Introduction
At Our Lady's we believe that effective assessment provides information to improve teaching and learning for all pupils. Through a variety of assessment techniques we are able to give all pupils regular feedback on what they are doing well and how can continue to improve their learning.
Since the removal of National Curriculum Levels descriptors and the implementation of the New Curriculum, we have reviewed a variety of assessment systems. After reviewing the available systems the school has produced a series of stepped targets for Speaking and Listening, Reading, Writing, Mathematics and the non-core subjects.
Why do we assess?
Assessment provides valuable information to help children, teachers, parents and school leaders to acknowledge, analyse and review achievements and progress in learning against expected standards. Our assessments inform our immediate and long term planning and also give different information.
· Children - the learners - assessment provides an understanding of where they are secure, what it is that they need to do to rectify any gaps and the next steps needed to extend their learning
· Teachers – assessment gives detailed knowledge of children’s achievements which they can use to inform future learning, their planning and their teaching
· Parents and carers – assessment informs regular reports on their child’s progress in meeting expectations and ensures that teachers, children and parents can work together to secure learning and raise standards for all children
· School leaders and governors – assessment provides information that they can analyse and use to make decisions about future actions to improve standards, learning and teaching in the school
· External agencies and partners (such as those schools organisations in which a pupil will receive the next stage of their education, or the Council, the DfE and Ofsted) – assessment provides the evidence that a school knows its children well and sets and maintains high standards in learning and teaching as part of the school’s public accountability to its children’s future.
What are schools and settings statutorily required to assess?
Teachers carry out day to day assessments and checks on children’s understanding and progress as part of their day to day teaching. Statutory, formal assessment procedures and examinations also exist to measure attainment against national expectations. Our children’s achievements are compared nationally with all those children of the same age and against schools in the local authority and in England.
What is assessment?
Assessment is much broader than just 'taking a test'; there are 2 main types of assessment - summative and formative assessment. Summative assessment looks at what a pupil has learnt at the end of a period of time, relative to the learning objective and relevant national standards. Summative assessment may take the form of a test, observation, conversation or task. Formative assessment (or assessment for learning) takes place during learning and allows the teacher to adapt learning to address gaps or extend the pupil.
Summative assessment
The new National Curriculum was tested at Key Stages 1 and 2 for the first time in 2016 based on interim frameworks. In 2017, testing will follow the same format as shown below.
At Key Stage 1 pupils sit
· 2 reading papers;
· 2 mathematics papers.
These papers will be teacher marked and the raw scores for each subject (set of papers) will be converted into a scaled score and each child will receive an overall result indicating whether or not they have achieved the required standard on the test.
In 2016, at Key Stage 2 pupils sit
· 1 reading paper;
· 2 papers designed to assess grammar, punctuation and spelling;
· 3 mathematics papers.
These papers will be externally marked and the raw scores for each subject (set of papers) will be converted into a scaled score and each child will receive an overall result indicating whether or not they have achieved the required standard on the test.
We administer the following statutory formal assessment procedures to measure outcomes against all schools locally and nationally.
Assessment |
Reported as |
|
End of EYFS |
% of pupils achieving a 'Good Level of Development' |
Pupils are teacher assessed against the Early Goals in all areas and given a level of emerging, expected or exceeding in each area |
End of Year 1 - phonics screening check |
% of pupils achieving the required level |
1:1 phonics decoding check completed by all Year 1 pupils nationally |
End of Year 2 |
% of pupils achieving expected levels in reading; grammar, punctuation and spelling (GPS); writing; maths; speaking & listening and science |
Tests and teacher assessment in reading, GPS and maths and teacher assessment in writing speaking & listening and science |
End of Key Stage 2 |
% of pupils achieving expected levels in reading, writing, Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling (GPS), maths and science |
Tests in reading, GPS and maths and teacher assessment in writing and science |
In addition to the statutory tests we record progress towards end of year expectations in each class at least 3 times a year. All assessment is made by the teacher using some formal tests but also based on what they observe in class. Writing is teacher assessed in all classes through regular Big Writes (at least 2 each half term).
Pupils in Year 1 – 6 also complete the Burt reading assessment which gives an indication of decoding / sight reading skills.
|
Term 1 |
Term 2 |
Term 3 |
Term 4 |
Term 5 |
Term 6 |
EYFS |
Baseline assessment |
Teacher assessment |
Teacher assessment |
Teacher assessment |
Teacher assessment |
EYFS assessment |
Year 1 |
Baseline assessment |
Teacher assessment Assessment tests |
Burt reading test |
Teacher assessment Assessment tests |
|
Phonics screening test Teacher assessment Assessment tests |
Year 2 |
Baseline assessment Burt reading test Spelling test |
Teacher assessment Assessment tests |
Burt reading test |
Teacher assessment
Assessment tests |
KS1 SATs |
Phonics screening test re-sits
|
Year 3 |
Baseline assessment Burt reading test Spelling test |
Teacher assessment Assessment tests |
Burt reading test |
Teacher assessment
Assessment tests |
|
Teacher assessment
Assessment tests |
Year 4 |
Baseline assessment Burt reading test Spelling test |
Teacher assessment Assessment tests |
Burt reading test |
Teacher assessment
Assessment tests |
|
Teacher assessment
Assessment tests |
Year 5 |
Baseline assessment Burt reading test Spelling test |
Teacher assessment Assessment tests |
Burt reading test |
Teacher assessment
Assessment tests |
|
Teacher assessment
Assessment tests |
Year 6 |
Baseline assessment Burt reading test Spelling test |
Teacher assessment Assessment tests |
Burt reading test |
Teacher assessment
Assessment tests |
KS2 SATs |
|
In addition to these more formal forms of testing, class teachers may also administer spelling, multiplication and mental mathematics tests throughout the year.
Formative assessment
Assessment for Learning (AfL) takes place within every lesson through a variety of practices. The key features of AfL at Our Lady's are
· clear learning objectives and success criteria for each lesson - these are in pupil-friendly language;
· use of questioning techniques to assess knowledge and understanding and to extend thinking around a topic;
· valuing the responses and opinions of all pupils and encouraging them to see errors as a learning opportunity;
· giving specific and constructive feedback which indicates how pupils can improve and the steps they need to take in order to do so;
· encouraging pupils to reflect on their learning and to monitor their own progress, by means of self and peer assessment;
· pupil involvement in setting personal targets to challenge and review their progress against end of year targets.
How will attainment be reported?
Due to the changes that have been made in assessment, pupils’ attainment will be gauged as commencing, developing, secure, advancing or deep for the year group they are working in. The pupil assessment group have selected a colour scheme to indicate the different codes and make them easier to follow in class. Exceptionally, some pupils may be working within the learning objectives of a different year group and this will be indicated when it is different to their school year.
|
|
Code |
Explanation |
|
Commencing |
Comm |
Pupil has started working within year group targets |
|
Developing |
Dev |
Pupil has progressed towards expected end of year targets |
|
Secure |
Sec |
Pupil has reached expected end of year targets |
|
Advancing |
Adv |
Pupil is working above expected end of year targets |
|
Deep |
Deep |
Pupil is showing a deep understanding of skills covered and applying them in all areas |
In the EYFS pupils are assessed across the 7 areas of learning and in their Characteristics of Learning. Attainment is recorded in age bands and in June pupils are assessed against the Early Learning Goals (ELG) at which time they will be judged as emerging, expected or exceeding for each ELG.
Pupil attainment will be reported to parents at parents’ evenings; on end of year reports and where applicable on class provision maps.
Pupil involvement
On Monday mornings all pupils are given the opportunity to respond to teacher feedback in their books. These sessions allow pupils to improve their work and consolidate their understanding and are combined with a review of their targets. This means all pupils are aware of how to produce work that meets expectations and what their next steps are. As part of these learning review sessions, pupils also consider their learning behaviour and how they have used their learnt skills across the curriculum.
In addition, there is a pupil assessment group who have worked with the Leadership Team to develop assessment within the school and in designing class posters to support pupil independence and their understanding of assessment and their next steps.
Day to day |
Effective practice could include |
Sharing learning objectives with pupils
|
Share learning objectives at the beginning of the lesson and, where appropriate, during the lesson in language that pupils can understand. |
Helping pupils to know and recognise the standards they are aiming for
|
Show pupils’ work which has met criteria, with explanations of why. |
Involving pupils in peer- and self-assessment
|
Give pupils clear opportunities to talk about what they have learned, and what they have found difficult, using the learning objectives as a focus. Use of plenary mat questions to deepen understanding and reflection on learning. |
Providing feedback which leads to pupils recognising their next steps and how to take them |
Value oral as well as written feedback. |
Promoting confidence that every pupil can improve |
Identify small steps to enable pupils to see their progress, thus building confidence and self-esteem. |
Involving both teacher and pupil in reviewing and reflecting on assessment information
|
Reflect with pupils on their work, e.g. through a storyboard of steps taken during an investigation. |
Termly |
Effective practice could include |
Monitoring of books
|
Provide time for all staff to review progress, coverage and marking and feedback in books. Middle leaders hold the overview of this task |
Moderation across year groups and phases of learning
|
Provide time for regular moderation of work linked to the National Curriculum |
Formal testing |
Use a range of commercially produced materials to undertake a snap shot view of pupil attainment. This snap shot should confirm judgments made by the gathering of the above evidence |
Pupil progress meetings |
Time provided for senior leaders, teachers and teaching assistants to review progress of learning |
Parent Evenings |
In Years 4 – 6, pupils lead the meetings with parents and carers and sharing what they do well and what they need to do better. These meetings are quality assured by teachers, who highlight key issues that pupils may need to focus on. |
Yearly reports
|
Reports summarise the achievements for pupils during the year. |
What are the key features of our assessment procedures?
Our assessment procedures will continue to give attention to helping children to meet or exceed national expectations and achieve the highest standards they can over each key stage of their learning. The National Curriculum sets out what our children are to learn but we decide how we are to assess our children’s attainment and progress over the key stage.
Our assessment procedures will:
What procedures will be in place to ensure assessment is rigorous?
We draw on the expertise that is available in our school, locally and in partnership with other schools, and nationally as further information and guidance is made public. We implement monitoring and evaluation procedures regularly (see timetable) and maintain a continuing overview of the whole in-school assessment through: