Have your schools told you anything about the new curriculum or plans for replacing levels?

[anamenotanumber]

I'm curious as ours hasn't even mentioned it. Are schools communicating about the new curriculum and what they are doing about assessment/ whether they are carrying on with levels?

Our school has the info about the new curriculum on its website but I'd be astonished if many people have looked at it. However, there are info evenings for next year which may convey some of it. Maybe?
No info yet about measuring without levels... Though I know they have plans on how to do it - but only know this because I'm a governor and have been involved in a related discussion.
So broadly - no, it hasn't really been communicated, but that doesn't mean it hasn't had loads of work done on it.

no we haven't been told anything yet - mind still not been told anything about the KS1 meals either so I suspect the school are tearing their hair out with it all added to report writing, mixing up classes, planning groups and so on.

I will be interested to see what they decide to do though.

Our LEA have told us today that levels are not going until Sept 2015 and we are to continue using them

Oh I wonder if the LEA knows something we don't?

"Assessment levels have now been removed and will not be replaced." government statement from March 2014

March 2014 is a long time ago in Gove-land. Plenty of time to have changed tack.

www.gov.uk/government/news/schools-win-funds-to-develop-and-share-new-ways-of-assessing-pupils

LEA have said it's advice that is new today and changing by the hour , so much so that the briefing given to deputies today was different to the one given to Heads last week

Everything about this Coalition in education has been rushed, ad hoc and had everyone running round like headless chicken. I have never worked under such incompetence from the DfE. It's absolutely ludicrous. Gove truly is the Back-of-a-fag-packet Education Secretary.

chickenS

Many schools have spent considerable sums on buying in alternative systems

It's definitely a different message to the one I received on Tuesday from a DfE spokesperson

mrz well that's an interesting read - who knew that levels were both vague AND complicated? .... Did I say vague, better repeat that in case you weren't clear

It's also interesting to see how many of these new schemes explicitly state they rely on tests, rather than day to day assessments, to give a score, percentage or whatever.

Certainly it smells strongly of spin and sales pitch to me.

Who knows, mrz? Could well be that that is just our LEAs advice because they say so - deputy was quite convinced re Sept 2015 though.

There's nothing certain in education

I've given up asking what I should be doing to prepare. Just getting fobbed off by SMT, presumably because they know nothing either.

Let's just hope OFSTED don't come calling any time soon.

I still don't see what was wrong with levels really. They aren't confusing for parents if given basic info.

I suspect that the new system will make it harder to compare schools, thus reducing the issue with everyone wanting to send their children to high achieving schools.

I'm not quite sure why I think this, maybe it's something I read ...

mrz
do you know how will KS1 and KS2 SATS be compared in the future???

Will direct comparisons be possible if schools are using different systems for measuring progress?

Will SATS be reported from the tests alone, or will teacher assessments still apply?

Children now in Y1 and Y5 will be assessed under the old system next summer but there will be new tests in 2016 (7 for KS1 including SPaG) the results will be given as a scaled score