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Wreningham V.C. Primary School
Assessment and Moderation Policy
All policies at Wreningham VC Primary School should be taken as part of the overall strategy of the school and implemented within the context of our vision, aims and values as a Church of England School
Headteacher: Mr RP Jones
Raising Standards Committee
Chair Full Governing Body: Mrs Chrissie Baldwin
A new National Curriculum framework was introduced from September 2014. The old and new curriculum have different content. Many of the objectives in the old curriculum have shifted to lower year groups in the new curriculum, this means it is not possible to have an exact correlation between a level that was the outcome of the old National Curriculum assessment and the requirements new National Curriculum.
Because the new National Curriculum does not fit the system of levels, the Government has changed the assessment model from 2014 – it is in the process of removing the system of levels, moving towards a system of measuring against end of year standards and key stage performance descriptors. There is now an age expectation for achievement at the end of each year of primary education.
To help move towards the change, the school is changing its assessment system during this year. During the academic year 2014-15, the school is in a period of transition from old levels to new assessment descriptors:
· For this current Y2 and Y6 the pupils will be tested as in previous years and pupils’ levels will be reported to parents in the summer - 2015. (From 2016 this will be different.)
· Children in Year 1 will carry out the phonic screening check in June 2015 – statutory.
· Children in Year 2 will be teacher assessed, using SATs materials to support teachers’ level judgements. In May 2015 children will use 2007 SATs materials in Year 2 to support final judgements. The level that children are assessed at will be reported to parents at the end of the year.
· Children who did not pass the phonics test in Year 1 will complete the phonics test in June 2015 and their mark will be reported to parents.
· Children in Year 6 will carry out SATs tests in SP&G, Maths and Reading during May 2015. Writing will be teacher assessed against NC 2013 levels. Levels will be reported to parents in the end of year reports.
Pupils from Y1 to Y6 will continued to be assessed using NC 2013 levels by ongoing formative assessment in the autumn, spring and summer term, supported by test data. We have a test week in January - children are tested using SATs papers, SATs tasks, and QCA tests. This is repeated in the summer term with children tested in a week in May. We will continue track pupils’ progress across the school.
Writing - pupils will continue to complete a piece of writing at the end of a unit of work which is levelled using NC 2013 levels and included in pupils’ purple writing books. Two or more pieces of writing are completed each term and the pieces are used alongside classwork to assess pupils against level descriptors.
Reading/Maths – assessment is both ongoing and termly; progress is tracked against NC 2013 levels. Teacher assessment is supported with SATs papers, SATs tasks, and QCA tests as described above. Tracking and pupil progress meetings will use NC 2013 levels.
Our new assessment system - Assessing without levels Over the course of 2014-2015 we will be trialling new methods of assessment, assessing children against the new curriculum descriptors. Pupils’ attainment in all year groups (except Y2 and Y6) will be assessed against age expectations in the new national curriculum. The process will be staggered over the year to ensure accuracy and understanding of the new system.
We will use the National Curriculum PoS criteria to assess outcomes for children for each curriculum year assigning one from three stages - for example:
· Beginning - Evidence of some aspects of the criteria (e.g. up to about 20%) - may be occasional but not yet frequent
· Developing - Secure in many aspects of the criteria (e.g. up to 50/60%)
· Embedded - Secure in almost all or all the end of year expectations – more than 80% of age-related objectives have been achieved. The pupil can use and apply their knowledge and skills confidently.
· Mastering - Children who have securely met the end of year objectives will be assessed as exceeding or ‘mastering’ objectives for their age group. Rather than moving onto the next year’s curriculum these children will work on ‘mastering’ their knowledge through the application of skills in different contexts – they will be deepening their learning.
The stage assigned will be a ‘best fit’ with teacher judgement. Evidence should come from application across the curriculum as children use their reading, writing and mathematical skills independently within wider learning and problem-solving activities. For example;
•A child achieving only a few reading objectives for Year 1 would be classed as working at the beginning Year 1 expectation
· A child achieving half or so of the mathematics objectives for Year 5 would be classed as working at the developing Year 5 expectation for maths
· A child that has achieved all the objectives set out for Year 3 for Reading (and no further) would be said to be working at the Embedded Year 3 expectation for English.
Writing Y1, Y3, Y4 and Y5 will be assessed against age expectations in the new curriculum. Standardisation of writing in staff meetings will be used to compare how writing assessed with the new curriculum age expectations relates to previous NC 2013 levels. The school uses ‘Big Writing’ materials to support this process.
Maths/Reading Teachers assess and track pupils against new national curriculum age criteria. This is done using Pupil Asset.
Teachers can identify a smaller number of ‘Key Performance Indicators’ (KPIs) taken from the national curriculum programmes of study, supporting the focus on core learning criteria.
Exemplification materials will be put together containing work that has been agreed as a school to exemplify attainment at particular year groups.
Pupil Asset will be used to track progress across the school. We will be replacing Average Point Scores (APS) with Tracking Points. Tracking Points can be used to examine progress and attainment numerically. All year groups move on 6 tracking points in a year, with mastering being a seventh point.
Summative - Pupils will be identified as achieving the national expected standard, or working below or above that standard. As well as this headline information, the school will have information about relative areas of strength and weakness for each pupil.
Early Years - Reception
Children in Reception will continue to be assessed against the Prime and Specific areas of Learning in the EYFS profile. Assessments will be based on observation of daily activities and events. At the end of Reception for each Early Learning Goal, teachers will judge whether a child is meeting the level of development expected at the end of the Reception year:
•Emerging, not yet reached the expected level of development
•Expected
•Exceeding, beyond the expected level of development for their age.
The principles that underpin our new assessment system are:
· to provide information to support progression in learning through planning
· to provide information for target setting for individuals, groups and cohorts
· to share learning goals with children
· to involve children with self assessment
· to help pupils know and recognise the standards they are aiming for
· to raise standards of learning
· to identify children for intervention
· to inform parents and other interested parties of children’s progress
· to complete a critical self evaluation of the school
Assessment for Learning
Assessment opportunities, which are a natural part of teaching and learning, are constantly taking place in the classroom through discussion, listening and analysis of work. It is essential teachers know how well a child has progressed and that pupils understand how well they are doing and have support in the next steps of their learning.
To achieve this at Wreningham School we will:
· evaluate pupils learning to identify those pupils with particular needs (including those who are able) so that any issues can be addressed in subsequent lessons
· adjust plans to meet the needs of the pupils, differentiating objectives as appropriate
· ensure pupils are shown the learning objective and encourage them to evaluate their progress so that they understand the next steps they need to make
· set individual, challenging targets in numeracy and literacy on a regular basis and discuss these with the pupils so that they are involved in the process regularly share these targets with parents to include them in supporting their child’s learning
· encourage pupils to evaluate their own work against success criteria based upon specific, key learning objectives
· mark work so that it is constructive and informative in accordance with the marking policy
· incorporate both formative and summative assessment opportunities in medium and short term planning
· assess all subjects termly using a common format and make relevant comments about pupils progress, especially those working below or above the national average (see Marking Policy)
· Pass on assessment file to the next class teacher so children can be tracked as they progress through the school
· Use Assessment for learning strategies such as:
- working walls
- targets
- success criteria
- self and peer evaluation
- discussion and talk
- conditions for learning – display
- learning journey – children know what is next
Formal Assessment Cycle
Formal assessment is a systematic part of our school’s work which will be used to track each cohort in the school. It is through an effective tracking system that the needs of every pupil can be met and that the school develops a clear understanding of how to raise standards.
The Assessment cycle at Wreningham School will include data from:
· Statutory tests – Foundation Stage Profile, End of Key Stage Tests
· Optional QCA Standardised Tests in KS2 in January and May
· Termly teacher assessments in Numeracy from work with focus groups using pitch and expectations from the renewed framework
· Mapping grids to show pupils progress from entry and in comparison with national expectations.
· On going teacher assessments in all subjects on a termly basis, including science and ICT
The regular reviewing of tracking data will give teachers the opportunity to revise and refine targets for the class. It is in recognising the individual abilities of pupils, that the school can make finely, tuned adjustments for target setting for each cohort. The discipline of regularly analysing pupils’ attainment will ensure that every pupil has challenging and realistic targets set for them and that the path of reaching those targets is determined through effective classroom organisation; setting learning groups and careful planning.
To achieve this at Wreningham School we will:-
· Complete pupil progress meeting each term (and more frequently if required)
· follow the Assessment cycle and update the data on a regular basis.
· use information to identify percentages of children working at each level within a cohort
· analyse the data and review targets for individuals and use the information to identify intervention groups, including those pupils who are gifted and able and those with special educational needs
· set cohort targets for numeracy and literacy and share information with Head Teacher, assessment coordinator, SENCO, subject leaders and governors
· work with colleagues to moderate and level writing at least every term
· analyse data at the end of academic year to track ‘value added’ progress made
· pass cohort data and analysis to next teacher
Reporting
Reporting to parents / carers provides the opportunity for communication about their child’s achievements, abilities and future targets. The end of year reports will be written so that they have a positive effect on pupils’ attitudes, motivation and self esteem.
At Wreningham VC School we will:-
· provide opportunities for two parent consultation evenings so that parents can discuss how well their child has settled and be involved in target setting process; have opportunities for a mid-year progress report and have a final end of year report.
· provide end of year written report which include results of statutory tests and assessments and gives information relating to progress and attainment
· Discuss pupil progress at the request of parent by appointment.
The assessment co-ordinator will:
· formulate the school’s assessment policy in consultation with the headteacher, staff and governors
· review the policy regularly in the light of statutory requirements and the needs of the school
· provide support and guidance with assessment and keep up to date with current information
· resource school with relevant tests and update assessment cycle
· maintain the ‘tracking file’ and consult with all staff about the targets set
· highlight pupils who have made no progress or are working below expectations
· analyse results to identify attainment and progress made by pupils and for groups of pupils such as those on free school meals, gender, vulnerable children and children from an ethnic background
· report to governors regarding the policy, statutory test results and cohort targets
Pupil Progress Meetings
Each half term, each teacher will complete a Pupil Progress Meeting Proforma. This will inform the discussion between the Class Teacher and Headteacher at the Pupil Progress Meeting. Discussions and results will be considered when allocating human resources (TAs) as well as deciding on intervention programmes and progress towards achieving Performance Management objectives.
Moderation
Moderation is important to ensure a consistent approach in assessment throughout the school. It is important that when teacher assessments are carried out, there is evidence recorded to justify judgements made.