The main document of the AMF pack, outlining the national and local context as well as introducing our new Argyll and Bute Planning, Assessment and Moderation cycle comes first followed by a range of appendices and resources to support you on your assessment and moderation journey:

Assessment and Moderation Support Pack

Planning, Assessment and Moderation Cycle Poster

Appendix A – Assessment and Moderation – Setting the Context
Appendix B – The Planning, Assessment and Moderation Cycle
Appendix C – What Makes a Good Learning Intention
Appendix D – Planning for Literacy in a Primary School
Appendix D – Planning for Literacy in a Secondary School
Appendix D – Planning for Numeracy in a Primary School
Appendix D – Planning in an ELC setting
Appendix E – Journey to Excellence Indicators
Appendix F – Rolling this out in different settings – Primary (Ardrishaig)
Appendix F – Rolling this out in different settings – Primary (St Columba’s)
Appendix F – Rolling this out in different settings – Secondary (Oban High)
Appendix G – Creating Effective Holistic Assessment Tasks Primary
Appendix G – Creating Effective Holistic Assessment Tasks Secondary
Appendix H – People Who Can Help
Appendix H – People Who Can Help 2
Appendix I – Possible Structure for Cluster Work
Resource 1 – Bloom’s sentence starters for LI
Resource 2 – Discussion task around the PAM cycle
Resource 3 – What are hinge questions and examples
Resource 4 – Holistic assessment examples, creating and moderating
Resource 5 – KEY messages Cloze task
Resource 6 – Questions for the PAM Cycle
Resource 7 – Reflection Activity – who what when of assessment
Resource 8 – Reflection Activity- who what when of moderation
Resource 9 – Possible template for action plan
Resource 10 – Ed Scot National Moderation Sheets to be adapted as necessary
Resource 11 – Numeracy Early Level – Holistic Assessment RAG Traffic Light Task
Resource 12 -Numeracy First Level – Holistic Assessment RAG Traffic Light Task
Resource 13 – Numeracy Second Level – Holistic Assessment RAG Traffic Light Task
Resource 14 – Numeracy Third Level – Holistic Assessment RAG Traffic Light Task
Resource 15 – Numeracy Fourth Level – Holistic Assessment RAG Traffic Light Task
Resource 16 – Writing Early Level – Holistic Assessment RAG Traffic Light Task
Resource 17 – Writing First Level – Holistic Assessment RAG Traffic Light Task
Resource 18 – Writing Fourth Level – Holistic Assessment RAG Traffic Light Task
Resource 19 – Writing Second Level – Holistic Assessment RAG Traffic Light Task
Resource 20 – Writing Third Level – Holistic Assessment RAG Traffic Light Task
Resource 21 – Creating Holistic Assessment Tasks
Resource 22 – Moderating Holistic Assessment Tasks

This document has been circulated by Education Scotland to promote professional dialogue within schools and to help staff create good learning intentions.  Recent feedback from the QAMSO events in Scotland showed that there was still a mismatch between understanding of Learning Intentions and Success Criteria.  This document may help!

WhatmakesagoodLearningIntention_tcm4-660845

Education Scotland have also published a document discussing the Significant Aspects of Learning and how to assess progress and achievement in numeracy which may provide a starting point for professional dialogue:

Assessing progress and achievement in numeracy and mathematics

When discussing planning, assessment and moderation within your establishment it is a good idea to use the guidance on achieving a level to help guide and provide a focus for professional dialogue:

achievement-of-a-level-poster

Click on the links below to see some planning examples, including holistic assessments that are being used in some of our schools.  These examples are designed to encourage professional dialogue around planning within your own establishments.  The examples include the key elements within NAR:  experiences and outcomes, learning intentions and success criteria, quality learning experiences, assessment, evaluation of learning, feedback and next steps and reporting.  There is no expectation that your plans include all of these elements however it is important that professional dialogue takes place around all of them.

third level planning format

third level planning second format

second level planning format

second level planning second format

MathsNARPlanningGlenbarrPrimary

Here is an example of a second level planner which bundles together four numeracy outcomes and two maths outcomes.  It includes the learning intentions, planned learning and teaching, hinge questions and the holistic assessment that would be used with the learners towards the end of the block of learning.

Bundling Numeracy and Maths

If you have any examples of bundling and holistic assessment that you would be willing to share with us then please email Maria.Mcarthur2@argyll-bute.gov.uk

At the most recent national moderation events we have been made aware of these two documents and schools have been encouraged to ensure that they are engaging with these:

Reporting to Parents Carers Guidance Schools and ELC
NIF School Improvement Guidance 201718

Some useful videos:

The videos below have been taken from the National Improvement Hub.  They may be useful to inform collegiate discussions and/or as tools for staff development.

Please note, some of the videos may require a GLOW login.

Effective planning, assessment and moderation practices/making effective use of the benchmarks

Dylan Wiliam – Assessment Strategies

Dylan Wiliam – Formative Assessment

Dylan Wiliam – Self- and Peer-Assessment

Dylan Wiliam – Hinge Questions

Dylan Wiliam – Feedback on Learning

Using the benchmarks in science as part of collegiate planning, assessment and moderation processes

We are looking to populate this page over time with examples of planning that are being used successfully in our schools.  If you have any planning exemplars that you would be willing to share and that demonstrate effective planning, assessment and moderation processes then please send these to gillian.cathro2@argyll-bute.gov.uk.

Primary Planning Exemplars

These are examples of planners that have been created as part of effective planning, assessment and moderation processes in primary schools.  They include all elements of the NAR process and should be used to inform professional dialogue around planning in your own establishments.

LiteracyNARplanner             MathsNARPlanning

Planning term 3 Money        Non fiction writing planning P1

Example IDL Planner Whole School

Planning in ELC Settings

This is an example of a planner that was used to ensure that an ELC setting was providing breadth and depth across CfE as well as planning for the developmental milestones and key skills.

‘In consideration of our children’s identified next steps, their current interests and our breadth tracker we look for an appropriate theme for learning.  When the theme has been decided, staff work together to identify a bundle of pertinent Es and Os coming from a range of curricular areas but always including numeracy and literacy.  We choose one wellbeing indicator to be the focus for the theme and select key skills from Argyll and Bute’s skills framework.  This is then all broken down into key learning intentions for the block and we decide what our stimulus will be for our children.  At this point we go back to the children with the stimulus and gather information on their prior learning and what they want to find out about.  We record their initial ideas, gather staff initial ideas and then send plans home to parents to gather their ideas.  At our planning meeting the following week we combine all ideas together to identify key areas for learning and plan ideas for the coming week.  The following weekly meetings are then used for moderation discussions and to plan the coming week of learning, ensuring that we are building on the children’s experiences each week.  We try to ensure that key learning can be observed in several areas of the setting.  Themes of learning can last for different periods of time depending on our evaluations of learning.’

Planning exemplar ELC

‘Planned learning is then assessed using an observation sheet.  This is completed following professional dialogue, using the literacy and numeracy trackers as support.’

Observation Sheet Space

Secondary Planning Exemplars

Example Planner Research skills
Example Planner Geography

Progression Planner Exemplars

These are examples of progression planners put together following whole school moderation of a key skill or theme.  They show the value added at each stage, from early level through to second level and beyond.

Assessment and moderation food chains
Presentation SC progression Jan-April
Beyond Number Term 3 Planner Assessment and Moderation
Reading Term 2 Planner Assessment and Moderation
Reading Term 4 Planner Assessment and Moderation Synthesising
Report Writing Progression Planner

Below are the resources that have been used on training and recall days for our AMFs and Head Teachers.  These can be downloaded and edited when delivering training in schools.

Training Presentations

BTC5, NIF and Our children their future

Creating effective holistic assessment tasks

Moderation in Adrishaig

Planning in Carradale ELC

Planning using the Moderation Cycle

Examples of Good Practice in Primary and Secondary

Transition Moderation Project – Cluster Level (Dalintober Primary)

Embedding Moderation in a Secondary School (Oban High School)

Holistic Assessments and the Moderation Cycle (St Columba’s Primary)

Holistic Assessments and the Moderation Cycle (Hermitage Academy)

Introducing Moderation in a Primary School (St Columba’s Primary)

Other Resources

Hinge Questions – what are they and examples

Holistic Assessment – what are they and how can they be used?

Advice from Head Teachers about introducing and embedding moderation