Statutory national curriculum assessments (SATs)
New tests at Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 to reflect the high expectations within the new curriculum for 2016/17.
Statutory Assessment Key Stage One
Statutory National Curriculum tests taken at the end of Year 2
National curriculum tests at the end of KS1 are designed to test children's knowledge and understanding of specific elements of the key stage programmes of study. They provide a snapshot of a child's attainment at the end of the key stage.
Tests taken are in English reading, grammar, punctuation and spelling, and mathematics.
Teacher assessment
Main focus for the end of KS1 - English reading, English writing, mathematics and science. English reading, English writing and mathematics are subject to external moderation.
The phonics screening check
Designed to confirm whether individual children have learnt phonic decoding to an appropriate standard. It helps schools to identify any children who need extra help to improve their reading skills.
Statutory Assessment Key Stage Two
Statutory National Curriculum tests taken at the end of Year 6.
National curriculum tests and tasks at the end of KS1 and 2 are designed to test children's knowledge and understanding of specific elements of the key stage programmes of study. They provide a snapshot of a child's attainment at the end of the key stage.
Tests taken are in English reading, grammar, punctuation and spelling, and Mathematics.
Science - biannual statutory sample testing conducted by representatives of STA - externally marked.
Writing is assessed through teacher assessment which is externally moderated.
Statutory Moderation Key Stage 1 and 2
External moderation is statutory and is intended to give confidence and confirm that teacher assessment judgements are accurate and consistent with national standards, and if not how schools must change it. It helps to ensure that teacher assessment results are robust and credible, fair for children, and are useful to schools and others who evaluate children's performance and progress.
There is a continuous programme of moderation in place within the LA and schools are moderated on at least a four-year cycle. Other criteria include:
- Standards and Testing Agency request
- New to Year 2 or Year 6
- Newly Qualified Teachers
- Inaccurate assessment data
- Schools causing concern
A minimum of 25 per cent of schools are moderated each year. This includes academies.
Statutory Moderation KS1 and KS2 Appeals Process
Moderation of teacher assessment at the end of KS1 of reading, writing and maths and for writing at the end of KS2 is a statutory requirement carried out by the Local Authority, on behalf of the Standards and Testing Agency (STA), to establish the accuracy of teachers’ judgements. The moderator’s role is to scrutinise the evidence presented and validate each judgement within the sample against the standards within the STA ‘interim TA framework’ and the national exemplification materials.
Should a school disagree with the outcome of the moderator’s judgement they can commence the appeal procedure.
Stage 1
If, after detailed explanation and discussion with the moderator, a school does not agree with the moderator's judgements, the moderator will inform the Local Authority (LA) Moderator Manager. The Headteacher of the moderated school should also contact the Moderation Manager to discuss their concerns and reasons for challenging the moderator judgement. The headteacher may request further clarification, further support or training or may formally request to appeal against the moderator’s judgement. This should be done on the day of the visit, or as soon as possible after the moderation visit. The moderation manager will take appropriate action to resolve issues in the first instance.
Stage 2
Should an appeal be requested, a formal re-visit will be arranged by the moderation manager to review the evidence previously presented. The school must be confident they have sufficient evidence to support their appeal claim as the second moderation team will only look at the evidence the initial moderator/s used to validate their initial judgement (this evidence will be noted in a detailed visit report). Any concerns raised by the moderator or the school will be treated as confidential by the moderation manager and will not be shared with the team assigned to re-visit. The re-visit will be conducted by a team of 2 moderators who will have had no contact with the initial moderator/s to avoid tainting of judgement.
Following the re-moderation visit, feedback will be provided to the headteacher/senior leadership and the Year 2/Year 6 teacher. If the second moderation team agrees with the school, the judgements of the school stand; if they agree with the original moderator/s judgements, their judgements stand. In the event that the original moderator judgements stand the school will be required to reconsider its judgements of the standard/s in question and the second moderation team may request further samples of that standard/s to be made available.
Stage 3
Should the headteacher disagree with the judgement from second moderation team and the dispute continues, the moderation manager will arrange for a further moderation team from a neighbouring Local Authority to review the evidence. This team will comprise of the neighbouring LA moderation manager and a moderator with the Wakefield moderation manager in attendance and their decision will be final.
The final judgement will be reported back to the headteacher.
If you have any queries about the appeals procedure please contact Jaqui Spedding, email jspedding@wakefield.gov.uk