Introduction of the New Standards in Religious Education (3-19)

Introduction of the New Standards in Religious Education (3-19)

The story so far • Call for the removal of ‘LEVELS’ • NBRIA tasked to consult through a questionnaire. • NBRIA curriculum and assessment working party (CAWP) created to facilitate the process. • The survey – key finding was that schools wanted greater parity with other subjects in the curriculum. • Did NOT want to lose the ‘Driver Words’ • Secondary schools asked for clear progression towards GCSE and A Level

Cont … • Primary schools requested ‘End of Year’ however majority of the CAWP thought this could only be arrived at by including content in descriptors. • This would require a revision of the current RECD. • DRAFT ‘End of Phase Document’ produced for pilot schools to trial was a progression of skills with no specific content.

Evolution of Attainment TargetsLearning about, learning from, analysis and evaluation The two old ATs have not been lost – there are still “learning about” and “learning from” descriptors in the new tool. AT 1

AT 3 This has been added partly because, in secondary school, the ability to analyse and evaluate is an essential skill at both GCSE and A Level. Also, it is arguably a skill that can be developed from the beginning of Religious Education learning and so also constitutes a part of the new standards document for Primary schools.

Driver words You will see that the driver words have been maintained in the end of phase descriptions: “make links”; “show understanding” etc But these have been removed from content specific strands and have become discrete “sub-skills” as can be seen in the first column of the new document…

“Learning about” sub-skills: Developing knowledge and understanding Making links and connections Understanding historical development Using specialist vocabulary “Learning from” sub-skills: Engaging with questions of meaning and purpose Engaging with questions of beliefs and values Understanding personal context Reflection and contemplation “Analysis and Evaluation” sub-skills: Using sources as evidence Constructing arguments Making judgements, justifying conclusions Understanding diversity Analysis and deconstruction

Phase progression: KS 2-3 KS3 descriptors follow directly on from the KS2 descriptors and now form a coherent link between KS2 and KS4. NB, not all of the KS3 skills track fully into Key Stages 1 & 2.

Phase progression: KS 3-4 The standards descriptors for KS4 were taken from Ofqual’s descriptor of performance at GCSE. These track back into the KS3 descriptors and teachers will hopefully be able to see the progressive nature of the descriptors very clearly. Therefore, if the new standards document is used at KS3 it should now serve as a solid preparation for high performance at GCSE

Phase progression: KS 4-5 • The standards descriptors for KS5 were taken from a combined version of each of the descriptors given by the exam boards for performance at A Level in Religious Studies • These are a straightforward development of the GCSE skills and the progressive nature of these should be clearly seen • NB, there is an expectation that all students will be performing at this level, whether they have taken A Level Religious Studies or not.

Phase progression: significance of blank boxes In some portions of the Primary standards descriptor grid, there are blank boxes. This indicates that this “sub-skill” is not expected in this phase of a pupil’s development.

Glossary All key terms used in the Age – Related Standards grid are covered to support teachers

Intended to be used like a rope ladder; skills are to be carried throughout learning and developed age and stage appropriately

Continuing the story • The pilot resulted in schools still asking for the following: • end of year expectations, rather than phase ones • annotated examples of pupil and student work that exemplify each Age-Related Standard • an indication of how the Interim Age-Related Standards is to be used to measure progress for data tracking purposes and pupil feedback: something like performance scales • in secondary schools, an indication of how the Interim Age-Related Standards (3-19) relate to the GCSE grades at the end of KS4. • Pilot schools in A & B were determined to produce an End of Year standards document to be more in-line with other core-curriculum subjects • So we did !

The standards in the A & B End of Year document are based on the End of Phase standards statements that focus on RE skills but have been linked to the skills ladder to differentiate the depth of skill. • Each year group has been carefully linked to the ‘Driver Words’ that our teachers are already used to with the addition of: working towards age related; at/ within age related; working above age related. • Neither End of Phase or the End of Year document covers all the content of Religious Education Curriculum Directory or Come and See! • Pupils meeting the different standards within the framework will have a broader range of knowledge and skills than those being assessed. • Schools should continue to report to parents/carers on the broader range of Knowledge and Skills from the Come and See Programme, or in some of our Independent schools the Way, Truth & Life. • The Standards are not a formative assessment tool: they are not intended to guide individual programmes of study, classroom practice or methodology but are intended to support planning and differentiation. • Teachers should assess pupils’ work in line with their Diocesan and school’s own assessment policy.

Teachers need to base their judgement on a broad range of evidence,which will come from day-to-day work in the classroom. This could include Religious Education work evidenced in other areas of the curriculum. • Teachers may also consider a single example of a pupil’s work to provide evidence for multiple statements and vice versa. • There is a call for more whole ‘Topic’ assessment rather than individual assessed pieces of work that is current practice. (still under consideration/consultation along with the idea of comparative assessment) • At the end of the year and/or phase teachers should make a judgement against the Standards based on their own continual assessments of pupils’ work and record in manner that is in-line with other core subjects in their school. • Teachers should be confident that pupils have met the standards preceding the one at which they judge them to be working.

Making Judgements • Further guidance about making consistent judgements will be available within the next academic year through National and Diocesan exemplification material. • Exemplars will not dictate the evidence required but show only an example of how that statement might have been met. • SEND • All schools are required to make reasonable adjustments for pupils with learning needs and disabilities. • All schools are required to provide suitable resources for all learners. The Come and See website contains a wealth of suitable resources for children who cannot access the Come and See yearly programmes.

Teachers should ensure that all pupils have the opportunity to demonstrate attainment with reasonable adjustments in place, but the expected Standards of each phase and year group should not be compromised for SEN-D pupils and must be met in a way suitable for the learner. • Teachers should use their professional skills in making such judgements for each pupil. • Teachers should use their professional discretion in making such judgements for each pupil and be able to justify these during school, Deanery, Diocesan and national moderation. • Adjusted P Levels will be available from the Diocese. These will contain some considerations from the government’s Rochford Review. Further research, resources and updates will be available nationally in 2019.

Moderation • Moderation is a crucial part of teacher assessment. It allows teachers to benchmark their judgements, while helping to ensure that standards are consistent, and outcomes are reliable. • Schools will be required to provide evidence of their moderation for monitoring visits and Section 48 Inspections. This validates judgements to ensure that they are consistent with local and national standards. It is a collaborative process between schools, Diocese and National moderation.

Planning • To be of real use the Standards and use of P Scales, where appropriate, must be integrated into the whole planning process. In the come and See programme the Summary page will inform a teaching and learning mindset and an appreciation of the intended outcomes of Religious Education. • In expressing their learning objectives and outcomes teachers should be aware of the language of the level descriptors and use this to inform the way intended outcomes are expressed. The language of the level descriptors are readily available through Come and See. • The critical question to address at the planning stage is … • ‘what must I do, in this topic, to enable a pupil to achieve the standards shown in the topic summary?’ • Informal and continuous assessment is not a trick and is not all about end-testing but is about providing the opportunity for pupils to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and skills.

Gathering Evidence • When gathering evidence teachers will be able to draw on the full range of work produced by pupils. • This does not mean that every piece of work has to be collected or assessed, nor that every single learning objective requires individual assessment tasks or activities, although this may at times be appropriate. • Teachers should focus on the clarity of evidence collected and on making brief telling annotations in relation to significant attainments, incorporating into the evidence-base observations and materials collected as an integral part of the teaching and learning process. • Evidence which would be appropriate might include: (This is not an exhaustive list) • staff records based on observations; • witness statements from other people; • pupils’ written work; • discussions, debates, proposals and conclusions; • comments or commentaries from pupils; VF • artwork/artefacts created by pupils; • annotated photographic evidence – dance/drama/music/ hot-seating

All this will effectively contribute to the aim of Religious Education in the RECD p6 • ‘The outcome of excellent Religious Education is religiously literate and engaged young people who have the knowledge, understanding and skills – appropriate to their age and capacity – to reflect spiritually, and think ethically and theologically, and who are aware of the demands of religious commitment in everyday life ’ • EYFS • EYFS has a particularly important contribution to make to Religious Education through many of the Early Learning Goals. • The Standards use these early goals to ensure that they are a part of the Early Years Curriculum and not separate from it. • Religious Education in a Catholic school is the core subject throughout the school. Our outstanding Early Years providers should ensure that all appropriate learning stems from their RE Programme themes.

Transferring Standards into Data • Schools should use the same system that they are expected to use for other subjects, such as Maths and English • Use the same terminology • Use the same methods for collecting data • Remember it is not a checklist • The most important part of collecting data is… • WHAT WILL BE DONE WITH THE DATA COLLECTED? • Are schools showing how: • they are closing the gap; • planning for progress

So what now? To further respond to teachers and their requests, the CES and the NBRIA working party will continue to meet throughout the academic year 2018-2019 and will continually seek information from schools on how they are using the document, and the improvements that can be made. In addition, the Bishops of the Department of Catholic Education and Formation have commissioned a third edition of the Religious Education Curriculum Directory (RECD) this will bring the full revision of both the curriculum and standards to its completion. The expected publication date for the revised RECD is September 2020.

Cont… In this interim period, from now until September 2020, the Bishops Department has given permission for dioceses to continue to use the historical Levels of Attainment in Religious Education or for schools to use the new Interim Age-Related Standards (3-19) in Religious Education. In Arundel and Brighton, we are encouraging schools to use the new Interim Age-Related Standards (3-19) either the end of phase document or the end of year document.

Introduction of the New Standards in Religious Education (3-19)