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Read more:

• Lessons learned from the teacher assessed grades process of summer 2021
• Cause for celebration, not criticism: reflections on the GCSE class of 2021

Sue Riley, NACE CEO

Many of you will have seen the open letter to the Sunday Times from the recently formed Rethinking Assessment group. Born from issues raised this summer, Rethinking Assessment is a broad coalition of state and independent schools, universities, academics, employers and other stakeholders, which aims to value the strengths of every child. At its heart lies four fundamental principles:

1. Many young people find the way our exam system works increasingly stressful and not a true reflection of what they are good at.
2. Many employers complain that exams do not provide them with good enough clues as to who they are employing.
3. Many headteachers feel that high-stakes exams distort priorities and stop them from providing a well-rounded education for their pupils.
4. Many who are passionate about social mobility believe that any system that dooms a third to fail is a system with little sense of social justice.

We want to add our members’ voice and our research to this debate. There are immediate questions to be answered and longer-term opportunities to recalibrate the assessment system so that all learners have their full range of strengths recognised. As a membership organisation we can share and build on the decisions school leaders are taking now and over time provide perspectives that will inform longer-term changes.

Assessment is of course an integral part of learning and teaching. It facilitates daily ongoing review of individual progress and impacts on planning and target-setting. It supports personal learning targets. But we must not let the tail wag the dog. Not everything needs to be assessed, or indeed can be assessed, or needs to be independently assessed. We must consider too the timing of assessment – even more pressing as schools focus on tier 2 rota planning. 

Whilst a decision over summer exams has been made in principle, “fall-back” detail remains unclear and learners are picking up on this, increasingly questioning the reasoning behind assignments, and the part they will play in assessment. All of this detracts from the richness of a subject.  

The Early Career Framework and Teachers’ Standards have done much to support the teaching profession’s development in recent years. We must trust teachers with assessment, but teachers must be clear on what they are assessing and why.

What can we therefore now do in our schools to readdress this balance? One response lies in thinking about what we assess on a day-to-day basis in classrooms, how we build on low-stakes testing, and how we position effective challenge. How effectively do your teachers use retrieval practice for example? Deliberately recalling information forces us to pull knowledge “out” and examine what we know. The “struggle” or challenge to recall information improves memory and learning – by trying to recall information, we exercise or strengthen our memory, and we can also identify gaps in our learning. 

NACE has recently undertaken a literature review of retrieval practice – looking at the theoretical framework and considering emergent related classroom practices and practical amendments and applications for more able learners. To access this review, click here. 

Beyond the here and now of assessment, we need to return to the longer-term focus of the Rethinking Assessment coalition. Against the current backdrop, what could we do to improve the assessment system more broadly? How would we do it differently, allowing us to show non-traditional talents – making assessment more effective for employers, individuals and supporting the practising teacher? Fundamentally, how can we assess the child in front of us?

Contribute to the debate:

• What approach is your school taking? What would you like to see happen, this term/year and in the longer term? Contact NACE CEO Sue Riley to share your views. 
• The Chartered College of Teaching is hosting a webinar discussion with Rethinking Assessment at 6-7pm on 5 November. Find out more and book a free ticket.

Read more:

• Information sheet: recall and retrieval practice
• Making the grade...time for change? 
• The future of education and data: 3 key questions 
• Lockdown learning: the good, the bad, and the shape of things to come? 
• Beyond the “recovery curriculum”: rebuild, reconnect, reignite 

Following the recent publication of the draft Curriculum for Wales 2022, Rhys Jones, Headteacher of Treorchy Comprehensive School, explores how the changes will impact on provision for more able and talented (MAT) learners.

As a Professional Learning Pioneer School we have been involved in the development of the new Curriculum for Wales and its supporting actions and agencies since its inception. Specifically, we are tasked with helping to research, understand and develop the pedagogy to teach the new curriculum; to collaborate with the Curriculum Pioneers to develop the draft Areas of Learning and Experience (AoLEs); and to support non-pioneer schools (known as partner schools) in their preparation for the new curriculum.

Drawing on our longstanding relationship with NACE, consideration of MAT learners has been a core focus in our co-construction work on the new curriculum – including consideration of the following questions:

1. Will the new curriculum help schools identify and challenge MAT learners?

The progression framework in each AoLE spans the age range from three to 16; the new curriculum works on a continuum rather than being split into key stages like the current national curriculum. Although the five progression steps outlined in the “what matters” statements provided for each AoLE are loosely related to ages, teachers are encouraged to look at the whole span of progression. This means that MAT learners in each area will be challenged to work at an appropriately high level.

An example may be seen in the expressive arts AoLE. If a pupil is a MAT musician, they might already be demonstrating performance skills from Progression Step 4 or 5 quite early in their school career and this is readily accepted and promoted by the Curriculum for Wales.

2. How will the new curriculum impact on primary/secondary collaboration?

It is anticipated that there will be much closer collaboration between primary and secondary schools. As mentioned above, the concept of the curriculum as a continuum without key stages is a central principle. It is anticipated that there will be co-construction in terms of planning, implementation and assessment. The primary and secondary sectors will need to learn from one another if the curriculum is to be successful.

Because of the continuum in terms of ongoing and formative assessment, information about MAT pupils will be easily available to all schools at this key transition point.

3. Will the new curriculum offer opportunities for MAT learners?

It should offer opportunities in all AoLEs. Two key strands to highlight at this stage are extracurricular activities and authentic pupil-led learning.

Across the curriculum the artificial divide between extracurricular and curricular activities is being removed. Recognition of the significance of a wide range of rich activities for pupils of all abilities, and of course for our MAT pupils, is positively encouraged in the new curriculum.

This connects to the idea of providing authentic activities in which to base pupils’ learning. Giving learners a voice to help decide the direction of their learning will encourage ownership of learning both inside and outside the classroom.

Both of these examples provide opportunities for our MAT learners, who are particularly likely to appreciate and benefit from independent self-determination in authentic settings.

4. Will teachers need to work differently with MAT learners?

At Treorchy, we would say we have a great tradition of working differently with MAT learners; differentiation by its nature implies working differently.

Because of the innovations mentioned above and because of the greater balance between knowledge, skills and experience, the new curriculum should give us even greater freedom to work with MAT pupils.

Stephen Parry-Jones, Seren Network hub coordinator for Rhondda Cynon Taf and Merthyr Tydfil, takes a look at the network’s successes to date and plans to extend its coverage…

The Seren Network arose from concerns expressed by Lord Murphy, the former Cabinet Minister, that numbers of Welsh undergraduates at Oxford had declined. Lord Murphy was then appointed Welsh Government Oxbridge Ambassador and asked to explore possible reasons; he produced his final report in 2014, which can be viewed on the Seren website.

I was one of 11 individuals, drawn from every Welsh local authority, who were charged with turning his suggestion into some sort of reality. The emphasis was to be on bringing academically gifted sixth-formers together in “hubs” and providing them with super-curricular activities, as well as the additional support and guidance that a strong Oxbridge application requires.

Increase in Oxbridge applications from Wales

Many extension classes, visits from HE outreach officials, and trips to universities later, I was both pleased and relieved that the first independent evaluation, in 2017, was positive, in particular that “Seren makes a positive contribution to raising aspirations, boosting confidence and encouraging students to think more ambitiously about their university choices.”

The numbers are still being crunched, but it was encouraging that UCAS reported a 6% increase in “October 15th” applications from Wales – and this from a smaller pool of 17-year-olds, and with only the three pilot hubs functioning. Cambridge in particular has reported an upturn in the number of applications from Wales and, more importantly, the number of offers made. Applications to Oxford have also increased, though we have still to crack the challenging entrance tests that applicants face.

We quickly began to see that Seren was not just about Oxbridge, but about high-tariff university courses in general, whether in Wales, the wider UK or beyond. In my own hub, which serves some of Wales’ most deprived regions, I have been delighted to see Seren students taking up places at the most competitive universities, with Bristol, Imperial, Manchester and Warwick proving very popular. One student from our first cycle also gained a place at Yale, and others are now determined to follow her.

Plans to extend Seren’s work to KS3 and 4 

Of the evaluation’s recommendations, perhaps the most significant was the idea that Seren extend its work into Key Stages 3 and 4. This was something Seren hub coordinators and heads of sixth-form were already trying to do: we had very early on realised that remedial work post-16, focusing just on the sixth form, is simply too late. Ambitions often crystallise in Key Stage 3 and GCSE options, so critical for future pathways, are increasingly made in Year 8.

As with the hubs geared to sixth formers, work here will probably start with pilots, though existing hub coordinators are well placed to broker partnerships between schools, universities and organisations such as NACE and The Brilliant Club.

Local universities are also a supremely valuable resource, and Rhondda Cynon Taf has for several years organised an intensive day for its most academic Year 9 pupils at the University of South Wales. Subjects on offer have included philosophy, Mandarin, solving unusual maths problems, and Latin. Many of those attending had previously been unaware of the university’s existence, and were surprised to find they were able to cope with intellectual exercises of demanding nature. For some, it was the first time they had realised that they were “clever.”

Another crucial asset is local students at top-flight universities who are willing to talk to school pupils. Rhondda Cynon Taf has run an Oxbridge day for Year 10 pupils, featuring stimulating Q&A sessions with current undergraduates. We have now extended this to parents, and have been lucky to be able to call upon access and outreach fellows from both universities to talk to parents on a “cluster” basis. This has been particularly important in busting those Oxbridge myths which can do so much to deter able learners who are not from privileged backgrounds.

Our challenge now will be how we avoid diluting Seren’s offer without excluding those who might benefit – keeping in mind NACE’s core principles that ability is fluid, can be developed, and is closely linked to mindset.

After reading modern history at Oxford, Stephen Parry-Jones taught for 38 years. Apart from a five-year stint in a London direct grant grammar school, his career was spent in comprehensive schools in South Wales. He retired as a deputy head in 2015, and is now Seren hub coordinator for Rhondda Cynon Taf and Merthyr Tydfil education authorities. 

Colin Parker, headteacher of King Edward VI Aston School, outlines the school’s inspiring approach to admitting and supporting more able learners from disadvantaged backgrounds.

At King Edward VI Aston School (Aston) we have one of the highest proportions of students coming from a disadvantaged background at any selective school in the country, with around 40% of Year 7 and 8 students receiving financial support.

This is partly because of location; the school is situated in one of the most economically deprived areas of Birmingham, in a region offering numerous selective schools for parents wary of sending their child to the inner city. But primarily it is because the school has given priority to admitting students from disadvantaged backgrounds. We are also fortunate in having a separate source of funding, to support students based on postcode rather than parental income.

Levelling the admission test playing field

A few years ago, the King Edward VI Foundation commissioned research indicating that social diversity was declining in its selective schools, and consequently put in place measures that would result in more students from disadvantaged backgrounds gaining places.

The first issue to consider was admission policy; from September 2015 Aston has given priority to admitting up to 25% of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. To make this a realistic proposition and go some way to levelling the admission test playing field, the school has set a qualifying score significantly lower than the score achieved in recent years by the last student to gain entry. Any student from a disadvantaged background achieving the qualifying score has a very good chance of securing a place.

Secondly, with the support of the Foundation, the school runs a familiarisation programme, working with primary schools who have a significant number of disadvantaged students. Parents and their sons are invited into the school, with the students undertaking work similar to that which they will encounter on the admissions test, including sitting a practice test paper.

Bridging economic, social and cultural gaps

So far, the increase in the number of students from a disadvantaged background has had no noticeable impact in academic terms. Evidence to date indicates that their academic progress is in line with, if not better than, non-disadvantaged students. We use most of our pupil premium funding to bridge the economic, social and cultural gaps, including a grant for participation in extracurricular activities.

It is also about expectations and language. At GCSE, we are talking about grades A*/A or above 7 and at A-level grades A*-B and then progressing to a high-tariff university. These expectations are relentlessly shared with the boys and their parents.

This is a whole-staff effort and a shared culture. At Aston, unlike many schools, we do not have a pupil premium champion; it is an expectation that this role will be played by all staff.

This all comes back to the reasons why we are in education. Our view is that the point of education is to transform lives, and that will happen when a student from a disadvantaged background gets into a high-tariff university and consequently on the path to securing professional employment. It will not only transform the life of the student, but also that of his family.

This blog post is based on an article first published in the summer 2017 edition of the NACE Insight newsletter, available for all NACE member schools. To view past editions of Insight, log in to the members’ area of the website.