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Primary assessment changes

The DfE have published the new teacher assessment frameworks for both Key stage 1 and Key stage 2.  Alongside this they also responded to the primary assessment consultations with a number of key reforms:

One of these is to:

  • introduce an online multiplication tables check, to be taken by pupils at the end of year 4, from the 2019 to 2020 academic year onwards.

There have been no details released yet as to what the new tests will look like with the first of these being the online multiplication tables check that will come in, this has now been confirmed for the end of Year 4.  Schools within LGfL have access to the excellent J2E Blast  which has online times table practice as well as practice tests for both KS1 and KS2 arithmetic papers. Another tool to help with this via LGfL is Busy Things  which have a range of tools including time table practice games among other tools all linked to the National curriculum

Other reforms will:

  • improve the way that writing is assessed, so that teachers have more scope to use their professional judgment when assessing pupil performance
  • introduce a new assessment at the start of reception from September 2020 to act as the start point for measuring progress, so we can give schools credit for the progress they help pupils make in reception, year one and year two
  • remove the statutory status of end-of-key stage 1 assessments at the earliest possible point, from the 2022 to 2023 academic year, once the reception baseline is fully established
  • reduce burdens for teachers by removing the requirement to carry out statutory teacher assessments in English reading and mathematics at the end of key stage 2 from the 2018 to 2019 academic year onwards
  • improve the early years foundation stage profile, including revising the Early Learning Goals to make them clearer and align them more closely with teaching in key stage 1

Further guidance and exemplification materials from the STA will be published later in the autumn term to assist teachers with assessment.

Michael Tidd has produced an excellent blog post highlighting his thoughts on the changes and Third Space Learning have produced a blog post for SLT detailing the 9 important changes that relate to maths.

What are your thoughts on the changes?

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