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Assessment Without Levels – SIMS
has it covered ….
The Schools’ ICT Team has been working on a number of projects to help support schools with
Assessment Without Levels.
Key Stage 1 and 2
1.
Working alongside the local authority on a collaborative project for East Sussex, led by Newick
and St Mark’s teaching schools, marksheets have been designed to capture summative
assessment data for Reading, Writing and Maths. A demonstration will be given at the AWL
conference on 27th April at the AMEX stadium. Below is an example of a marksheet capturing
Year 6 Maths data:
2. The Chris Quigley approach. Marksheets for core and foundation subjects have been
developed to support schools using the Chris Quigley approach. These are currently being
trialled by a group of four schools. Please contact Lizzie Fields, Headteacher at Parkmead
Primary School if you are interested in knowing more.
3. Capita SIMS have revamped their system to accommodate Assessment Without Levels and the spring
upgrade brings with it exciting changes to the Assessment area. In addition to the already flexible
functionality available within the SIMS Performance Suite, schools will now have access to a brand
new Programme of Study area where teachers can review and assess against the entire National
Curriculum Programmes of Study for every subject across KS1 and KS2.
The main difference with this new functionality is the ability for teachers to easily record both their regular
formative assessment and the more traditional termly (or half termly) summative judgements against specific
statements of the National Curriculum all on one place. Schools will be able to clearly identify what their pupils
know, and don’t yet know, in relation to the National Curriculum Programmes of Study. The format in SIMS
has been arranged so that any school can understand the outcomes, regardless of their assessment model.
When teachers record achievement onscreen analysis clearly indicates a pupil’s progress towards National
Curriculum end of year or Key Stage expectations instantly. In addition, schools can also indicate which
knowledge or skill statements are the focus for teaching this term to receive instant progress towards these
school specific expectations, providing school analysis based on the knowledge, skills and understanding
actually being taught. Quick access to this information means teachers can understand the dynamics of their
classroom every lesson and timely interventions can be introduced supporting teaching, learning and pupil
progress.
Individual pupil reports can be generated to:

highlight achievement and progress to parents and pupils

compare pupil attainment and progress towards end of year expectations and those set by the school
for this term

details of exactly which skills have been worked on can also be displayed and are directly linked to the
National Curriculum Programmes of Study
SIMS Assessment is part of the schools MIS therefore access to key contextual information is instantly
available as are links to achievement, behaviour and attendance, so schools can take advantage of the
up-to-the-minute information that comes from using their MIS effectively. These close links help
support schools in monitoring improvements or spotting potential issues as soon as they arise.
As schools develop their own curriculum to respond to the particular needs of their pupils to ensure a broad
and balanced education, SIMS Assessment will help support the freedoms of schools to assess however they
choose by providing a comprehensive attainment and progress tracking solution linked directly to the National
Curriculum Programmes of Study (one that can be set to highlight the exact areas of the curriculum a school
has chosen to focus on).
The Capita SIMS resources are available at no extra cost however if training is required then standard
training costs will apply.
Schools preferring to work towards their own formative tracking system can utilise the flexible features of SIMS
Assessment to customise their systems to match their requirements.
Key Stage 3
1.
Lisa Piggott (Schools ICT Training Consultant) has recently worked with a secondary school looking at
combining profiles and assessment to support AWL.
2.
Capita SIMS have begun working on the KS3 requirements for assessing without levels, the scope of
which is falling into their summer and autumn development cycle this year. As the development will fall
over two releases we will be communicating exactly which functionality will become available in each
release as it is confirmed.
For further information on any of the above please contact Zoe Dyson (Training Coordinator) on 01323 747068
who will book an appointment for you to discuss your options with Lisa.