Our Assessment Process

 

Our assessment and tracking process is a reflective and evolving one, taking account of both the national expectations, and the need to closely monitor and plan effectively for the progress of our pupils, the development needs of groups and cohorts of children and the school as a whole.

 

How and why we assess children to support their learning

On-Going Daily Assessments

Teachers and Teaching Assistants continuously make assessments to find out how children are progressing and to enable them to identify the next steps required to move their learning forward. For example, this may include making observations, asking questions to check understanding and marking work and providing feedback.

Marking Guidelines

Summative Assessments

The children from Year 1 to Year 6 undertake a termly assessment in reading, writing and maths.

To ensure reliability of these assessments, and consistency in reading and maths across the school, we use a range of commercially produced tests in reading and maths which have the benefit of being moderated across a wide range of pupils nationwide.

In writing, each child completes an unaided piece of writing which is Teacher Assessed against checklists that are linked to the expectations set out in the 2014 English National Curriculum for writing. We then benchmark these against the DfE published exemplification files.

The termly tests and assessments help to inform teacher assessments, give children test practice, prepare them for the Government’s end of key-stage assessments and are used by the Headteacher/ Assessment Leader to track every child’s progress as they move through the school.

The data is also analysed by the Headteacher/ Assessment Leader to look for trends within cohorts of children, groups of children, for example, on the basis of gender, eligibility for Pupil Premium, and the school as a whole to ensure that the curriculum is adjusted appropriately to fully meet the needs of the pupils. The data is also used to inform School Development Planning.

In subjects other than English and Maths teachers keep a record of attainment and progress for the unit of work by assessing pupils against the relevant objectives in the area of study and the National Curriculum 2014.

Government Assessments

The Government require us to administer assessments annually in the EYFS, Year 1 (Phonics Screening), Year 2 (SATs- Reading and Maths), Year 4 (Multiplication Tables Check) and Year 6 (SATs- Reading, SPaG and Maths).

Writing assessments in Year 2 and 6 are matched to the exemplification files provided by the DfE.

More information on these assessments can be found by clicking the links below.

EYFS Baseline and Assessment Profile

Year 1 Phonics Screening

Year 2 (SATS)

Year 4 (Multiplication Tables Check)

Year 6 (SATS)

 

Tracking

Class Teachers track the assessments made during lessons and use this to inform their future planning and to keep a record of progress and attainment. This is used to advise parents/ carers at the termly parent/ carer consultation evenings and in the child’s annual school report.

The Headteacher/ Assessment Leader tracks the termly assessment results of every child on a central whole school tracking system. This is to enable us to react quickly should the attainment and progress of any child appear not be as expected or predicted. It also enables the Headteacher/ Assessment Leader to track and respond to trends in groups of children, cohorts or the school community as a whole. It also allows the Headteacher/ Assessment Leader to track the success and impact of any initiatives or interventions put in place to support children and their learning.

 

Reporting

Pupils are assessed against the end of year expectations for the child’s year group, as described in the National Curriculum 2014. Children’s ability in a subject is described as working towards, working at or working in greater depth within these expectations.

We hold Parent/Carer Consultation Evenings during the Autumn and Spring Terms. In the Summer Term we provide every Parent/ Carer with their child’s annual school report. The report covers the child’s attainment, progress, effort and learning behaviour in all areas of the National Curriculum and also includes a detailed pastoral section which focuses on aspects relating to the personal development of the child, including their mental well-being.

The Class Teachers and the Headteacher/ Assessment Leader are always willing to meet parents and carers at other points in the year should a parent/ carer wish to discuss any aspect of their child’s learning. Appointments can be made by approaching the Class Teacher at the end or beginning of the school day, speaking to the Headteacher/ Assessment Leader before school while he is in the playground in the morning or by contacting the school office on (01449) 613208 or admin@greatfinborough.suffolk.sch.uk