Supporting transition from the current arrangements to Curriculum for Wales

Introduction

To help schools and settings plan their implementation of the Curriculum for Wales this section provides information in relation to what schools should do to support learners under the outgoing assessment arrangements until the Curriculum for Wales roll-out reaches the relevant year groups.

Further information on curriculum implementation planning can be found in the 'expectations for ongoing curriculum development and review' section of this Curriculum for Wales Framework guidance.

School assessment arrangements from summer term, 2023

Communicating to parents and carers: arrangements from 2023

The provision of headteacher written reports, in respect of all learners in maintained schools including PRUs, remains a statutory requirement for those schools who have not yet rolled out the Curriculum for Wales for relevant year groups. For those year groups operating under the Curriculum for Wales, there is a duty on the head teacher to make arrangements to provide information on the annual progress of learners. The headteacher determines the most appropriate form with which to provide information to parents and carers and the timing of its provision.

Headteachers of maintained schools working to the 2008 Curriculum for Year 9 are still required to report to parents and carers on teacher assessment outcomes at the end of Key Stage 3 (the only exception being with regards to outcomes at the end of Key Stage 3 in special schools). Headteachers will also still be required to report on qualifications, or parts of qualifications, obtained by learners.

The statutory requirements for sharing information with parents and carers can be found in the summary of legislation section of this Curriculum for Wales guidance.

In terms of individual learner information, schools and settings must share information with parents and carers about:

the progress their child is making
their future progression needs
how future progression needs can be supported at home
their general well-being in school

Sharing individual learner information with parents and carers must be done at least termly and need not be contained in large written reports but fed back in the best format determined by the head teacher. This should be in an accessible manner which both maximises parents’ and carers’ engagement and understanding.

A summary of individual learner information should be provided annually, the timing and format of which will be determined by the head teacher but which best supports the learner’s progress.

To confirm requirements for assessing Key Stage 3 learners as Curriculum for Wales rolls out

Supporting progression for each individual learner is the focus of ongoing assessment in a day-to-day context. Certain assessment arrangements will remain in place for Key Stage 3 learners being taught under the current National Curriculum, until Curriculum for Wales roll-out reaches Year 9 in September 2024. This section clarifies what is and isn’t required as part of these arrangements.

For Key Stage 3 learners taught under the 2008 National Curriculum, schools must continue to do the following:

Support learners through ongoing classroom assessment to make effective progress across the current curriculum. This includes supporting progress in literacy and numeracy (using the ‘National Literacy and Numeracy Framework’).
Ensure that learners in all year groups within Key Stage 3 still following the 2008 arrangements, and all learners moving to Curriculum for Wales, take personalised assessments in Reading, Numeracy (Procedural) and Numeracy (Reasoning) in accordance with the current administration handbook. These statutory assessments are available throughout the academic year for schools to schedule at a time they consider most beneficial to support learning, teaching and progression.
Except for special schools, undertake end of Key Stage 3 teacher assessments.
Except for special schools, report teacher assessment outcomes for end of Key Stage 3 to the local authority.

These arrangements allow some flexibility for schools.

When planning assessment to support Key Stage 3 learners, please keep in mind that:

all schools, except for special schools, are only required to assess and report on learners’ attainment against National Curriculum level descriptors at the end of the key stage namely in the summer term of Year 9 (no later than 20 working days before the end of term)
practitioners can draw on evidence gathered previously to support this process
during the key stage, practitioners should only draw on the level descriptors included in the programmes of study to inform learning and teaching and help support Key Stage 3 learners to make progress. Practitioners are not required to assess learners directly against levels during the key stage.
There is no requirement to allocate ‘sub-levels’ to a learner or to a piece of work during, or at the end of, the key stage.

In relation to day-to-day learning and teaching and supporting learners to make progress, practitioners can draw on the approach to assessment outlined in 'Supporting learner progression: assessment guidance' should they wish.

Ensuring consistency in end of Key Stage 3 assessments

With the removal of requirements to moderate end of Key Stage 3 assessments to create more flexibility for secondary schools, we strongly advise that practitioners ensure a consistent approach for their learners. This does not mean that a separate process should be put in place, but rather that practitioners participate in professional discussions within the school to ensure consistency in the way learners are assessed and levels are awarded at the end of Key Stage 3.

To support these discussions, practitioners may wish to refer to the guidance provided for national curriculum subjects. Each document includes examples of learners’ work to exemplify the descriptions outlined in the level descriptors and illustrate how to use them to provide learners with an end of Key Stage 3 level.

Preparing for Curriculum for Wales roll-out

As schools and settings prepare for the introduction of Curriculum for Wales, this section provides additional information to what is outlined in ‘Supporting learner progression: assessment guidance’ to support their planning. Further practical supporting materials for curriculum, assessment and evaluating learner progress are now available.

On-entry assessment arrangements

Under Curriculum for Wales, the on-entry assessment arrangements will be an important part of a school or setting’s overall assessment arrangements to plan and appropriately support a learner to make progress within a curriculum.

To support this, under the new arrangements, schools and settings must:

make and implement assessment arrangements which help build a picture of the learner’s abilities and aptitudes in respect of the school’s or setting’s curriculum
implement the assessments for newly-registered learners at a school or setting (except for Year 6 learners transitioning to Year 7), recognising that children and learners enter schools and settings at different points across the 3 to 16 continuum
undertake the assessments within 6 weeks of a learner entering a school or setting to support understanding from the very beginning of a learner’s journey
use the outcomes of the assessments to plan next steps and tailor learning and teaching to enable progress.

To ensure schools and settings have the flexibility to align their on-entry assessment arrangements with their curriculum, it will be for schools and settings to determine the detail of these assessment arrangements. However, the assessments must:

be suitable for learners of differing ages, abilities and aptitudes
support numeracy skills
support literacy skills
support the physical, social and emotional development of children and learners

For those learners transitioning from Year 6 to Year 7, information to support their progress along the continuum of learning should be transferred as part of transition arrangements put in place between primary and secondary schools. Effective collaboration across primary and secondary schools is therefore key to support a smooth learning journey along the 3 to 16 continuum.

Developing a shared understanding of progression

Reflecting the fundamental role of progression within Curriculum for Wales, the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language brought forward a Direction relating to developing and maintaining a shared understanding of progression in June 2022 which requires school and setting leaders to put arrangements in place to enable practitioners to engage in professional dialogue to develop a shared understanding of progression. The expectations for these arrangements can be found in the 'Supporting learner progression: assessment guidance'.

To prepare for this approach, schools and settings should:

continue to develop their approach to progression, ensuring that it reflects the principles of progression for Curriculum for Wales
build on existing relationships and arrangements within and between schools and settings to enable these discussions between practitioners to take place and establish new relationships if appropriate.

Requirements to make transition plans

The Transition from Primary to Secondary School (Wales) Regulations 2022 (‘2022 regulations’) came into force on 1 July 2022, and require governing bodies of secondary schools and their feeder primary schools to draw up new transition plans to support the transition of Year 6 learners to Year 7 in the 2022 to 2023 academic year, with new transition plans in place by September 2022. These regulations replaced and revoked the previous Transition from Primary to Secondary School (Wales) Regulations 2006.

Further guidance and supporting materials to facilitate the development of transition plans were made available in the 2022 Autumn term.