Assessment in
Primary Languages
{
The Hiltingbury Junior School way…
Football Remembers
Who are
Hiltingbury
Junior School?







Our website link
Learning Ladders link
Hampshire Inspectory & Advisory Service link
ETALT scheme with Uni of Southampton &
Routes into Languages link
Hiltingbury French sow & resources link
DfE Award to train PL with Uni of Winchester
link
Our Google classroom French club link
But what works for us may not necessarily work for you!
Effective Subject Leaders:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
Have vision of how their subject can be improved
Have clear sense of direction for their subject, related to the School
Strategic Plan, and have concrete plans for achieving this
Have good subject knowledge and model best practice
Are aware of current initiatives locally, nationally and globally
Monitor, evaluate and review the T&L of their subject across the
school to ensure that attainment and progress rates meet with those
expected
Champion their subject, organising curriculum enrichment
opportunities
Support colleagues in teaching of the subject within own & other
schools
Lead discussions around their subject, facilitating CPD
Report on progress & impact of their subject to the SLT and
Governors
Monitor, evaluate and review the effectiveness of resources
Effective Subject Leaders:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
Have vision of how their subject can be improved
Have clear sense of direction for their subject, related to the School
Strategic Plan, and have concrete plans for achieving this
Have good subject knowledge and model best practice
Are aware of current initiatives locally, nationally and globally
Monitor, evaluate and review the T&L of their subject across the
school to ensure that attainment and progress rates meet with those
expected
Champion their subject, organising curriculum enrichment
opportunities
Support colleagues in teaching of the subject within own & other
schools
Lead discussions around their subject, facilitating CPD
Report on progress & impact of their subject to the SLT and
Governors
Monitor, evaluate and review the effectiveness of resources
What exactly
have we got to
teach?
(Then we’ll know
what we need to
assess!)
DfE Guidance on Primary Languages:
{ Statutory


A language throughout
KS2 from Years 3 to 6
inclusive
Programme of study (link)
{ Non-statutory

Languages at KS1

The KS2 Framework
for Languages
(Archived Link)
Pupils should be taught to:
 listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and
responding
 explore the patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and link the
spelling, sound and meaning of words
 engage in conversations; ask and answer questions; express opinions and respond to
those of others; seek clarification and help
 speak in sentences, using familiar vocabulary, phrases and basic language structures
 develop accurate pronunciation and intonation so that others understand when they are
reading aloud or using familiar words and phrases
 present ideas and information orally to a range of audiences
 read carefully and show understanding of words, phrases and simple writing
 appreciate stories, songs, poems and rhymes in the language
 broaden their vocabulary and develop their ability to understand new words that are
introduced into familiar written material, including through using a dictionary
 write phrases from memory, and adapt these to create new sentences, to express ideas
clearly
 describe people, places, things and actions orally and in writing
 understand basic grammar appropriate to the language being studied, including (where
relevant): feminine, masculine and neuter forms and the conjugation of high-frequency
verbs; key features and patterns of the language; how to apply these, for instance, to build
sentences; and how these differ from or are similar to English
Statutory content PoS
Pupils should be taught to:
 listen attentively to spoken language and show understanding by joining in and
responding
 explore the patterns and sounds of language through songs and rhymes and link the
spelling, sound and meaning of words
 engage in conversations; ask and answer questions; express opinions and respond to
those of others; seek clarification and help
 speak in sentences, using familiar vocabulary, phrases and basic language structures
 develop accurate pronunciation and intonation so that others understand when they are
reading aloud or using familiar words and phrases
 present ideas and information orally to a range of audiences
 read carefully and show understanding of words, phrases and simple writing
 appreciate stories, songs, poems and rhymes in the language
 broaden their vocabulary and develop their ability to understand new words that are
introduced into familiar written material, including through using a dictionary
 write phrases from memory, and adapt these to create new sentences, to express ideas
clearly
 describe people, places, things and actions orally and in writing
 understand basic grammar appropriate to the language being studied, including (where
relevant): feminine, masculine and neuter forms and the conjugation of high-frequency
verbs; key features and patterns of the language; how to apply these, for instance, to
build sentences; and how these differ from or are similar to English
Statutory content PoS
OFSTED Languages
Report
11th Jan 2011

Achievement good or outstanding in (60%) of primary schools. Pupils made
most progress in speaking and listening because this was where most
emphasis was placed in lessons.

Although there were some good examples of systematically planned reading,
these were rare and even more so for writing.

Pupils’ enjoyment of language learning was very clear….

Teaching good in 70% of the 235 lessons observed. Despite occasional
shortcomings in pronunciation, primary teachers’ subject knowledge &
teaching methods were predominantly good.

Weaknesses lay in assessment, & the monitoring & evaluation of provision,
often because leaders did not feel competent enough to judge language
provision.
OFSTED Recommendations
Primary schools should:
 build on their good work in speaking & listening, including
language learning strategies and knowledge about
language.
 develop pupils’ early skills in reading & writing.
 ensure intercultural understanding is built into work where it
does not yet feature prominently.
Secondary schools should:
 consider, as a matter of urgency, the implications of
developments in primary languages for their curriculum in
Year 7 & how they build on students’ prior attainment at KS2.
All of that?!
Some of the schools in our area are not
doing the same language(s), so…
Their adapted KS2 commitment for the secondaries is made up of:
 Dictionary skills
 Grammatical terminology
 Generic grammatical knowledge
 Memorisation / learning strategies
 Links across multiple languages
 Language detective skills
 Emphasis on transferable/metacognative skills
How can you make this sentence longer and more interesting?
You have 2 minutes!
J’ai un chat.
Click
for example
can youet
doil
better?
J’ai
unhere
grand
chat–noir,
s’appelle Félix.
What does this phrase mean?
How many sentences can you make in French using this structure?
You have 2 minutes!
J’aime…
Back to Assessment:

KS3 Teachers are expected by Ofsted to
show they are building on the work of KS2.

There is no requirement to assess languages
at KS2 above what is done for every
foundation subject in your school.
In every subject, our school
expects assessment to include:
Attainment in school, how this compares with
what is expected nationally/locally.
 Recording & reporting attainment data across the
school
 Analysing progress, including that of vulnerable
groups
 Reporting to parents, governors and SLT
 Lesson observations, learning walks and book
sampling (the triangulation of evidence)


Can-do style statements

Vocabulary tests

Assignments
& End of unit ‘assessments’
Our first assessments…
Wasn’t really working for
us, so….
{
Is:
{
Is NOT

A combination of content
and skills

A list of topics covered

Repetition of certain core
structures with increased
confidence,
understanding and recall

As many new nouns
and phrases as
possible

Made in tiny, repetitious
steps

A race
Progress in languages
We revisited ‘progress’ and realised we need to repeat topics just like in maths/English:
Hear – Hear & read – copy - repeat – repeat & link –
remember – reproduce – apply in new context
Year 3
Introduced to
basic parts of
body & join in
with song:
-
-
Head,
shoulders,
knees and
toes
Flashcards &
PE games
Year 4
Year 5
Reinforce same
parts of body &
focus on face
Consolidate pron
& spelling of
previous vocab &
add arms legs
‘New’ language is hands etc…
to combine
Reproduce at
colours eg ‘les
sentence level in
yeux bleus’
context of illness
/ role play eg.
Book: Grand
J’ai mal au
Monstre Vert
genou
Song: Jean Petit
Qui Danse
Year 6
Apply knowledge
of prior vocab in
context of
descriptions. Add
elbows, ankles,
bottom…
Create complete
paragraphs eg.
Wanted Posters
Song: Tchik et
Tchak
Year 3
{
{
Year 5 independent
Year 5 supported
Dictionaries – core skill, statutory PoS & literacy link
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
•
Notice the
spelling of
familiar
words.
•
Recognise
how sounds
are
represented.
• Use a
bilingual
dictionary
with
support, to
look up
spellings.
• Use a bilingual
dictionary to
check the
spelling of
familiar words.
• Understand
that words will
not always
have a direct
equivalent in
the language.
• Know &
understand
what vb, adj,
adv etc means
• Know when
and how to
use a
dictionary.
• Know how to
find the
correct verb
form (verb
tables)
• Explore use
(or not) of
online
translators
•
phoneme /
grapheme
links
• Group
rhyming
words (eg
in songs)
There was so much progress and attainment
going on, we then had to decide what to
measure…

NC had 4 attainment targets:
Reading, Writing, Speaking &
Listening.

NC Levels 1-4 are given on DfE
website as exemplar.

KS2 Framework had Year
group skills progression:
Oracy, Literacy, IU, LLS &
KAL

What records (if any) are passed from KS2 to KS3 in all
other foundation subjects?

Could a single exercise book used from Years 3-6 and
passed on to Year 7?

Could a test be devised jointly and/or shared by KS2/3
colleagues?

Other suggestions? eg. European Lang. Portfolio
‘Light-touch’ Record Keeping
Our school example
Hiltingbury Jnr Ladder link
Purple Peril statements
next slide
Class teacher’s Purple Peril
link
So here is our system for
‘life after levels’…
Children ‘achieving year 6’
Children ‘exceeding year 6’


Children ‘below year 6’
Children ‘working towards year 6’
Analysing data
HT’s / Ofsted wanted a
system that can be
easily (crudely?)
measured & analysed
Which is why our
‘purple peril’ values are
numerical 1-4
{
Year 3
{
Year 5
How do we assess these?
What are the next steps?
AfL :
Current discussions at network meetings:
 Does a child need to know their next steps when learning a
language?
 Do teachers know what the next steps are?


Language acquisition:
Hear – Hear & read – copy - repeat – repeat & link – remember –
reproduce – apply in new context
Next steps?
Next steps?
Next steps?
Assessment by pipecleaner?




Creating suggested comment banks to support staff
Ensuring all staff have grammatical support
themselves
Making sure the WALT is really tightly structured and
linked to the otcomes with success criteria
…just like we do in all our foundation subjects
So our next steps are…
What works for YOUR school?

What would your IDEAL of
achievement by the end of
year 6 be like?

What are your priorities?

What is reasonable to
expect in every foundation
subject?

Do children know their
next steps?