England: For interest, 2016 teacher assessment exemplification for Key Stage 1 English writing, & KS 2 developments

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Debbie_Hepplewhite
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England: For interest, 2016 teacher assessment exemplification for Key Stage 1 English writing, & KS 2 developments

Post by Debbie_Hepplewhite »

This may be of interest to show expected standards for writing and how teachers are guided to assess writing in Key Stage One (5 to 7 year olds) in England:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... sh-writing
Guidance

2016 teacher assessment exemplification: KS1 English writing

From:
Standards and Testing AgencyFirst published: 8 February 2016

Exemplification material for English writing to support accurate teacher assessment at the end of key stage 1 in 2016.
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Debbie_Hepplewhite
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Re: England: For general interest, 2016 teacher assessment exemplification for Key Stage 1 English writing

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I agree with Ben Fuller:
Key Stage 1 changes take writing back to the 19th century
http://schoolsweek.co.uk/key-stage-1-ch ... h-century/
While there were some positive aspects to this day, such as the STA’s encouragingly broad definition of independent writing, there was one particular message that has caused some concern – the fact that moderators will need to see evidence of seven-year-old children using a very specific definition of “exclamation sentences” in their writing to be judged to be working at the expected standard.

The definition of an “exclamation sentence” being applied is that it must start with either “how” or “what” and, to be a full sentence, must include a verb.

So, an exclamation such as “How amazing!” would not count. It would need the addition of a verb (e.g. “How amazing it was!”) to qualify. Not exactly common parlance for your average 21st century seven-year-old.
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Re: England: For general interest, 2016 teacher assessment exemplification for Key Stage 1 English writing

Post by Debbie_Hepplewhite »

Here is a posting in response to the Key Stage One (Year Two) teacher assessments - I agree entirely with the worries described here and so have left a comment to that effect:

https://pedfed.wordpress.com/2016/02/16 ... omment-349
THE WORK NECESSARY TO COMPLETE TEACHER ASSESSMENT IN JUNE IS LAUGHABLY UNREALISTIC AND WILL DESTROY TEACHERS.
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Debbie_Hepplewhite
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Re: England: For general interest, 2016 teacher assessment exemplification for Key Stage 1 English writing

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More comments, this time by Mary Bousted, on the mathematical realites of teacher assessment for Key Stage Two this time:

https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/br ... idity-over
'Like a horror show: It is difficult to comprehend the government's stupidity over testing in schools'
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Debbie_Hepplewhite
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Re: England: For general interest, 2016 teacher assessment exemplification for Key Stage 1 English writing

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Further developments re the Key Stage 2 teacher assessments flagged up in the Times Educational Supplement:

https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/br ... troversial
Minister gives way to heads' ultimatum by relaxing deadlines for controversial new primary assessments
Ministers have moved back the deadlines for the submission of key stage 1 and 2 teacher assessments until the end of June, following complaints about the new system from heads and classroom unions.

As TES revealed last night, the NAHT heads’ union had issued an ultimatum warning that if the Department for Education did not make a “dramatic change” by the end of this week, its members would “act to protect pupils and schools.”

Now schools minister Nick Gibb has written to the association saying he will “for one year only” relax the deadlines, which had been 13 June for KS1 and 22 May for KS2.

He said that he had made the change “in recognition of the unique circumstance of teachers working with a new framework to new standards”.

NAHT general secretary Russell Hobby, welcomed the change saying: "This is in response to NAHT members’ concerns that the changes proposed so late in the day placed unachievable demands on both teachers and pupils. We advise members to teach as they normally would to the standard they were promised.”
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Re: England: For general interest, 2016 teacher assessment exemplification for Key Stage 1 English writing

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Here is an open letter to Nicky Morgan, Secretary of State for Education, about the expected standards for Year 6 in England:
One primary teacher's open letter to the government: 'The standards expected are now untenable'

Emily Gazzard
24th February 2016
https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/br ... pected-are
The publication of the new primary assessment materials was the straw that broke the camel's back for this English coordinator. She decided she had to write an open letter to education secretary Nicky Morgan

Dear Nicky Morgan

I have been considering writing to you for some time and have decided, in the light of the publication of the exemplification materials by the Department for Education that I cannot leave it any longer. I am writing to complain about the standards now expected of Year 6 pupils at the end of key stage 2. I had hoped that your recent video on Twitter would address some of my concerns and queries, but unfortunately it has compounded them. In this letter, I will raise all of my concerns relating to this topic and would very much appreciate you sharing your responses with me.

I am currently an English lead at an outstanding three form-entry primary school in London. We have consistently outstanding attainment and value added at KS2. I have led English in a variety of schools since 2001, have worked as an expert literacy teacher in Tower Hamlets and also as a local authority moderator. As an English specialist I feel passionately that children need to learn to read and write with fluency before moving onto secondary school. I have seen many government-led changes: national literacy strategy, primary strategy, the Year 6 grammar test, the 2014 new curriculum and abandonment of national curriculum levels. I have worked with all these but feel that the situation we have reached now is untenable. This is primarily because the standards expected are unrealistic.
Do read the whole letter.

I have a lot of sympathy with the contents of this letter.

In the endeavour to raise standards, it is possible to go from one extreme to the other. This may well be the reality in England.
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Re: England: For interest, 2016 teacher assessment exemplification for Key Stage 1 English writing, & KS 2 developments

Post by Debbie_Hepplewhite »

There has been quite a furore over the use of the exclamation mark and the definition of exclamation sentences in England. Here is the latest guidance providing some clarity regarding exclamations and the use of the exclamation mark for punctuation:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... idance.pdf
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Re: England: For interest, 2016 teacher assessment exemplification for Key Stage 1 English writing, & KS 2 developments

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Nick Gibb speaks out about the much-loved exclamation mark and its use...

https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/br ... tion-marks
Nick Gibb: 'Apparently, I want to stop children using exclamation marks: what a misunderstanding!'
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Re: England: For interest, 2016 teacher assessment exemplification for Key Stage 1 English writing, & KS 2 developments

Post by Debbie_Hepplewhite »

Michael Tidd provides videos for parents about the Key Stage One and Key Stage Two national tests in England (plus other free, useful resources for teachers and for any parents interested in aspects of the primary curriculum:

https://michaelt1979.wordpress.com/freeresources/
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Re: England: For interest, 2016 teacher assessment exemplification for Key Stage 1 English writing, & KS 2 developments

Post by Debbie_Hepplewhite »

Thanks to Susan Godsland for flagging up this really interesting piece relevant to the current outcry about over-testing in primary schools in England:

http://educationmediacentre.org/blog/sp ... ats-tests/
SPaG – a brief history of the teaching of spelling, punctuation & grammar + the SATs tests

Next week children aged 10 and 11 will sit two papers to test their knowledge of English spelling, punctuation and grammar. The tests have been surrounded by criticism. Here Professor Richard Hudson, Fellow of the British Academy and Emeritus Professor of Linguistics at UCL gives a brief history of the teaching of grammar in primary schools and analyses the comments surrounding the SPaG tests.
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