Assessment

What is Assessment?

Effective assessment provides information to improve teaching and learning. We give children regular feedback on their learning so that they understand what it is that they need to do better.

This allows us to base our lesson plans on a detailed knowledge of each pupil. We give parents and carers regular written and verbal reports on their child’s progress so that teachers, children and parents and carers are all working together to raise standards for all our children. Since the removal of National Curriculum Levels descriptors and the implementation of the New Curriculum we have created a system which is aligned to the expectations of the new national curriculum. We will be reporting children’s attainment in terms of their age related expectations e.g. working at, below or above where our child is for their age.

Two distinct types of assessment are used throughout the school. These are:

Assessment for Learning (AfL)

AfL helps to identify the next steps needed to make progress. It takes account of pupils’ strengths as well as weaknesses. AfL is informative. Different strategies are used on a daily basis between adults and children. Examples of AfL include: targeted questioning, problems or activities within lessons that allow children to identify what they already know and quality, close the gap marking and feedback.

Assessment of Learning

This is more associated with judgements based on overall grades or rankings as determined by level thresholds set nationally by the Department for Education. Assessment of children’s learning is also linked to public accountability and standards across schools. We use the following formal assessment procedures to measure outcomes against schools locally and nationally:

• A baseline assessment at the start of Reception
• End of Early Years Foundation Stage assessments
• Year 1 Phonics Screening Test
• End of Key Stage 1 (Year 2) teacher assessments
• Year 2 re-takes of Phonics Screening
• End of Key Stage 2 (Year 6) SATs (Standardised Assessment Tests)

Summative assessments are also used in class to inform both class teachers and pupils of how much a child has learned, internalised or understood. For example, children will be tested regularly on their spelling, rapid recall and mental arithmetic skills or knowledge of times tables. Each term in Years 1-6 children take standardised tests to help us measure progress from term to term.

Assessment without Levels

National Curriculum attainment is measured against age related expectations in Key Stages One and Two.

These are as follows: