St Mary’s CE Primary School
Date of policy: Autumn Term 2016
Review date: Autumn Term 2017
ASSESSMENT POLICY
This policy has been written in line with the Final Report of the Commission on Assessment without Levels September 2015.
Aims
- To ensure children make progress, knowing their achievements and what they need to do next.
- To track the children internally for both attainment and progress.
- To ensure that teacher planning is amended to meet the needs of all children.
- To have a consistent approach that measures school progress against national standards.
In school day-to-day (formative) assessment
Daily teacher assessment is central to ensuring that our children make good and outstanding progress. All children in years 1 to 6 have a target setting record that plots their progress in Reading, Writing and Maths across the year term and sets next steps targets. This is done via a 1:1 meeting with each child on at least a termly basis. The record is discussed with parents at Parents’ Evening and sent home.
Day-to-day assessment includes question and answer sessions, discussions, observation and marking of work. Children may also be given activities at the beginning of a lesson intended to assess the depth of understanding of the previous day or lesson’s work.
During the term each child will be asked to evaluate themselves against the success criteria for the lesson or topic. On some occasions children will come together to assess each other’s work and identify areas of strength and development.
The use of ‘Can I?’ questions as titles for work gives the children clear objectives to work towards and a strong focus for marking.
Teacher assessment is backed up by daily Maths Minute tests and fortnightly Grammar Hammer and Maths Key Skills short tests. These are intended to highlight areas for development and to prepare children for the rigours of end of year tests. Class teachers use these to inform their planning each week to ensure that gaps in knowledge or skills are closed.
Foundation Subjects are assessed using teacher assessment as above. Tasks are set at the end of each topic to allow the children to share what they have learned. Key Assessment Criteria are set for each subject and the children are assessed as to whether they are beginning to meet the expectations, meeting the expectations or exceeding the expectations for the topic covered. This information is collected each term to provide an overview of each child’s performance by the end of the year.
Day-to-day assessment in the Early Years Foundation Stage
Evidence is collected through observation, discussion and teacher-led activities. This information is recorded in Learning Journeys. Tapestry is the online assessment tool used to collect evidence for each child. Parents can also provide evidence from home about progress their children have made which will be included in the learning journey for their child.
St Mary’s CE Primary School
Date of policy: Autumn Term 2016
Review date: Autumn Term 2017
ASSESSMENT POLICY (continued)
In school summative (end of term/topic) assessment
In Years 1 to 6 children are assessed against the Age Related Expectations for their year group. A nine point scale has been introduced to allow even small steps of progress to be recognised.
Beginning / Meeting / Exceeding1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9
Criteria / Below 50% of assessment criteria / 50-75% of assessment criteria / 75%+ of assessment criteria / 100% of assessment criteria but with occasional errors / Rarely makes an error / Confident and working at rapid rate / Just meeting mastery characteristics / Very confident / Exceptional
Each half term children complete tests in Reading, Writing and Maths. The results of these, along with the work in the children’s books inform the teacher as to the attainment of each child. Class data sheets are completed and the results inputted by the admin team into Otrack our online assessment and analysis tool. Otrack produces reports for each cohort to identify those children who are on track to achieve Age Related Expectation or above and those who are underachieving.
As with day-to-day assessment the end of half term tests inform the class teacher of any gaps in knowledge or skills which are then be addressed in the following half term’s planning.
Target records and reviews are sent home to parents at the two Parents’ Evenings in the autumn and spring terms. Information about the Key Assessment Criteria for each year group is also provided at this meeting or sent home. A full report on progress and attainment is sent home in the summer term.
The children are also assessed in the Foundation Subjects (History, Geography, P.E, R.E, PSHE, DT, Art, French, Science, IT and Music). Staff use a range of assessment activities and discussion to make judgements at the end of each topic or the end of the term. This data is then passed to each Subject Leader who will collate and analyse the results and use this information to develop the Subject Development Plan for the coming year. All staff will be informed of any areas of concern that will involve a change to planning. Information is also fed back to the Headteacher and the Governing Body in the form of an annual review document.
Summative Assessment in the Early Years Foundation Stage
The Early Excellence Baseline is used to assess children on entry to the Foundation Stage. Evidence is then gathered throughout each term to measure the children against the Development Matters month bands and by the end of the year the children are measured against the Early Learning Goals. This information is inputted into Tapestry and Otrack and a report is prepared for the school, the Local Authority and parents. This information is also used by the Year 1 teachers in order to set appropriate targets for each child and avoid disruptions in learning. A report is sent to parents at the end of the year informing them of their child’s progress towards the Early Learning Goals.
St Mary’s CE Primary School
Date of policy: Autumn Term 2016
Review date: Autumn Term 2017
ASSESSMENT POLICY (continued)
Nationally standardised summative assessment in years 1 – 6
Children in year 1 take the Phonics Check in June. Children who do not pass the test in this year will re-take it in year 2.
Children in years 2 and 6 complete the end of Key Stage One/Two assessment tests in Reading, Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar and Maths. Writing is also assessed across the year using Teacher Assessment.
Assessment for children with Special Educational Needs
Children identified as having SEN are assessed in the same way as other children using a mixture of day-to-day and summative (end of topic) assessments. If they are not working within the expectations of their year group targets are set that most match their abilities. For example a child in year 4 may be working towards year 3 objectives. Children are given the most appropriate test for their abilities. Children who are not working within at least year 1 of the curriculum are assessed using P-Scales.
Monitoring and evaluation
During the year regular work scrutiny takes place. Teachers work together to ensure that children’s work meets the school’s high standards as laid out in the Marking, Feedback and Presentation Policy. This is followed up by further work scrutiny conducted by the Senior Leadership Team.
Half termly progress meetings are held in each Key Stage. Staff discuss issues and offer each other support and advice. A termly progress meeting with the Headteacher focuses on data analysis and individual children who are not on track to meet Age Related Expectations or make at least good progress. Provision Maps set out the support in place for these children.
Assessment data informs performance management targets to ensure that pupil progress is at the heart of whole school improvement.
Writing and Maths are moderated at regular intervals by a range of staff. Some sessions are led by a member of the Senior Leadership Team. Each class teacher attends external writing moderation sessions for their year group to help to maintain and agree standards.
The Local Authority also moderates the work of the Foundation Stage and years 2 and 6 within their own timescales.
St Mary’s CE Primary School
Date of policy: Autumn Term 2016
Review date: Autumn Term 2017
ASSESSMENT POLICY (continued)
Roles and responsibilities
Governors monitor whole school attainment and progress data with the support of the HT and DHT.
The Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher moderate assessments regularly and provide data analysis report to staff and governors. They hold teachers to account for pupil progress using pupil progress meetings and performance management to address underperformance and set targets.
Teaching staff regularly assess the children and provide feedback. They adapt planning in line with the assessments to ensure good progress for all. They provide assessment information for parents and the children at least three times per year.
Teaching Assistants provide feedback to the teaching staff on progress and attainment of the children during each lesson and after intervention groups.
Parents support their children at home by listening to them read, learning tables and spellings and completing any other tasks set as part of the homework policy. They should also discuss their target record with them and check on progress towards the targets.
The children complete work to the highest standard and use feedback to improve in order to make the best progress possible.
Signed______Chair of Governors
Date ______
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