St.George’s Primary

St.George’s Primary Year 6 SATs Parents Meeting 2014

St.George’s Primary Aims of the session • To share important information about KS2 SATs • To answer any questions about KS2 SATs • Discuss / share ideas about how you as a parent can help your child at home

St.George’s Primary • What are SATs? • Why do children do them? • When will they take place? • Where do they take place? • Who will administer the tests?

St.George’s Primary

St.George’s Primary What do the levels mean? • Level 2 – these children will not be entered for the tests • Level 3 – below age related expectation • Level 4 – age related expectation • Level 5/6 – above age related expectation

St.George’s Primary What about children who struggle accessing the test? • Readers • Extra time • Rest breaks • Separate room • Scribe

St.George’s Primary What happens if my child is ill on the day of the test?

St.George’s Primary What does teacher assessment involve, and is it different from testing? • Teacher assessment draws together everything the teacher or teachers know about a child, including observations, marked work and school assessments. • Teacher assessment is not a ‘snapshot’ like tests and is therefore more reliable. • There can be a difference between teacher assessment results and test levels. • Teacher assessment only, is used for children who work below level 3 (children who don’t do the SATs).

St.George’s Primary When do parents get the results? Tuesday 8th July to schools. Once processed, results will go out with the reports. Reports will also contain Teacher Assessments

St.George’s Primary Reviews Sometimes we need to send papers back for re-marking. Returned to school by 5th September. We will inform you. Secondary school is automatically informed.

St.George’s Primary How is writing assessed at the end of Year 6? • No written test • Teacher Assessment and moderation • Use of APP criteria based on National Curriculum level descriptors.

What is moderation? St.George’s Primary Ongoing assessment Teachers make day-to-day professional judgements on children’s progress and attainment to inform next steps in learning. Standardisation A professional development activity where teachers secure their understanding of national curriculum levels of attainment. Where there are differences, teachers must review their judgements and align them with national standards. Teacher assessment Following standardisation, teachers make informed judgements about children’s levels of attainment with reference to the national curriculum level descriptions, supported by the exemplification materials and the revised criteria for writing. Writing is assessed every half term. School / cluster moderation With colleagues, teachers use the national curriculum level descriptions to review a selection of the judgements and supporting evidence to check their accuracy and consistency. Any disagreement must be resolved by reference to national exemplification materials to ensure that all judgements are in line with national standards and may require revisiting all previous teacher assessment judgements. External LA moderation Visits by LA external moderators to review teachers’ judgements, across the range of attainment (levels 2 – 6) to ensure that teacher assessments are accurate and in line with national standards. Teachers will discuss their judgements with the moderator with reference to a range of evidence for a sample of children.

St.George’s Primary What sort of writing is assessed? • Children’s exercise books and other examples of written work in a variety of forms and for a range of purposes and audiences, taken from the whole of Year 6. This should include ‘rough’ work as well as ‘finished’ examples. • Written work from other subjects as well as English, including cross-curricular projects. • Examples of children’s independent writing. • Other evidence which the school considers relevant, for example homework.

St.George’s Primary For the purpose of assessing the collections of writing, related assessment focuses have been drawn together into three strands: • sentence structure and punctuation (SSP) • text structure and organisation (TSO) • composition and effect (CE)

St.George’s Primary Standardisation Level 3 Pupils' writing is often organised, imaginative and clear. The main features of different forms of writing are used appropriately, beginning to be adapted to different readers. Sequences of sentences extend ideas logically and words are chosen for variety and interest. The basic grammatical structure of sentences is usually correct. Spelling is usually accurate, including that of common, polysyllabic words. Punctuation to mark sentences - full stops, capital letters and question marks - is used accurately. Handwriting is joined and legible.

St.George’s Primary Example Level 3 writing

St.George’s Primary Level 4 Pupils' writing in a range of forms is lively and thoughtful. Ideas are often sustained and developed in interesting ways and organised appropriatelyfor the purpose of the reader. Vocabulary choices are often adventurous and words are used for effect. Pupils are beginning to use grammatically complex sentences, extending meaning. Spelling, including that of polysyllabic words that conform to regular patterns, is generally accurate. Full stops, capital letters and question marks are used correctly, and pupils are beginning to use punctuation within the sentence. Handwriting style is fluent, joined and legible.

St.George’s Primary My life so far hasn’t gone that well, but thankfully it has improved – a lot. A couple of days ago this rich man who looked strangely familiar from the newspaper came round to ask me to be his companion on the Titanic! My senses are a blur. I am going on the Titanic as a first class passenger. On the way to the Quay – the man I’m going as a companion with told me his name (Jim) and that he was the richest man in England. Eventually we arrived at the Quay, with all its hustle and bustle, flags waving, bands playing and bunting flapping in the chilled air. And there it was the great enormous bulk of a ship. The unsinkable ship was here! The cheering was incredible, all I could hear was cheering! I could smell adventure. Suddenly the Titanic blew smoke from its funnels. Then I saw its paint shining in the golden sun. It was truly extraordinary... Example Level 4 writing

St.George’s Primary Level 5 Pupils' writing is varied and interesting, conveying meaning clearly in a range of forms for different readers, using a more formal style where appropriate. Vocabulary choices are imaginative and words are used precisely. Simple and complex sentences are organised into paragraphs. Words with complex regular patterns are usually spelt correctly. A range of punctuation, including commas, apostrophes and inverted commas, is usually used accurately. Handwriting is joined, clear and fluent and, where appropriate, is adapted to a range of tasks.

St.George’s Primary A Great Adventure Starts “Stop talking, and listen!” Shouted Gremdle, shaking his bony fist at the assembled company of dwarfs. There was silence. “It’s no use arguing among yourselves. We have to get that magic herb somehow. Taledon needs it to make his potions. The whole safety of the village depends on it.” The small crowd of dwarfs muttered reluctantly in approval, but still the question remained, who would face this ultimate challenge? Even if the herb was to flower this year, the previous seekers had been mesmerised by its vibrant colours and never returned. The cavern was now buzzing with activity as friends constantly each other that they could not possibly leave their families for that long period of time and may never return. Suddenly a tiny high pitched voice sounded through the packed cavern. “I’ll go! Let me get the herb!” Example Level 5 writing

St.George’s Primary Teacher Assessment APP Grid For Assessing Writing

St.George’s Primary School/Cluster Group moderations – using APP grid.

St.George’s Primary External moderation is statutory and gives confidence that teacher assessment judgements for key stage 2 writing are accurate and consistent with national standards. Local authorities are responsible for organising moderation visits for key stage 2 writing. Schools are responsible for ensuring that teacher assessment accurately reflects a child's attainment. External Local Authority Moderation.

St.George’s Primary Schools will receive an LA external moderation visit to review their key stage 2 writing teacher assessment judgements at least once every four years. During the visit LA external moderators will check teachers’ understanding of standards and look at children’s written work and other evidence from across the year. External Local Authority moderation.

St.George’s Primary Grammar, punctuation and spelling test Levels 3-5 The English grammar, punctuation and spelling test at levels 3-5 has two components, worth a total of 70 marks: • a booklet of short-answer questions • a spelling task

St.George’s Primary Grammar and punctuation. Paper 1, the short-answer questions, consists of between 40 and 50 questions assessing grammar, punctuation and vocabulary. Each question is worth one or two marks with a total for the paper of 50 marks. The questions are: • selected response items (such as multiple choice questions) or • short, open response items, in which children may have to write a word, a few words or a sentence.

St.George’s Primary Which pair of pronouns is best to complete the sentence below? The teacher split __________ into teams. __________ were batting; the other team was fielding. they Them us We her She them I Tick one box to show where the missing question mark should go. Sam asked, “Have I time to get popcorn” after he had bought his ticket.

St.George’s Primary Complete the sentences below using either I or me. I wanted my mum to watch ____ in the school play. After we went cycling, Emma and ____ were very tired. The teacher asked Tim and ____ to collect the books. Write a question beginning with the words below. How much ____________________________________________

St.George’s Primary What will the test cover? Over Easter your child will be bringing home two practice grammar tests to complete. Please make sure they try to complete one during the first week of the holiday the second the following week. They will also be given a glossary explaining terms used in the grammar test. There are still Grammar Revision Books available to purchase from the school office to help with revision of any of the areas in which your child needs further practice.

St.George’s Primary Spelling. Paper 2, the spelling task, consists of 20 sentences, which are read aloud by the test administrator. Each sentence has a word missing which the child must complete. The task is worth a total of 20 marks.

St.George’s Primary • Over Easter your child will be bringing home a sheet containing spellings taken from the English Programme of Study. • These have been grouped into sections to help your child revise strategies covered this year. • They include spellings taken from previous spelling tests and the words in bold have been repeated in more than one test.

St.George’s Primary • There are also a selection of Alfie tests on the SATs revision page of the school website to help revise different spelling rules. • The children will need to be able to hear the word being read aloud to them and then type the correct spelling into the box. St George’s Primary School

St.George’s Primary Reading Test Reading - Levels 3-5 Each question in the reading test is worth one, two or three marks with a total for the paper of 50 marks. The types of questions are:

St.George’s Primary Short answers A word or a phrase to answer the question. Several line answers A sentence or two is required.

St.George’s Primary Longer answers These are followed by a large box. A longer, more detailed explanation is needed.

St.George’s Primary Other answers No writing needed – a tick, line or circle is required.

St.George’s Primary The reading booklet was themed. The children would be given 15 minutes to read the text and 45 minutes to answer. This year, they won’t be separate reading and answering times. The text will start off easy and get harder as they progress through. The question format remains the same.

St.George’s Primary What are the children assessed on? Assessment focus 2 Assessment focus 3 "Woof! Woof!" questions Just like a dog retrieving a stick, we need to go to the text to find, pick up and use information quickly and accurately. "Hmm..." questions For these questions we are text detectives searching for clues so that we can comment on characters, motives, events and ideas.

St.George’s Primary What are the children assessed on? Assessment focus 4 "Sort it Sort it!" questions Assessment focus 5 Assessment focus 6 Imagine a tidy tray with everything in its place to help us find just what we want. For these questions, we are explaining how texts are organised to guide a reader, using correct names such as 'glossary, captions and sub-headings.' "Gabble, gabble!" questions "Write, write, yippee, boo hoo!" questions For these questions we need to think about and explain how writers use words and how particular words and phrases make a text more powerful. For these questions we are thinking about why the writer has written the text, what the writer thinks and what we as readers think about the text.

St.George’s Primary • There are a selection of Alfie Reading tests on the SATs revision page of the school website. • This will help the children understand the type of answers that some of the questions require. St George’s Primary School

St.George’s Primary Mathematics Levels 3-5 The Maths test consists of three papers: • a mental maths test • two 45 minute papers

St.George’s Primary Mental Paper Example 20 questions: 5 – five seconds 10 – 10 seconds 5 – fifteen seconds Revise on the Year 6 Maths Page of the school website. St George’s Primary School

St.George’s Primary Level 3 Question

St.George’s Primary Revise on the Year 6 SATS Revision Page of the school website. Easter Revision ‘10 4 10’ Every day there is ONE sheet to complete, with FIVE mental arithmetic and 3 to 4 SATs type questions. St George’s Primary School

St.George’s Primary Science • no formal science SATs for all, • ‘science sampling’ is being reintroduced • 9,500 children – five children from 1,500 schools • Schools that are selected will be notified by mid-May • legally obliged to participate if chosen • sampling test will comprise three papers, each of no more than 25 minutes • taken during two weeks from 2 June 2014 • results will only be published at a national level • won’t be used in league tables. • science sampling will take place every two years

St.George’s Primary