The government published arrangements for national checks or tests for pupils in Years 1, 2 and 6 to help schools, today:

• DfE Press release, extra measures to support students ahead of next summers exams, 3 December

 

Year 1 and 2 phonics screening checks will take place at the end of the summer term, as usual.

• This is important because pupils need to learn to match letters to sounds. The vast majority of pupils at Fielding 'pass' every year, year-on-year.
• This year, our teachers are working hard to help those who need it to catch-up.

 

Year 6, end of key-stage 2 tests (known as SATs) in reading and maths will take place in May, as usual.

• This is important so that secondary schools know how well each of our Year 6 pupils has done at the end of primary school.

 

All schools have been given an extra week to administer these checks and tests.

• This is helpful because it should mean all pupils can take part, even if they have been forced to self-isolate.

 

Teacher assessment, at the end of the key-stage, for Year 2 and Year 6 pupils remains the same.

• Our teachers will continue to assess pupils in our usual ways.

 

Year 2, end of key-stage 1 tests in reading and maths are cancelled.

• The government has said that these tests will stop from 2022/23 anyway.
• We always use a combination of test and teacher assessment to help us know how well our Year 2 pupils are doing in reading and maths.
• No big impact for us.

 

Year 6, end of key-stage 2 test in grammar, punctuation and spelling is cancelled.

• We will continue to teach grammar, punctuation and spelling because it is essential for writing. We avoid 'teaching to the test'. Writing continues to be teacher assessed in the usual way.
• We may test our children anyway so that we know how well they are doing. This also helps us to know what we teach well and where we might need to improve.
• No big impact for us.

 

School performance tables for this school year (sometimes known as 'league tables') will not have any test results published.

• Parents will not be able to compare schools using pupil performance information on the government website.
• We will publish our results anyway so parents can see how well are doing as a school.

 

Ofsted inspections suspended until April (was January).

• From September, the government decided that all 'outstanding' schools are no longer exempt from routine inspection. We welcomed this change.
• Our next routine inspection is not due for a few years. All schools only get 1 day's notice from Ofsted of their inspection.
• We will continue to check the quality of our work and report this to the Governing Board. This helps us continue to improve all the time.