judgement for each ELG as to whether the pupil’s learning and development is best described by:

the description of the level of development expected at the end of the EYFS (expected);

not yet at the level of development expected at the end of the EYFS (emerging); or

beyond the level of development expected at the end of the EYFS (exceeding).

In making this decision, practitioners must refer to the exemplification material. This material illustrates the standard expected for each ELG at the end of the EYFS. Practitioners must consider the entirety of each ELG and avoid splitting the descriptor into sections and ticking them off when making the decision. Because children do not necessarily achieve uniformly, the practitioner should judge whether the description within the ELG best fits the child’s learning and development, taking into account their relative strengths and weaknesses. ‘Best fit’ does not mean that the child has equal mastery of all aspects of the ELG. Practitioners should build their knowledge of what each pupil knows and can do over the course of the year. Settings can record pupil’s learning in any way which helps practitioners to support their learning and development and make accurate summative assessments. Paperwork should be kept to a minimum that practitioners require to illustrate, support and recall their knowledge of the pupil’s attainment.

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Transition to Year 1

It is important that Year 1 builds on the successful principles and approach encapsulated in the EYFS.

It is crucial that EYFS practitioners and Year 1 practitioners are allocated time to discuss and expand on the information presented in the EYFS Profile.

The characteristic of effective learning narratives will give teachers significant details about each pupil’s learning and development. The narratives must feature in conversations between practitioners and teachers.

Y1 teachers should be involved in EYFS Profile moderation in order for them to understand the judgements made by Early Years practitioners.

Reporting

All EYFS providers completing the EYFS Profile must give parents a written summary of their child’s attainment using the 17 ELGs and a narrative on how the child demonstrates the three characteristics of effective learning.

Year 1 teachers to be given a copy of the report and a short commentary on how their child demonstrates the three characteristics of effective learning.

Quality Assurance The moderation process includes considering the pattern of attainment for children. It is important that settings carry out a ‘sense check’ of outcomes for all children for whom they have made EYFS Profile judgements.

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Section 6 - Year 1 Phonics Screening

Recording and reporting arrangements

The phonics screening checks will take place during the week commencing Monday 13 June 2016.

Headteacher responsibilities Headteachers at participating schools have a duty to ensure that :

the requirements in the ARA are implemented in their school;

teachers and other staff comply with the assessment and reporting arrangements;

the deadlines in the ARA are met. Headteachers at maintained schools and academies must:

identify which children in year 1 should take the check, including any registered at maintained nursery schools who will reach the age of 6 before the end of the school year;

identify any children in year 2 who should take the check because they did not meet the required standard in year 1 or did not take the check in year 1;

ensure that any pupils who did not meet the required standard of the check in year 2 continue to receive support in phonics;

consider whether any pupils will need modified versions of the check and download them from NCA tools during the check period;

ensure that the security of the check materials is maintained and that the integrity of the check is not compromised;

ensure that the specific content of all assessment materials is not used to prepare children for the check;

keep all assessment materials in a secure place to maintain the integrity of the check so that no pupil has an unfair advantage over another. The materials must be treated as confidential before, during and after the check until Friday 24 June 2016;

ensure that the materials are not opened before the first day of the check week and must only then be opened when the check is going to be administered;

ensure their teachers score pupils’ responses accurately and consistently;

comply with national data submission requirements by submitting their check results to their school’s governing body;

notify the STA of any issues which may have affected the security, integrity or confidentiality of the check.

Changes

There are no changes with regard to the phonic screening check in 2016.

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Frequently asked questions

1. Where should we keep the materials during the Phonics Screening Check week?

All materials (including completed check sheets) should be locked securely away at the end of and in between each check session. The contents of the check should not be discussed until the end of the check period (Friday 24 June 2016).

2. Do all year 2 children who didn’t take the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check in 2015 need to be included in the Phonics Screening Check in 2016?

Yes, unless:

they are unable to show any understanding of grapheme-phoneme correspondence;

they have recently moved to the country and are unable to understand letters and sounds in English;

they use British sign language or other sign supported communication eg communication boards, to spell out individual letters;

they are mute or selectively mute.

3. Do the phonics screening checks have to be completed in one day?

The Phonics Screening Check can be administered on any day or number of days during the screening week.

4. What happens if a child is absent during the screening week?

If a child is unexpectedly absent during that week, the school can administer the phonics screening check until the end of the following week.

Some key information

If a parent asks a Headteacher not to enter their child for the check on the grounds of

opposing assessment or feeling that the check is too stressful, this should not be agreed to.

Academies should have arrangements for monitoring of the KS1 national curriculum assessments, with their chosen Local Authority, in place and have informed the STA by the end of the Autumn term.

Academy trusts must make sure their academies have complied with the moderation, monitoring and data submission requirements contained in the assessment and reporting arrangements document.

Wakefield Local Authority has a statutory duty to monitor at least 10% of schools to ensure that the Phonics Screening Checks are being administered in accordance with statutory guidelines. These visits are unannounced and will take place before, during and after the check week.

Wakefield Local Authority are required to inform the STA of any irregularities in schools’ administration of the KS1 assessments and phonics screening check and discuss steps to take.

Wakefield LA is required to check results and quality assure data in order to submit data to the DfE in the required format by the due dates.

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5. What should we do if a child is absent for the entire screening check window?

Any child who is absent from school for this entire period should be recorded as absent when submitting the data for the phonics screening check.

6. Will the threshold mark remain the same each year (ie 32 out of 40 words)?

No. Thresholds will be published after the end of the check period (for 2016 this will be on Monday 27 June)

7. How should the results of the Phonic Screening Check be reported to parents?

Headteachers must report each child’s Phonics Screening Check score to parents by the end of the Summer term, and should report whether or not a child has met the standard.

8. How does the school go about disapplying a child in Year 1 from the Phonics Screening Check?

There is no formal process and Headteachers do not need to inform the STA, but should consider carefully whether or not the child should take the Phonics Screening Check before coming to a final decision.

9. Do parents need to know if their child is being disapplied from the Phonics Screening Check?

Parents must be told why their child is not being assessed before a final decision is made, and what the school is doing to help the child learn to de-code using phonics. Where appropriate, the school should provide the parents with documentary evidence to support the decision.

10. What if parents do not agree with the school’s decision to disapply their child from the Phonics Screening Check?

The Headteacher’s decision is final.

11. How do we prepare for the possibility of a Wakefield Local Authority monitoring visit?

Ensure that all members of Key Stage 1 staff are familiar with the ARA guidelines relating to the Phonics Screening Check and that the checks are carried out in accordance with these. Also ensure that any necessary training has been provided. Alert office staff and Key Stage 1 staff that a monitoring visit may take place, and what it entails. This includes ensuring that the content of the check materials are not discussed and that all materials are locked securely away in between, and after checking sessions (this includes when all checks have been completed). Security is important to maintain the integrity of the check so that no child has an unfair advantage over another. It is important that all staff should be aware that these visits are unannounced and can take place the week before, during and after the check period. It is important that the Headteacher or member of SLT is made aware immediately the monitoring visitor arrives.

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Section 7 - Year 2 Statutory Assessment

Recording and reporting arrangements Headteachers at maintained schools, including maintained special schools, must prepare annual reports for every pupil’s parents. They must make arrangements for parents to discuss the report with their child’s teacher, if the parents wish to do so. The report must start from the day after the last report was given. It must be available to parents before the end of the Summer term and cover the pupil’s:

achievements;

general progress;

attendance record;

where appropriate it must also include results of any national curriculum tests. Schools are required to report teacher assessment (TA) results for each eligible pupil in English reading, English writing, mathematics and science at the end of KS1 to Wakefield Local Authority for reporting to DfE. Detailed information can be found in the 2016 Key Stage 1 Assessment and Reporting Arrangements (ARA) available on the VLE and downloadable at www.gov.uk/government/publications.

Changes

Schools should no longer use the 2007 and 2009 KS1 test and task materials. The new sample tests should be used to prepare for the 2016 KS1 tests.

There are no set days to administer the tests but they must be administered during May 2016.

A number of schools will be selected to administer ONE of the KS1 tests in April 2016 to inform standard setting for the tests. All other tests must be administered in May. Participation is statutory.

A sample of schools will be selected to take part in trialling NC tests in a two week period between April & June 2016 to inform validity and reliability of the live tests. No trials will take place during the test week. Participation is statutory.

The interim teacher assessment frameworks have been provided to support teachers in making robust and accurate judgements for pupils at the end of KS1 in 2016. These are only for 2015 to 2016.

There is no need to order the tests. Quantities of test materials will be sent to schools based on their Autumn census data.

Special schools, pupil referral units (PRU’s), hospital schools and secure units can confirm zero test orders by Friday 27 November 2015, where all pupils are working below the standard of the tests or pupils will not be participating. Otherwise schools will receive test materials based on their Autumn census data.

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Headteacher responsibilities Headteachers have duty to ensure that:

the requirements of the ARA are implemented in their school;

teachers and other staff comply with the assessment and reporting arrangements;

the deadlines in the ARA are met. End of Key Stage 1 Tests Headteachers must:

identify which pupils will take the end of KS1 assessments;

consider whether any pupils will need a modified version of the test/ tests and place a test order;

ensure the tests are administered according to the published guidance during the test window;

keep all assessment materials secure and treat them as confidential;

ensure that the specific content of all assessment materials is not used to prepare pupils for the tests;

ensure that the correct administrative procedures are followed;

ensure pupils’ responses are marked accurately and consistently;

complete and submit the KS1 tests Headteacher’s declaration form;

where selected, ensure their school administers, marks and returns item level data for their pupils for the required KS1 test in April 2016 to inform the standard setting for the tests;

ensure that anyone who is involved in administering and marking the tests reads, follows and understands the published guidance;

notify STA if any issues which may have affected the security, integrity or confidentiality of the tests.

Teacher Assessment

Headteachers must:

ensure standards for English reading, English writing, mathematics and science are recorded for all pupils at the end of KS1;

submit data to the LA in English reading, English writing, mathematics and science for all pupils at the end of KS1 by Thursday 30

th June 2016;

ensure their school has an appropriate system to record and submit data to their governing body by the end of the Summer term to enable it to comply with national data submission requirements;

notify STA of any issues which may have affected the integrity of the teacher assessments.

Some key information

KS1 tests must be administered in May 2016.

The tests may be administered to groups of children on different days.

There is no longer a test for English writing.

The Headteacher should decide whether it is appropriate for each of their pupils to take the tests. The Headteacher’s decision is final.

Teachers can use their discretion to decide if pupils require a break during any of the tests or whether, if appropriate, to stop the test early.

The test packs cannot be opened before the beginning of May and once opened the content

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cannot be discussed or used to prepare children for the test.

The tests will be marked internally and the raw score converted to a scaled score. The conversion table will be available at the beginning of June on the GOV.UK website.

Modified test materials will be available.

Schools are not required to report test results to their LA or next school when a pupil moves but can choose whether to include these results in any data provided.

Schools are not obliged to report test results to parents in an annual report. However, parents must be allowed access to their child’s results on request.

External moderation of teacher assessment is statutory.

Pupils to be grouped into 4 categories for accountability in English reading, English writing and mathematics and 2 categories for science.

Frequently asked questions

1. Where should we keep the tests once they have been delivered?

The tests materials must be kept secure and treated as confidential from the point they are received in school until the end of May.

2. Can the materials be opened before being used for assessing the children?

Test packs should be opened in the test room when the pupils are ready to start the tests. Teachers and test administrators must not discuss the content of the test papers with anyone or use question-specific information to prepare pupils for the tests.

3. What happens if pupils move schools?

If a pupil changes school before the test period the receiving school must administer the KS1 tests and submit - TA data. If a pupil changes school during the test period, the new school must find out which tests have already been administered and administer the remaining tests. The two schools must reach an agreement with regards to submission of TA data. If a pupil changes school after the test period, the school where the pupil was registered during the KS1 test period must submit TA data.

4. Are test results reported?

Schools are not required to report test results to the LA or next school when a pupil moves. Schools are not obliged to report test results to parents in an annual report. Parents must be allowed access to their child’s results if requested.

5. Do all pupils have to take the tests?

Teachers should not use the test materials with pupils who are working below the standard of the tests, have not completed the KS1 programmes of study or are unable to participate in the tests using suitable modifications and/or access arrangements. Reference should be made to the sample tests, test frameworks, key stage and pre-key stage interim teacher assessment frameworks when making a decision with regard to pupils considered to be working below the required standard. The Headteacher should decide whether it is appropriate for each of their pupils to take the tests. The headteacher’s decision is final. The school will be required to submit a report to the pupil’s parents, chair of governors and the LA for any child not accessing the tests outlining the reasons for this.

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Section 8 – Year 6 Statutory Assessment

Recording and reporting arrangements Headteachers at maintained schools, including maintained special schools, must prepare annual reports for every pupil’s parents. They must make arrangements for parents to discuss the report with their child’s teacher, if the parents wish to do so. The report must start from the day after the last report was given. It must be available to parents before the end of the Summer term and cover the pupil’s:

achievements;

general progress;

attendance record;

where appropriate it must also include results of any national curriculum tests.

Detailed information can be found in the 2016 Key Stage 2 Assessment and Reporting Arrangements (ARA) available on the VLE and downloadable at www.gov.uk/government/publications .

Changes

KS2 NC test outcomes will no longer be reported using levels – scaled scores will be used instead.

One set of tests for each subject. Each test will contain a small number of questions designed to assess the most able pupils.

Mental mathematics test has been replaced with an arithmetic test.

Interim teacher assessment frameworks are provided to support teacher assessment (TA).

No test orders need to be placed for standard versions. Quantities of test materials will be based on Autumn census data and pupil registration.

There will be biennial science sampling tests in 2016. If a school is selected participation is statutory.

A sample of schools will be selected to take part in trialling NC tests in a two week period between April & June 2016 to inform validity and reliability of the live tests. No trials will take place during the test week. Participation is statutory.

A school will fall below floor standards in 2016 where fewer than 65% of pupils achieve the expected standard in English reading and English writing and mathematics or pupils do not make ‘sufficient progress’ in English reading and English writing and mathematics.

For progress measures a school’s score will be calculated by comparing their pupils’ KS2 results against those of all pupils nationally who had similar starting points.

Pupils will be assigned to prior attainment groups based on their KS1 results.

Confirmation of what score a school would need to get to have made ‘sufficient progress’ will be received after the tests have been sat.

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Headteacher responsibilities Headteachers have a duty to ensure that:

the requirements in the ARA are implemented in their school;

teachers and other staff comply with the assessment and reporting arrangements;

the deadlines in the ARA are met;

pupils who have reached the end of the key stage are included in the KS2 assessments. Headteachers must :

keep test materials secure and treat them as confidential before, during and after the test period;

be able to give an accurate account of everyone with access to test materials before and during the test administration week and up until Friday 20 May 2016;

ensure their test administrators are appropriately trained, and that they administer the tests according to the published procedures;

carry out all tests according to the published timetable, unless the STA has approved a timetable variation;

complete and submit the Headteacher’s declaration form;

co-operate with any monitoring visit requests;

notify the STA of any incident that may have affected the integrity, security or confidentiality of the tests;

consider whether pupils will need modified versions of the tests and place a test order by Friday 27 November 2015;

ensure all pupils are registered for the tests via NCA tools website;

register pupils for the tests if they arrive after Friday 18 March 2016. Teacher Assessment Headteachers must :

submit data to STA in English reading, English writing, mathematics and science for all pupils at the end of KS2 by Thursday 30

th June 2016;

ensure their school has an appropriate system to record and submit data to STA by the deadline date;

notify STA of any issues which may have affected the integrity of the teacher assessments.

Full details of the Headteacher’s responsibilities are outlined in the ARA.

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Key Stage 2 Test Dates 2016

The 2016 Key Stage 2 tests will take place from Monday 9 May to Friday 13 May 2016. Schools have been asked to keep this period free for administering the Key Stage 2 tests.

Date

Monday 9 May 2016 English Reading

Tuesday 10 May 2016 English Grammar punctuation & spelling; Paper 1 Short Answer Questions English Grammar punctuation & spelling; Paper 2 Spelling

Wednesday 11 May 2016 Mathematics; Paper 1 Arithmetic

Mathematics; Paper 2 Reasoning

Thursday 12 May 2016

Mathematics; Paper 3 Reasoning

Friday 13 May 2016

No Tests

Science sampling test period: Monday 6 June 2016 – Friday 17 June 2016

Some key information

There will no contextual items in the tests.

The new national curriculum sets out clearly which technical terms in grammar are to be learnt by pupils.

Conversion table for the 2016 tests will be published on 5 July 2016 so that schools can understand how pupils’ scaled scores are derived from their raw scores.

The test frameworks do not provide information on how schools should teach the new national curriculum. These should not be used to guide teaching and learning.

There is no requirement to change the way a school prepares for, or administers, the tests because of the introduction of scaled scores.

External moderation of TA of writing is statutory.

TA of writing will be grouped into 4 categories for accountability and reading, mathematics and science into 2 categories.

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Frequently asked questions

1. Who should take the test?

Teachers should not use the test materials with pupils who are working below the standard of the tests, have not completed the year 5/6 programmes of study or are unable to participate in the tests using suitable modifications and/or access arrangements. Reference should be made to the sample tests, test frameworks, key stage and pre-key stage interim teacher assessment frameworks when making a decision with regard to pupils considered to be working below the required standard. The school will be required to submit a report to the pupil’s parents, chair of governors and the LA for any child not accessing the tests outlining the reasons for this.

2. How do we prepare for the possibility of a Wakefield Local Authority monitoring visit?

Ensure that all Year 6 staff and any other staff likely to be involved in the administration of the Key Stage 2 tests have read, are familiar with the ARA guidelines and other supporting guidance. Train all staff involved with the SATs to ensure they have a clear understanding of the administration guidance. Ensure that the tests are carried out in strict accordance with the ARA guidelines. Alert all staff, including office staff, that a monitoring visit may take place and what that entails.

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Section 9 – Moderation & Monitoring

EYFS Profile Moderation

All practitioners implementing the EYFS Profile are required to take part in either a Local Authority moderation visit or EYFS Profile training (including agreement trialling activities) each year. The purpose of moderation is to:

secure the consistency and accuracy of judgements made by different practitioners;

reassure practitioners that their judgements are accurate, valid and consistent with national standards; and

assure moderators that an acceptable level of accuracy and validity has been achieved for assessments recorded and reported by the settings for which they have responsibility.

Everyone needs to feel confident that the recorded judgments are fair and consistent for all children and that the assessment judgments made for any one child are comparable for those made by all children. Processes to achieve comparability will involve practitioners working with each other throughout the year alongside an annual programme of agreement activity. THE STARTING POINT FOR THE AGREEMENT OF JUDGEMENTS SHOULD BE THE ELG.

Moderation Meetings

The focus for moderation training this year is:

Personal, social and emotional development;

Literacy. Providers must take part in all reasonable moderation activities specified by their Local Authority and provide the Local Authority with such information relating to the EYFS profile and assessment as they may reasonably request. (Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage)

Moderation Visits Local authorities are required to provide a robust moderation process. As a Local Authority we ensure that all schools and settings are visited regularly as part of a 4 year cycle of moderation by a Local Authority moderator. Settings and schools with particular requirements or set of circumstances are visited more frequently; circumstances which could trigger more frequent moderation visits include:

a newly qualified teacher in reception;

a practitioner new to reception;

apparent anomalies in data;

recommendations for further moderation support from a Local Authority moderator;

non-attendance at moderation events;

SIA referral;

Headteacher request.

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Approximately 25-30% of schools will receive a moderation visit this year. Schools receiving a moderation visit will be notified towards the end of the Spring term. All 17 ELGs will be moderated during moderation visits in accordance with STA requirements. Details of the moderation visit procedures can be found in the Moderation Visit Support Pack 2016 which will be issued to all schools receiving a visit. In support of secure EYFS Profile moderation judgements, we request head teachers and governing bodies to ensure that:

YR practitioners attend appropriate training and/or support meetings;

YR practitioners are able to moderate together (where there is more than one YR class);

YR practitioners are able to engage in cross phase EYFS Profile moderation with teachers from other year groups and with subject leaders;

Y1 teachers have an understanding of the Profile and participate in moderation discussion with EYFS practitioners;

The SLT has addressed the questions on the Senior Leadership Team questionnaire and returned this by the deadline;

EYFS Profile judgements are shared and the data is quality assured by senior leaders.

What evidence should be brought to moderation?

Local Authorities will establish the accuracy of judgements by engaging in a professional discussion with practitioners discussing evidence during moderation meetings.

We ask that practitioners build an evidence base from observing children in a variety of day to day activities. In order to support an accurate assessment, practitioners should bring to moderation contributions from all adults who have significant interactions with the child. Evidence needs to demonstrate what children can do consistently and independently to show that they have embedded their learning. There is currently no requirement that all evidence should always be formally recorded or documented.

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Evidence

Examples

Observation notes

These can be recorded on:

Observation formats

Post- its

Note books

Individual profile record books

children’s responses and products (including examples of how children review their learning)

Mark making

Writing

Models & plans

Art & design

Photographs

Audio/video clips e.g. of role-play, physical activities, music making.

Responses to key questions

Contributions to class books/anthologies N.B. Where photographs are used, it is very useful if these are linked to observation notes or a brief note of what the pupil’s response was to the activity.

Portfolios of evidence moderated in school

A portfolio is not a statutory requirement for teacher assessment, but it would seem useful to keep samples which have been moderated in school meetings, in a collection, for reference.

Teachers’ planning (annotated briefly with assessment information regarding pupils’ responses to activities)

This gives a clear indication that appropriate experiences were planned, took place, and based on responses, whether pupils were successful or needed more practice.

Parental information and response to children’s achievements

These do not have to be formally recorded by the parents.

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Key Stage 1 Moderation

Moderation is an integral part of assessment ensuring that standards of assessment in reading, writing and mathematics are consistent among teachers, schools and LAs and that they are maintained from year to year. External moderation visits are only one part of the assessment process. It is important for schools to engage fully with each stage of the process to ensure that their teacher assessment is accurate and in line with national standards. All maintained schools and academies will be moderated by their LA at least once every 4 years. The statutory guidance for Key Stage 1 teacher assessment moderation (www.gov.uk/government/collections/teacher-assessment-key-stage-1-and-key-stage-2) includes details of the moderation process and how visits are carried out. Headteachers and LA moderators should be familiar with this guidance. 2016 Key Stage 1 ARA, KS1 Interim Teacher Assessment Frameworks 2016, Pre-key stage 1 Interim Teacher Assessment Framework, Teacher Assessment Moderation Guidance KS1 - school and LA requirements). Schools are accountable for submitting accurate and valid KS1 TA judgements. Schools must be able to justify their judgements from the pupils’ work available. There is no need to create portfolios, show in-year tracking or prepare showpiece examples for a moderation visit. Reference will be made to the interim TA frameworks and national exemplification materials when finalising and validating judgements. To ensure judgements are accurate and can be validated, guidance from the interim TA frameworks must be followed. Schools must have a clear internal moderation process which scrutinises TA in advance of any external moderation activity. This may include :

Senior leaders of the school scrutinising evidence provided for TA judgements against the Interim Teacher Assessment Framework and national exemplification materials;

Inter-school moderation where teachers have an opportunity to scrutinise the evidence for judgements against each of the ‘pupil can’ statements within the standard awarded from the Interim Teacher Assessment Framework, using the national exemplification material to support their judgements, with teachers form other schools.

The STA is responsible for monitoring the LA moderation process and scrutinise all LAs to make sure their processes are robust and meet the statutory national requirements.

Academies Academies cannot opt out of external moderation requirements and must comply with the requirements for maintained schools (see above). As of Tuesday 1 September 2015 all academies must inform the STA of their chosen TA moderation provider with whom they have an agreement. The STA will ask academies to submit this information in the Spring Term 2016.

Academies receive direct funding through DfE grants for KS1 statutory moderation.

Selecting schools for moderation visits In order to ensure that the LA undertakes consistent and accurate moderation of teacher assessment judgments, the LA are required to provide robust a moderation process and ensure that at least 25% of all maintained schools with pupils at the end of Key Stage 1 are moderated annually. For 2015/16 the STA will be selecting some schools to be included in the moderation process for this year. The LA will then select the remainder of the 25% requirements based on the following criteria.

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LA intelligence

new teaching staff

new senior leadership team

date of last external moderation (4 year cycle)

Ofsted concern

LA concern

historical data concern

Academies are included in this process. Schools will be notified if they are to receive an external moderation visit on Monday 23

rd May 2016.

The moderation window will be from Monday 6th June until Friday 24

th June 2016. Any necessary re-

visits will take place week commencing 27th June 2016. The email will outline the arrangements

which will include the date of the moderation visit and the named moderators. Visits will be conducted in pairs.

Selecting the sample of pupils for moderation Schools will be notified of the chosen pupils in the sample on the day of the visit. The sample will consist of a minimum of 10% of the cohort, or a minimum of 3 pupils in the case of single classes. Different pupils will be selected for each subject, reading, writing and mathematics and cover a full range of attainment within the cohort.

Suitable evidence for moderation

The LA external moderator will scrutinise evidence produced during day-to-day teaching to validate

the school’s judgements. This will avoid creating any additional workload for teachers. The evidence

must show that the pupil demonstrates attainment of all the ‘pupil can’ statements within the

standards and all the statements in the preceding standard(s).

Moderators will expect to see examples of children’s independent work and guided group work for

each moderated subject. They will request to see pupils’ scripts for the statutory tests and their results

to identify how they have been used to inform the TA judgements. The moderator must be satisfied

as to the independent status of the evidence and the school must ensure that the evidence clearly

identifies the amount of support a pupil has received. (For further clarification see Frequently

Asked Questions section)

Moderation Visits

School responsibilities:

the Headteacher (or delegate) must permit the LA external moderator to enter the premises of the school at all reasonable times;

the LA external moderator should have a quiet area to conduct the external moderation visit;

the school must meet requests from the LA external moderator for samples of pupils’ classwork or any other information reasonably required;

there is no expectation that the school staff will need to be released for the whole of the visit, however, the LA external moderator will wish to speak to the teacher prior to the moderation activity and may ask to speak again during the visit;

the LA external moderator should be able to validate the school’s TA judgements from evidence that is normally available from day-to-day teaching and learning. They must have access to the pupils’ evidence of ongoing learning and assessment (in whichever format it is routinely kept);

the LA external moderator must meet with the Headteacher (or delegate) at the end of the moderation visit to offer formal feedback and a written visit note which is signed by the Headteacher (or delegate) and the LA external moderator.

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Validation of TA Judgements

joined handwriting will not be a determiner when children are working towards the expected standard or working at the expected standard but MUST be taken into account if judged to be working at greater depth within the expected standard. Handwriting must however, be legible.

If there is insufficient evidence or concern about the accuracy of a judgement, the LA external moderator must request additional evidence and/or expand the sample. In certain cases, the sample may be expanded to include the whole cohort.

Where the LA external moderator judges that there is insufficient evidence for the standard awarded, they must detail, within the visit note, the revised judgement and the reason for it.

If the moderator is unable to validate judgements due to a systematic lack of evidence, or has a concern with the internally marked tests, they must refer the school to the TA maladministration team.

Data submission The Headteacher (or delegate) must:

submit TA judgements directly to the LA for KS1;

ensure that all submitted TA data is accurate and submitted as per the national TA deadline so that national external moderation can take place. If a school cannot meet this deadline they must have discussed this with their LA and/or STA. Failure to do so could result in the matter being reported to the STA maladministration team;

be fully aware of the statutory requirements regarding the process for submission of KS1 TA data and the legal requirement for accuracy of submitted pupil data;

The school must not re-submit TA data after the deadline without authorisation from the STA or the LA;

Where a school is required to re-submit data post-external moderation by the LA, the LA must verify this re-submission for accuracy. If any concerns arise the LA must investigate and consider referring the issue to the STA maladministration team.

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Key Stage 2 Writing Moderation

Moderation is an integral part of assessment ensuring that standards of assessment in reading, writing and mathematics are consistent among teachers, schools and LAs and that they are maintained from year to year. External moderation visits are only one part of the assessment process. It is important for schools to engage fully with each stage of the process to ensure that their teacher assessment is accurate and in line with national standards.

All maintained schools and academies will be moderated by their LA at least once every 4 years. The statutory guidance for Key Stage 2 teacher assessment moderation (www.gov.uk/government/collections/teacher-assessment-key-stage-1-and-key-stage-2) includes details of the moderation process and how visits are carried out. Headteachers and LA moderators should be familiar with this guidance. (2016 Key Stage 2 ARA, KS2 Interim Teacher Assessment Frameworks 2016, Pre-key stage 2 Interim Teacher Assessment Framework, Teacher Assessment Moderation Guidance KS2 - school and LA requirements). Schools are accountable for submitting accurate and valid KS2 writing TA judgements. Schools must be able to justify their judgements from the pupils’ work available. There is no need to create portfolios, show in-year tracking or prepare showpiece examples for a moderation visit. Reference will be made to the interim TA frameworks and national exemplification materials when finalising and validating judgements. To ensure judgements are accurate and can be validated, guidance from the interim TA frameworks must be followed.

Schools must have a clear internal moderation process, which scrutinises TA in advance of any external moderation activity. This may include :

senior leaders of the school scrutinising evidence provided for TA judgements against the Interim Teacher Assessment Framework and national exemplification materials;

inter-school moderation where teachers have an opportunity to scrutinise the evidence for judgements against each of the ‘pupil can’ statements within the standard awarded from the Interim Teacher Assessment Framework, using the national exemplification material to support their judgements, with teachers form other schools.

The STA is responsible for monitoring the LA moderation process and scrutinise all LAs to make sure their processes are robust and meet the statutory national requirements.

Academies

Academies cannot opt out of external moderation requirements and must comply with the requirements for maintained schools (see above). As of Tuesday 1 September 2015 all academies must inform the STA of their chosen TA moderation provider with whom they have an agreement. The STA will ask academies to submit this information in the Spring Term 2016. Academies receive direct funding through DfE grants for KS2 writing moderation.

Selecting schools for moderation visits In order to ensure that the LA undertakes consistent and accurate moderation of teacher assessment judgments, the LA are required to provide a robust moderation process and ensure that at least 25% of all maintained schools with pupils at the end of Key Stage 2 are moderated annually. For 2015/16 the STA will be selecting some schools to be included in the moderation process for this year. The LA will then select the remainder of the 25% requirements based on the following criteria. Academies are included in this process.

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LA intelligence

new teaching staff

new senior leadership team

date of last external moderation (4 year cycle)

Ofsted concern

LA concern

historical data concern

Schools will be notified if they are to receive an external moderation visit on Monday 23

rd May 2016.

The moderation window will be from Monday 6th June until Friday 24

th June 2016. Any necessary re-

visits will take place week commencing 27th June 2016. The email will outline the arrangements

which will include the date of the moderation visit and the named moderators. Visits will be conducted in pairs.

Selecting the sample of pupils for moderation Schools will be notified of the chosen pupils in the sample on the day of the visit. The sample will consist of a minimum of 15% of the cohort, or a minimum of 5 pupils in the case of single classes and cover a full range of attainment within the cohort.

Suitable evidence for moderation

The LA external moderator will scrutinise evidence produced during day-to-day teaching to validate

the school’s judgements. This will avoid creating any additional workload for teachers. The evidence

must show that the pupil demonstrates attainment of all the ‘pupil can’ statements within the

standards and all the statements in the preceding standard(s).

Moderators will expect to see a range of writing that includes both fiction and non-fiction. The

evidence can come from pupils’ exercise books and other examples of written work for a range of

purposes and audiences. Written work drawn from other subjects should also be used alongside any

other evidence that the school considers relevant. The moderator must be satisfied as to the

independent status of the evidence and the school must ensure that the evidence clearly identifies

the amount of support a pupil has received. (For further clarification see Frequently Asked

Questions section)

Moderation Visits

School responsibilities:

the Headteacher (or delegate) must permit the LA external moderator to enter the premises of the school at all reasonable times;

the LA external moderator should have a quiet area to conduct the external moderation visit;

the school must meet requests from the LA external moderator for samples of pupils’ classwork or any other information reasonably required;

the moderator/s will request an initial discussion with the teacher however, the LA external moderator may wish to speak to school staff regarding any aspect of the evidence presented during the visit;

the LA external moderator should be able to validate the school’s TA judgements from evidence that is normally available from day-to-day teaching and learning. They must have access to the pupils’ evidence of ongoing learning and assessment (in whichever format it is routinely kept);

the LA external moderator must meet with the Headteacher (or delegate) at the end of the moderation visit to offer formal feedback and a written visit note which is signed by the Headteacher (or delegate) and the LA external moderator.

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Validation of TA Judgements

Joined up handwriting will not be a determiner when children are working towards the expected standard or working at the expected standard but MUST be taken into account if judged to be working at greater depth within the expected standard. Handwriting must, however, be legible.

If there is insufficient evidence or concern about the accuracy of a judgement, the LA external moderator must request additional evidence and/or expand the sample. In certain cases, the sample may be expanded to include the whole cohort.

Where the LA external moderator judges that there is insufficient evidence for the standard awarded, they must detail, within the visit note, the revised judgement and the reason for it.

If the moderator is unable to validate judgements due to a systematic lack of evidence, they must refer the school to the TA maladministration team.

Data submission The Headteacher is responsible for the submission of accurate TA data.

The Headteacher (or delegate) must :

submit TA judgements to the STA via NCA tools for KS2;

ensure that all submitted TA data is accurate and submitted as per the national TA deadline so that national external moderation can take place. If a school cannot meet this deadline they must have discussed this with their LA and/or STA. Failure to do so could result in the matter being reported to the STA maladministration team;

be fully aware of the statutory requirements regarding the process for submission of KS2 TA data and the legal requirement for accuracy of submitted pupil data;

the school must not re-submit TA data after the deadline without authorisation from the STA or the LA;

where a school is required to re-submit data post-external moderation by the LA, the LA must verify this re-submission for accuracy. If any concerns arise the LA must investigate and consider referring the issue to the STA maladministration team.

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Frequently asked questions

1. Do you need to have a portfolio of work ready for the moderator?

No. The moderator/s will look at work in the normal format of the school ie writing books, spelling

books, handwriting books, folders etc.

2. What is ‘independent’ work? Independent work is work that is done autonomously by the child (without support from an adult) in the normal classroom setting.

3. Can the child use working walls? The child can access anything that is normally available in the classroom ie working walls, word walls, word mats, dictionaries, thesaurus, success criteria.

4. Can the teacher/teaching assistant support the child during independent work? The teacher/teaching assistant can discuss the work but must not indicate to the child where changes should be made ie (“you need a full stop there.”, “put a capital letter here.”, “why don’t you use beautiful instead of nice?”, “a subordinating clause would be good here.”)

5. Will moderators speak to the teachers? There will be some time for a brief discussion with the moderator/s prior to the moderation activity. Moderation has moved away from the dialogue approach to one of verification of teacher assessment against the interim teacher assessment standards.

6. What will happen if the moderator/s think there is insufficient evidence?

They will ask for more evidence from the child. If there is no more evidence they will ask to see a wider sample from the cohort (ie choose 1 or more children to moderate along with the original sample).

7. How important is handwriting? Handwriting will not be an overriding factor unless the child is deemed to be working at greater depth within the expected standard. Handwriting may also be evidenced through handwriting books.

8. How can teachers prepare for moderation? There should be no need for teachers to do anything they do not already do with regard to preparing for moderation. Moderation should be an ongoing process throughout the year both in school and across schools. It might help the teacher to clearly identify significant pieces of independent work as an ongoing process to support all elements of moderation both during the year and at the end of the year. This could possibly be done through the use of post-its, sticky tabs, moderation records, work scrutiny records, recording sheets etc. This should not, however, be a time consuming task.

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Key Stage 1 Monitoring – Phonics Screening Check

There is a statutory requirement for unannounced monitoring visits to be made to 10% of schools participating in the phonics screening check. The monitoring visits take place before (w/c Monday 6 June 2016), during (w/c Monday 13 June 2016) and after the checks (w/c Monday 20

June 2016).

During these visits LA or STA representative/s will look to see that procedures are being followed in line with STA guidelines outlined in 2016 Key Stage 1 ARA and the Phonics Screening Check Administration Guide (www.gov.uk/government/collections/phonic-screening-check-administation). This will include :

keeping the check materials secure;

administering and scoring the check. Schools that receive a monitoring visit must allow visitors to :

see all materials and any relevant delivery notes;

observe any checks being administered;

see copies of correspondence and other documents sent to and received from the LA or STA about the administration of the check.

The STA will carry out a full investigation if a monitoring visitor sees :

administration irregularities;

potential maladministration.

Academies Academies cannot opt out of external monitoring requirements. Academies created after the end of the Autumn Term 2015 will be part of the LA geographical arrangements for the 2015/16 monitoring arrangements. Academies created before the end of the Autumn Term 2015 must choose which LA they come under for monitoring purposes. This can be your geographical LA or another LA. The STA will ask for confirmation of provider by the end of the Autumn Term 2015. Academies cannot opt out of external moderation requirements and must comply with the requirements for maintained schools (see above). As of Tuesday 1 September 2015 all academies must inform the STA of their chosen TA moderation provider with whom they have an agreement. The STA will ask academies to submit this information in the Spring Term 2016. Academies receive direct funding through DfE grants for KS1 statutory moderation. For more detailed information reference should be made to the guidance on monitoring visits (www.gov.uk/government/publications/key-stage-1-phonics-screening-check-monitoring-visits-guidance-and-form)

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Key Stage 2 Monitoring SATs There is a statutory requirement for unannounced monitoring visits to be made to 10% of schools participating in the Key Stage 2 SATs during the week of the tests (w/c Monday 9 May 2016). LA or STA representatives will make unannounced visits to the schools administering the tests. During these visits LA or STA representative/s will look to see that procedures are being followed in line with STA guidelines outlined in 2016 Key Stage 2 ARA and the Test Administrators Guide (www.gov.uk/government/collections/key-stage-2-tests-administer-the-tests). This will include :

keeping the test materials secure;

administering the tests. Schools receiving a monitoring visit must allow visitors to :

see all KS2 test materials and any relevant delivery notes;

observe any tests being administered;

see evidence to show that pupils using access arrangements, eg prompters or scribes, are doing so in accordance with normal classroom practice;

see copies of correspondence and other documents sent to and received from the LA or STA about the administration of the tests.

The STA will carry out a full investigation if a monitoring visitor sees :

administrative irregularities;

potential maladministration.

Academies Academies cannot opt out of monitoring requirements. As of Tuesday 1 September 2015 all academies must inform the STA of their chosen statutory assessment monitoring provider with whom they have an agreement. The STA will ask academies to submit this information in the Spring Term 2016. Academies receive direct funding through DfE grants for statutory monitoring activities. It is important that all staff are aware that these visits may take place. For more detailed information and guidance reference should be made to www.gov.uk/government/publications/key-stage-2-monitoring-visits-2014-guidance-for-local-authorities .

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Section 10 - Maladministration

Phonics Screening Check

The term 'maladministration' refers to any act that affects the integrity, security or confidentiality of the national curriculum assessments and could lead to results and/or outcomes that do not reflect children’s unaided work or actual abilities. Maladministration can include the following activities.

Maladministration of the tests or phonics screening check

incorrect opening of test papers or check materials

children cheating

children being over-aided

resitting of the phonics screening check

changes made to children's test scripts outside of test conditions

incorrect reporting of children’s phonics screening check scores

Maladministration of teacher assessment

inflation or deflation of children’s teacher assessment judgements to influence school assessment outcomes

submission of different data to that agreed following LA moderation

scaffolding of work or over-aiding in tests or tasks that are used as evidence to justify teacher assessment levels

(extracted from : 2014 Maladministration investigation procedures – Key stage 1 and 2 national curriculum assessments).

Your school could be subject to investigations of maladministration if it doesn’t comply with :

the ‘assessment and reporting arrangements’;

check administration guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/phonics-screening-check-administration).

Maladministration can lead to changes to, or annulment of, results for a whole cohort, groups of pupils or individual pupils. You should report any issue with the administration of the check and/or any allegations of maladministration you receive by calling the national curriculum assessments helpline (0300 303 3013).

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Key Stage 1

2014 Maladministration investigation procedures - Key Stage 1 and 2 national curriculum assessments ‘The term 'maladministration' refers to any act that affects the integrity, security or confidentiality of the national curriculum assessments and could lead to results and/or outcomes that do not reflect children’s unaided work or actual abilities. Maladministration can include the following activities.

Maladministration of teacher assessment

inflation or deflation of children’s teacher assessment judgements to influence school assessment outcomes

submission of different data to that agreed following LA moderation

scaffolding of work or over-aiding in tests or tasks that are used as evidence to justify teacher assessment levels

Where there is doubt about the accuracy and correctness of children’s results, STA’s maladministration team can make the following decisions:

annul results; OR

in order to reach accurate teacher assessment judgements, subject results to moderation.

(extracted from : 2014 Maladministration investigation procedures - Key stage 1 and 2 national curriculum assessments).

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Key Stage 2

‘The term 'maladministration' refers to any act that affects the integrity, security or confidentiality of the national curriculum assessments and could lead to results and/or outcomes that do not reflect children’s unaided work or actual abilities.

Maladministration of the tests

incorrect opening of test papers or check materials

children cheating

children being over-aided

resitting of a test

changes made to children's test scripts outside of test conditions

Maladministration of teacher assessment

inflation or deflation of children’s teacher assessment judgements to influence school assessment outcomes

submission of different data to that agreed following LA moderation

scaffolding of work or over-aiding in tests or tasks that are used as evidence to justify teacher assessment levels

Your school could be subject to investigations of maladministration if it doesn’t comply with:

the ‘assessment and reporting arrangements’;

our test administration guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/key-stage-2-tests-administer-the-tests).

(extracted from : 2014 Maladministration investigation procedures - Key stage 1 and 2 national curriculum assessments)

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Section 11 – Moderation Appeals Process

EYFS Profile Moderation Appeals Procedure

Should a disagreement arise between school and moderator the appeals procedure is as follows:

The moderator will contact the Local Authority Early Years Foundation Stage Profile Moderation Manager to carry out a second moderation of judgements with the practitioner(s);

Should the disagreement continue, the school will be required to moderate its judgements with another Local Authority.

Feedback to the head teacher will be provided at all stages in the process. If you have any queries about the appeals procedure please contact Janet Mitchell, EYFS Profile Moderation Manager janetmitchell@wakefield.gov.uk

Statutory Moderation KS1 and KS2 Appeals Process

If a school does not agree with a moderator's judgments, the moderator will inform the Local Authority (LA) Moderator Manager.

The Headteacher of the moderated school should also contact the Moderator Manager to discuss the decision if further clarification is required. This should be done on the day of the visit, or as near to the moderation visit as possible. Concerns raised during the following academic year will be unable to be followed up with great accuracy.

If required, an additional paired moderation visit will be arranged and carried out. The second moderation team will only look at evidence the previous moderator/s used to base their initial judgement on.

Following the additional moderation, feedback will be provided to the Headteacher/senior leadership and the Year 2/Year 6 teacher.

Should the dispute continue, the school will be required to undergo a further moderation visit with a neighboring Local Authority which will be arranged for the school by LA.

Please note moderation will be conducted using the Interim Teacher Assessment Frameworks at the end of the Key Stage 1 for reading, writing and mathematics and Interim Teacher Assessment frameworks at the end of key stage 2 for writing alongside exemplification materials produced by the Standards and Testing Agency (STA). Reference may be made to the National Curriculum where necessary.

If you have any queries about the appeals procedure please contact Jaqui Spedding, email jspedding@wakefield.gov.uk

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National Curriculum assessments helpline For general enquiries about National Curriculum assessments

Tel: 0300 303 3013

Email: assessments@education.gov.uk

Website: www.education.gov.uk/assessment

STA distribution helpline For enquiries about deliveries of test materials

Tel: 0800 169 4195

STA modified test helpline For guidance on ordering modified test materials

Tel: 0300 303 3019 Email: schooltests@rnib.org.uk

STA Orderline To access previous years’ National Curriculum test materials

Tel: 0300 303 3015 Website: http://orderline.education.gov.uk

Department for Education national enquiry line For enquiries about the statutory requirements for assessment, national results, performance tables and reporting to parents

Tel: 0370 000 2288 Website: www.education.gov.uk/contactus

Department for Education publications helpline To order single copies of the Department’s materials and circulars

Tel: 0845 602 2260 Website: www.education.gov.uk/publications

EduBase

To keep your school’s contact details up to date

Website: www.education.gov.uk/edubase

Information Commissioner’s Office For enquiries about the Data Protection Act 1998

Tel: 0303 123 1113 Website: www.ico.gov.uk

Ofqual For regulatory concerns

Tel: 0300 303 3346 Email: info@ofqual.gov.uk Website: www.ofqual.gov.uk

Maladministration

Tel : 0300 303 3013 Email: assessments@education.gov.uk Website: www.education.gov.uk/assessment

Section 12 – Useful Contacts