levelling+ICT+work

Why level attainment of pupils’ ICT capability? To raise a standard, you have to understand the standard Nationally • Ofsted findings show there is substantial underachievement in ICT in over one third of schools nationally. • Teachers are often over-estimating pupils’ levels of capability for ICT because many lack understanding, confidence and are unsure of attainment level descriptors. • Schools too often rely on Ofsted to inform them of the standards in ICT. There is, therefore, a need for schools to develop their own skills to level accurately, to know ICT attainment and to identify progress. • Secondary schools have to give targets for pupils achieving Level 5 and above at the end of KS3 and as yet have nothing on which to build. • Need to raise standards in ICT in line with English, Maths and Science • Unless pupils have good levels of ICT capability, they will be less likely to make effective cross-curricular use of ICT to raise standards. • In raising pupils’ ICT capability through levelling, pupils will automatically become more involved in their own learning and the progress they are making, as the assessment for learning principal is inherent in higher ICT capability levels. This in turn should help to provide pupils with greater motivation and ownership of the learning process. Locally • In the majority of primary schools, ICT was judged to be satisfactory or better at their last OfSTED inspection, with good quality resources in all but a few schools. • Assessment of ICT is a strength of the ICT provision in only a small number of schools, though teachers’ knowledge is becoming more of a strength. • ICT to support effective cross-curricular use is an area of greatest weakness in our schools. • The process of levelling ICT has started in about 20% of our schools

The main aims as part of this levelling process are however: • to develop teachers’ understanding about improving children’s ICT capability, by accurately assessing standards and determining appropriate activities that enable pupils to achieve higher levels • to encourage schools to develop manageable systems for building a good evidence base for ICT • to share examples of pupils’ work through moderation and portfolio development. • to build an accurate knowledge base of ICT attainment within schools and across Stoke-on-Trent

Levelling pupils’ ICT capability - Making a judgement at the end of a key stage

At the end of a key stage, teachers should judge which level description best fits the pupil's performance. Each description should be considered alongside descriptions for adjacent levels. Key points to consider To help you understand how to make a judgement at the end of a key stage, you may wish to note the following points. Making your judgement • You will arrive at judgements by taking into account strengths and weaknesses in performance across a range of contexts and over a period of time, rather than focusing on a single piece of work. • A single piece of work will not cover all the expectations set out in a level description. It will probably provide partial evidence of attainment in one or two aspects of a level description. If you look at it alongside other pieces of work covering a range of contexts you will be able to make a judgement about which level best fits a pupil's overall performance. Range of a teacher's knowledge about attainment • Much of the evidence about attainment may be gained from observation and discussion with pupils. For example, the decision making that occurs as a pupil uses ICT to develop ideas may not be evident in the final print out. • Any ICT work samples on websites, including SCORE, NC in Action [] or Northern Grid [|www.northerngrid.org], cannot reflect the extent of the knowledge that you will have built up about each of your pupils over time and across a range of situations. It can only be representative. Giving pupils opportunities to demonstrate attainment • Your pupils will need to use a range of forms of communication to show what they can do. • In planning units of work and classroom approaches, you will need to provide opportunities for pupils to display their achievements in different ways, and to work in a range of situations. • As they make progress it will be necessary to provide pupils with opportunities to engage in open-ended tasks that allow them to independently apply their ICT capability. Recording • Although you will want to be able to explain why you have awarded particular levels to pupils at the end of the key stage, there is no requirement for judgements to be explained in this way or to be supported by detailed collections of evidence for each pupil. This information does not have to be passed on to parents. • Decisions about collecting information, about its purpose and how it should be used are matters for teachers working within an agreed school policy. Further support and guidance will be provided to support the collection of evidence of pupils’ ICT work for individual, class, year and/or school portfolios as decided. • Whatever evidence and/or record of pupils’ ICT capability is kept, the major consideration is the purpose for keeping it.

Under each level you will find the Level Descriptors, Key Characteristics and Typical Expectations based on the QCA activities There are five aspects of attainment in the attainment target for ICT and the numbers in brackets within the level descriptions identify these aspects: 1. Finding things out 2. Developing ideas and making things happen 3. Exchanging and sharing information 4. Reviewing, modifying and evaluating work as it progresses 5. Breadth of study

Documents to help record ICT capability:
 * [|Levelling Grid] || [|Progression in ICT] || [|Context Sheet] || [|Context Sheet with prompts] ||