The National Curriculum (Desirable Outcomes, Educational Programmes and Baseline and End of Phase Assessment Arrangements for the Foundation Phase) (Wales) (Amendment) Order 2016

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

Under section 108(2) of the Education Act 2002 the Welsh Ministers may specify, by Order, the areas of learning for the foundation phase and in relation to each of those areas of learning such desirable outcomes, programmes of study and assessment arrangements as they consider appropriate.

Part 3 of the National Curriculum (Desirable Outcomes, Educational Programmes and Baseline and End of Phase Assessment Arrangements for the Foundation Phase) (Wales) Order 2015 (“the 2015 Order”) sets out the assessment arrangements that must be carried out by a practitioner in relation to each pupil in the reception year of the foundation phase. Part 4 of the 2015 Order sets out the assessment arrangements that must be carried out by a practitioner in relation to each pupil in the last year of the foundation phase. The 2015 Order provides that the baseline and end of phase assessment arrangements must be carried out in accordance with the Foundation Phase Profile handbook.

Article 7 of the 2015 Order provides that the baseline assessment must be carried out within 6 weeks of a child first attending as a pupil in a reception class in a maintained school or as soon as reasonably practicable after that if for exceptional reasons it cannot be carried out in that period. The 2015 Order defines reception class as a class where education is provided suitable to 5 year olds and any child under or over that age who it is expedient to educate with 5 year olds.

This Order amends the definition of “profile handbook” in article 3 of the 2015 Order so as to give legal effect to the new version of the “profile handbook”. The “profile handbook” has been updated and was published by the Welsh Ministers in June 2016.

Article 3 of the 2015 Order has also been amended so as to omit the definition of reception class and insert a new definition of “baseline assessment year” and “compact profile skills”. The definition of “level of attainment” is also amended to include a new level of “above outcome 6”. The baseline assessment year is defined to mean the school year where the pupil attains the age of 5. Article 7 of the 2015 Order is amended so that the baseline assessment must be carried out within 6 weeks of a child first entering the baseline assessment year or as soon as reasonably practicable after that if for exceptional reasons it cannot be carried out in that period. Therefore, the effect of the amendment is that the earliest a pupil may be subject to a baseline assessment is at age 4 (article 2(a), (b) and (d)).

This Order also inserts a new paragraph (4) into articles 5 (baseline assessment) and 8 (end of phase assessment) in order to make it clear that only 1 baseline and end of phase assessment is required for each pupil (article 2(c) and (e)).

The Welsh Ministers’ Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered in relation to this Order. As a result, it was not considered necessary to carry out a regulatory impact assessment as to the likely costs and benefits of complying with these Regulations.