introducing climbing frames a comprehensive tool to monitor pupil progress
TRANSCRIPT
Introducing Climbing Frames
Assessing pupil progress under the new National Curriculum
Climbing Frames? Tell me more
How is assessment changing? What is Climbing Frames? How does Climbing Frames relate to the new National
Curriculum? Will Climbing Frames meet Ofsted’s scrutiny? What is included in Climbing Frames? How will Climbing Frames help me track pupil
progress? What data will I get from Climbing Frames? How else will the Climbing Frames app help me? Can I see an example?
How is assessment changing?
From ToSkills and processes KnowledgePersonal progress End-of-key stage objectivesBest-fit judgements Can/can’t assessmentsNational scheme Local internal assessment
Internal assessment
Your responsibility now.
Track pupils so that you know who is on, ahead or falling behind expectations, enough to be able to intervene and set them back on course in a timely fashion.
What is Climbing Frames?
Subject assessment frames organised in steps that correspond closely to the years of the NC.
Accompanying reports allow you to monitor the acquisition of annual objectives but also to recognise progress that exceeds or falls short of this.
Can be used like Assessing Pupil Progress (APP) to measure attainment and progress every half term.
Benefits
Identifies who is on, above and falling off trajectory in enough detail to do something about it
Gives your SLT useful data about individuals, classes, subjects and cohorts
Is manageable Is affordable Is inclusive Addresses the new National Curriculum Satisfies Ofsted Is consistent with NAHT and STA guidelines
How does Climbing Frames relate to the new National Curriculum?
The content and wording of the assessment frames have been kept as close as possible to the wording in the NC
The objectives have been adjusted to allow you to assess them more easily
They have been condensed, simplified and prioritised to avoid an unmanageable workload
Will Climbing Frames meet Ofsted’s scrutiny?
Our scheme satisfies Ofsted's scrutiny because:
It measures attainment and progress against age-related expectations laid down in the NC
It monitors pupil progress with great sensitivity e.g. each half-term, unlike one-off tests
It quickly alerts teachers to slow progress or disappointing attainment
It provides a level of detail that helps teachers to diagnose and target curriculum topics, cohorts and groups
It offers consistency of assessment across subjects and years It also covers pre-levels, so a truly universal scheme It offers management information It gives useful reporting to parents
What is included in Climbing Frames?
It covers all NC subjects
Frames are provided for all National
Curriculum core and foundation subjects in
Key Stages 1-3.
Local RE syllabus can be added.
EnglishMathematicsScienceHistory GeographyArt & DesignDesign & TechnologyComputingPEModern Foreign Languages
It offers closer monitoring in the core subjects
The core subjects are split into strands and sub-strands for finer grained assessment.
It includes pre-levels
Five pre-levels suitable for pupils
with SEN.
They cover P-scales and the gap which
has opened up between P-scales and the new NC.
PRE-LEVELS
Experience stage
Responsive stage
Interactive stage
Engagement stage
Insight stage
Pre-levels are sized to be the equivalent of annual steps for other pupils
They offer equality of progress measures.
Developmental rather than numerical frameworks are more meaningful.
You can convert between P-scales and pre-levels.
It includes frames for thinking and learning skills
1. Seeking and keeping ideas 2. Thinking critically 3. Working with others4. Using reflection and feedback loops 5. Solving problems 6. Flexing the imagination7. Building models and theories 8. Thinking for the future
It includes access to the Climbing Frames app
Record assessments on tablets, laptops
and PCs.
Crunch the numbers.
Generate in-depth analysis.
Management information comes in easy-to-read formats
Data summaries adapted for each subject
Analyse individual, class and cohort attainment and progress
Simple colour-coded reports
App makes it easy to print and share with pupils and parents
How will Climbing Frames help me track pupil progress?
A three-step plan
Climbing Frames picks up changes with greater sensitivity than old levels
Most pupils will typically progress three steps in the school year, compared with two in old levels
These steps are colour-coded – yellow (c), orange (b) and green (a) – and tied to the year number
They work like a, b and c did in old levels
The teacher makes a periodic assessment of each pupil against the year’s objectives…
Teaching has not yet started, or the child is still working on previous years’ objectives
Early but clear progress made
A good basic level of attainment reached
Secure and consistent attainment reached in virtually all objectives
Alert! Very low attainment or very slow progress
C
B
A
..and adds this to the pupil record
Typical expected progress over a year
Christmas
Made a good start on the year’s
objectives
Easter
Most objectives secured, even if
not yet consistent
Summer
Virtually all objectives secured
and consistent
More insightful than a tick list
Other schemes just rely on tick lists (got it/not got it).
Climbing Frames monitors progress towards mastery to allow for intervention during the year.
Calculating progress
Calculate progress by counting the steps made from the start of the year to the current point.
And across larger strands…You can make a balanced judgement, weighing the sub-strands to arrive at a fair average mark.
Children who are ahead
Rashid is a high-flier in Mathematics.
He starts Year 5 already achieving well against the new year’s objectives and soon completes them.
5b 5a
5b 5b 5a
Children who are ahead
Rashid’s teacher now moves him on to cover the Year 6 objectives.
His green status does not change, but the numbers in the box give him credit for his raised attainment.
5b 5a
5b 5b 5a
Children who are falling off trajectoryA clear box signals to the teacher that the child has not yet reached c in the current year.
It should always contain the letter and number of the last step achieved.
Peter starts Year 4 on target in Composition.
But by Spring half-term, he has not reached the expected step – 4b.
Children who are falling off trajectory
Red alerts! Children who are behind
By the end of Spring term, Peter has been working at the same level for four half-terms.
He is therefore flagged with a red alert for slow progress, highlighting a need for intervention.
Red alerts also flag children who are three or more steps behind, thus trailing by one year or more:
Peter begins Year 4 on a 2a in Grammar, punctuation and vocabulary, when he should be working at a 3a. He is therefore flagged with a red alert for low attainment.
Red alerts! Children who are behind
Children who are behind
Many pupils with low attainment nonetheless make good progress:
By the end of Year 4, Peter has reached 4b in Grammar, punctuation and vocabulary. Not quite green, but an impressive leap of 5 steps forward.
What data will I get from Climbing Frames?
Data can be captured and presented at individual level…
Rachel4AYear 424/04 (End of Spring term)
+3+2+2+2
+2+2+1
Since September
+2+2+3+2
4c4c
4b
N/AN/A
4a5c
4b4a
4b4b4b
4a
N/AN/A
…at class level
…and at cohort level
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Not yet reached c c b a Working on next year'sobjectives
Nu
mb
er
of
pu
pils
Attainment against this year's objectives
Year 3 attainment in maths (Summer term)
How else will the Climbing Frames app help me?
Fast, effective reporting
Saves time on assessment admin Easy and intuitive to use Automated colour-coding gives
at-a-glance progress reports Ensures accuracy Easier to share with parents,
pastoral tutors and your leadership team
Ensures consistency of assessment throughout school
More in-depth analysis
Filters by pupil characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, SEN, EAL and Pupil Premium
Facilitates swifter and more effective interventions
Helps offer support at individual level for teachers and children
Helps make evidence-based decisions
Provides meaningful data for Ofsted
Pupil Premium
Students Only
EAL Students Only
SEN Students Only
FSM Students Only
Overviews of relevant teaching approaches
The app links every sub-strand in the assessment frameworks for maths, English and science to a series of multi-point summaries
These summaries provide an overview of the key issues teachers need to address if they wish to improve on this area
They include teaching approaches, links to thinking skills and opportunities to make links across the curriculum
In the future, we hope to add summaries to every subject area in the app
Click here to view a sample multi-point teaching summary
Links to expert CPD resources
The app also links to in-depth articles and resources from the acclaimed Teaching Times Best Practice Library
Articles focus on teaching approaches and practical advice
Resources include themed lesson plans, cross-curricular classroom activities and webquests
Also features links to carefully selected external resources
Example assessment frame
English
Key Stages 1 and 2
About Sue Hackman
Sue Hackman was the Chief Adviser on School Standards to several Secretaries of State at the DfE between 2006 and 2013.
She was responsible for accountability, assessment, inspection, school improvement, pedagogy, catch-up programmes, international policy and deprivation, as well as the core subjects.
Prior to joining the department, she was a National Director of the National Strategies under the last government.
Sue was a teacher for many years, and her experience spans all key stages.
As well as being a local government adviser, she is an experienced school inspector and a well-known writer with over 90 titles.
Her assessment experience includes roles as a moderator, syllabus writer and chief examiner.
www.climbingframes.org.uk
Tel: (0121) 224 7599Fax: (0121) 224 7598
Email: [email protected]
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