There are several statutory assessments that your child will participate in during their time in primary school:

• Reception -  Reception baseline assessment (RBA)
• Year 1 - Phonics screening check
• Year 4 - Multiplication tables check (MTC) 
• Year 6- Key stage 2 statutory assessment tests (SATs)

*  KS 1 SATs - statutory testing in Year 2 (SATs) has now ceased. 

The information below provides information to parents about  each of the statutory assessments. 

RECEPTION: BASELINE ASSESSMENT 

Children participate in the reception baseline assessment (RBA) within the first 6 weeks of starting in reception. It became statutory for all schools from September 2021. 

This assessment provides a starting point to show the progress children make from reception to the end of Year 6. Therefore, the purpose is to help parents to understand how well schools are supporting children to make progress between Reception and Year 6. 

What is the RBA?

It is a short,  interactive and practical assessment of your child's early literacy, communication, language and mathematics skills when they begin school. 

It is not about judging or labelling your child. Children can not 'pass' or 'fail' the assessment. The purpose is to create a starting point to measure the progress schools make with their pupils. 

You do not need to do anything to prepare your child for the assessment. Your child is unlikely to even know they are doing an assessment when they are completing the tasks. 

Will I receive feedback on my child's assessment?

Your child's teacher will receive a set of standards, which provide a narrative description of how your child performed the assessment and we will share them directly with you. 

How is the data used? 

The data from the assessment will only be used by the Department for Education when your child has reached the end of year 6, to provide the baseline to measure the progress of your child’s year group from reception to year 6. The data from the assessment, including numerical scores, is not shared with you, pupils, teachers, or external bodies, including schools, and there will be no published scores at pupil, school or national level.

When your child reaches year 6, the end of key stage 2, you will be able to see how well your child’s school has supported the year group in their time at primary school, compared to other schools nationally. 

PHONICS CHECK  - YEAR 1 

Children in Year 1 will sit a phonics screening check in June. 

All year 1 pupils in England take the phonics screening check. It’s done in school by our staff.

The check is made up of 40 words, and usually lasts 5-10 minutes. Some words are real words, and others are nonsense, or ‘alien’ words, that help to show if pupils can work out how to decode words they haven’t seen before.

The check helps us to see:

• How pupils are progressing in phonics
• Where to provide additional teaching and support

The check may not be appropriate for some pupils. We’ll let you know if we think this is the case for your child.

When will it be happening?

Year 1 will do the phonics screening check in June.

Some children may need additional phonics support to meet the expected standard of the phonics check. Additional interventions will support those children who may need to resit the check in Year 2. 

Do we get to know the results?

We have to report the results to Sefton Local Authority by the end of the summer term. We will also let you know the results

Year 1 - in the end of summer term reports to parents.

Do we need to prepare at home?

Your child is being taught phonics at school and no special work at home is needed. 

However, you can always help your child by:

• Reading to and with them
• Playing sound and reading games
• Teaching them new words, and showing them how they’re written

The teachers in Reception and Year 1 will provide an early reading and phonics information meeting for all parents in the autumn term to help you support your child at home. 

MULTIPLICATION TABLES CHECK - YEAR 4

Your child will be participating in the multiplication tables check in June. The purpose of the check is to determine whether your child can fluently recall their times tables up to 12, which is essential for future success in mathematics. It will also help your child’s school to identify if your child may need additional support.

It is an on-screen check consisting of 25 times table questions. Your child will be able to answer 3 practice questions before taking the actual check. They will then have 6 seconds to answer each question. On average, the check should take no longer than 5 minutes to complete.

 Your child’s teacher will share your child’s score with you, as they would with all national curriculum assessments. Your child's class teacher will do so via the end of year school report.  There is no pass mark for the check

Key Stage 2  SATs

WRITING - Teacher Assessments 

Throughout the year the children will be composing independent pieces of writing to build up a portfolio of evidence.

This body of work will cover a range of genres that have been taught in class and provide evidence of the writing skills  necessary to meet the expected standard.

In past years  a best fit approach was used.   However, now ALL of the skills must be grasped and applied in independent work to meet the expected standard.

Some children will be able to apply the skills consistently across most genres and will therefore be working at greater depth within the expected standard (GDS).

How can I help my child?

The most valuable and effective way to support your child is to ensure that they have good attendance and punctuality.

The curriculum is deliberately planned to build on knowledge , understanding and skills in a carefully sequenced way. Being in school every day is the most effective was to ensure your child does not have any gaps in their learning - this builds confidence, self-esteem and ensures the best progress for your child to succeed and realise their full potential.

• Encouraging your child to read widely and frequently 
• Practising their multiplication times tables
• Practising their spellings and spelling rules
• Supporting them with good habits to complete their homework
• Supporting them to know they have all the support they need at home and in school 
• Reassuring them not to worry but to try their best