The education system in England is going through rapid and fundamental change.  Not only is the way in which schools are funded and run changing, (with new Academies, Free Schools, Multi Academy Trusts, Teaching Schools), the curriculum is also being reviewed and changed.  At the same time, the expectations for what children at certain stages should know and be able to do have increased significantly.

This year will see the introduction of significant changes in:

• the way children are tested and assessed at the end of Year 2 and Year 6
• what children are expected to know and to be able to do and the standards they are expected to achieve
• the way this is measured and reported to you as parents

National Curriculum levels will no longer be used (e.g. Level 1, 2A, 2B, 2C or 3 at the end of Year 2 and Level 3, 4 or 5 at the end of Year 6).  These are to be replaced with standardised scores based on the results and marks from all of the children taking the tests each year across the country.

Each year the government will set the expected standard which will be a score of 100 with some pupils ranked below and some above.  We will have to report this score to parents.

The tests this year will include elements of the new National Curriculum which will only have been taught since September 2014 when it was introduced.

• the current Year 6 will have been following this curriculum for only two years, not four
• the new curriculum for Maths and parts of English contain many elements that were previously taught in older year groups or in secondary school
• there has been a similar increase in expectations in each of the other year groups (not just Year 6)

We will report your child’s progress this summer and tell you whether your child is at, above or below the expected standard for their age.  As a result of the changes some pupils who would previously have reached the expected standards may now be judged as working towards them.

We will keep you up to date as and when decisions on any further changes are made.

This information is based on one by the Headteachers of primary schools in Kendal Collaborative Partnership.