Year 3 writing assessment; can the teacher choose what topic or are there standard subjects for different years?

[Iamnotminterested]

Just wondering. It sounds as though from what she has told me they have written about their current topic, however that could be pure co-incidence.

Anyone know

It depends on what the school uses.

The QCA past paper I've always done is about making treasure maps and designing a new play area for the playground.

This year my school is setting the same task to all year groups so we can cross moderate levels.

No treasure maps or play areas mentioned. Thanks anyway.

You can choose to use QCA or design an assessment task from other sources as they are non-statutory in Y3.

And any teacher assessment given should be judged across a range of pieces, not just one - as in Y2 and now Y6 (yay!)

Hmmm. Apparantly their reading paper was about treasure, or treasure maps, or something to do with treasure, but juniper904 you said that was writing??

QCA it's both, the reading is about treasure maps, the longer writing is about asking your head teacher to run a treasure hunt with explanations of how to organise it and the sort of elements that could be included.

Do you know what level/year it is aimed at?? Thanks.

It's the Y3 QCA. Y4 is all about Antarctica.

the majority of schools don't use the QCA any more, or as a part of an overall teacher's assessment of the child. So if a parent gets hold of the paper, crams the child and they get every mark going, it still won't nullify the teacher's knowledge of the child's ability built up over the year.

Now the Antarctica one does ring a bell, thinks she's done that too .
One last question, what is the level range on a y3 paper then? What is the highest a child could get on one?

Umm I think it's a low level 4 for the reading.
Depends what criteria you use to mark the writing, we use a much tougher checklist than the QCA to mark all our writing.

Thanks; so presumably if a year 3 paper can be marked to as high as a 4c - b?? - there must be a lot of overlap of levels on the KS2 papers?

Year 3 reading and writing tests range from a 2c to level 4 ( no sublevels), year 4 tests from a 2c to level 4 and year 5 from a 3c to a level 5. The maths papers are different, year 3 from 2b to 4 ( no sublevel), year 4 from 2a to 4a and year 5 from 3c to 5b.

Thanks snowball3 I never knew that. So the year 3 and 4 tests have the same range of levels? That's a bit odd, surely?

yes, not sure why, it does seem peculiar!
Anothe problem area is the lack of sublevels in level 4. Some teachers assume that the top third of marks would be a level 4a, the next third 4b and then finally 4c. But this isn't necessarily so. If the questions aren't level 4a ones then no amount of getting them right makes you a 4a!

Well, it covers three levels, 2c to 4c which is about 5 years of school. years. One piece of evidence though, you need a lot more to prove a child is the level you attribute. That's why differentiation is essential and a PITA, you can have children from a level W to a level 4 in the same year group.

I have from level 2 to level 7 in my class

Sorry, that sounds as if I teach year 3 and have level 2 to 7! ( I have year 5's)

Can you do the splits too?
Whilst juggling fireballs, an OFSTED inspector and a mother of a PFB?

I am that mother of the PFB? She's not a first-born.

But 4c seems quite restrictive for a year 3??

Not at all!
You are just interested in the mechanics of the thing.

These are some of the criteria used in APP to decide if a child is a level 4, the more you get the closer to a 4a. We have to find at least three pieces of evidence for each point in order to give it.
You really couldn't get a secure level on one reading paper.

AF1 ? use a range of strategies, including accurate decoding of text, to read for meaning

AF2 ? understand, describe, select or retrieve information, events or ideas from texts and use quotation and reference to text
some relevant points identified
comments supported by some generally relevant textual reference or
quotation

AF3 ? deduce, infer or interpret information, events or ideas from texts
comments make inferences based on evidence from different points in the text,
inferences often correct, but comments are not always rooted securely in the text or repeat narrative or content

AF4 ? identify and comment on the structure and organisation of texts, including grammatical and presentational features at text level
some structural choices identified with simple comment,

some basic features of organisation
at text level identified,

AF5 ? explain and comment on writers? use of language, including
grammatical and literary features at word and sentence level
some basic features of writer?s use of language identified,
simple comments on writer?s choices,

AF6 ? identify and comment on writers? purposes and viewpoints,
and the overall effect of the text on the reader
main purpose identified,

simple comments show some awareness of writer?s viewpoint,
simple comment on overall effect on reader,

AF7 ? relate texts to their social, cultural and historical traditions
features common to different texts or
versions of the same text identified, with simple comment,
simple comment on the effect that the reader?s or writer?s context has on the meaning of texts

If they were working above this ( and a test paper was needed to support a teacher judgement) they would sit a year 5 or 6 paper in my school to identify a sub level for tracking purposes. But as year 3/4/5 papers are "optional" then a test paper isn't needed in theory!

God, It's confusing!!