Successful Futures and Incerts – an update

So, the new curriculum has been unveiled and is now out for consultation. There’s a great deal to unpack. From the introduction of Progression Steps, through the achievement outcomes themselves to the proposed new assessment arrangements, there is a great deal of depth and detail that the Assessment Foundation is very pleased to see. It’s a tribute to all those who have been working on the new curriculum and assessment arrangements since the publication of Successful Futures in 2015.

On the day of the release our Chief Executive, Dr Philip Dixon, was quoted in the Western Mail:

“Today is a start to the process of putting meat on the bones of the principles and purposes outlined in Successful Futures and elsewhere. The ‘What Matters’ statements will help schools to frame their curriculum offer. Key to this will be the new national model which the Welsh Government will be producing. But equally key will be the resources – in terms of both time and money – that will be available to teachers to develop this new curriculum. The workforce are crucial to its success. The new assessment regime will also need careful examination and robust critique to ensure that its main purpose is centred unequivocally on learning”

It must be remembered that these reforms are concerned with curriculum and assessment. There are some salient points within the documentation that are of especial interest:

• The LNF and DCF will remain available to support teachers across the curriculum, and work is being carried out to align them with the Progression Steps.
• Progression Steps are emphatically not for the purpose of summative assessment! Achievement outcomes are written in the form of ‘I can’ and ‘I have’ statements, putting the learner at the heart of the assessment process.
• There will be a Baseline assessment at Reception that will “build upon” the current Foundation Phase Profile to provide an on-entry assessment that supports the new curriculum.
• Routes for Learning will remain available for assessment of children with profound and multiple learning difficulties.

It’s particularly notable that the draft assessment arrangements are at pains to point out what the purpose of assessment isn’t – broad, brush stroke judgements of a child’s ability, used for accountability purposes. The Assessment Foundation is very pleased to see that the main emphasis of the document is loudly and repeatedly in favour of formative assessment.

Whilst we look forward to the introduction of the new curriculum, it is important to remember that for the time being, the current assessment and reporting arrangements (Outcomes and Levels) remain fully in place until 2022. The new curriculum and associated requirements will be rolled out to schools as follows:

Many of our supporters in Wales have been in touch regarding our plans for Successful Futures and the implementation of the new curriculum. We’ve always planned to implement a new, formative online assessment that aligns with the updated curriculum, and now we are happy to be able to see some of the detail and begin our preparations. We will be trialling our ideas on the finalised curriculum from 2020 onwards, and seeking feedback from schools to aid the development of our new assessment tool. It follows that a curriculum designed by schools should be served by an assessment tool designed for those same schools. We look forward to working with you!