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: climbingframes@imaginativeminds.co.uk

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