Do national curriculum levels still exist?

[christinarossetti]

I'm puzzled. I went to a meeting at my dc's primary school in which one of the SLT explained the assessment systems that the school is now using instead of the NC levels during the 'transition' year (except for Y2 and Y6 who are still being assessed under the old 'levels').

I got the impression that schools were no longer using NC levels for other years.

I was talking to 2 teacher friends last night and both said that their primary schools are still using the NC levels until they're directed to do something else.

What is the current situation? It seems a complete waste of time and resources for schools to buy in alternative assessment methods if they don't have to, but it's hardly a 'transition' if schools are using the same methods as previously.

[DoctorDonnaNoble]

Schools have been told it's up to them. We've moved on as levels weren't particularly helpful at KS3.
The problem is they were 'got rid of' but not replaced with anything.
I'd like to assume whole schools have a marking policy now that all staff keep to - however, I know it's not the case.

[Thatssofunny]

It depends on the school, I think. I've put a whole-school assessment system for my subject into place, which can be adapted to spit out any "level substitute" that SLT might come up with, is linked to all the new objectives and makes it possible to track individual student and whole-class performance from Year 1 to Year 6. It's independent from teachers' planning and means that teachers can adapt lessons to suit their topics or their own/their class' preferences. Other schools buy in planning and assessment packages...I know one of the schools close to us has.
For the moment, I think we are slightly in flux and slowly moving away from levels. We've not bought anything in, though. However, I teach Year 6 and still use levels.

[HaplessHousewife]

I think the problem with still using the old NC levels is that they don't incorporate the new curriculum that was brought in in September. My DD's school is developing it's own system which is based on the old system with the new curriculum added in.

But I believe some schools in our area are doing nothing and waiting to see if the government decides to do anything.

[mrz]

The current situation is that NC levels no longer exist as from September when a new curriculum was introduced. However Y2 & 6 are still following the old curriculum this year.

Schools have been told to devise their own assessment methods based upon the content of the new statutory curriculum but some have continued to use levels despite them not matching the content of the curriculum.

[christinarossetti]

Thanks all. Yes, I remember the deputy head talking about the new curriculum and the old levels not correlating, so that makes sense.

I guess in an election year it's even more difficult to know how the educational wind will blow by the autumn.