Assessment
Principles of Assessment
Assessment is the means used to evaluate children’s progress, and such it sits at the heart of teaching and learning at Greenleas. It is a continual process and is incorporated systematically into our teaching strategies with the aim of promoting better than expected progress for all pupils. Our aim is to ensure high quality teaching is supported and informed by our various types of assessment, allowing teachers to respond accurately to the learning needs of every pupil, including those with SEND. Pupils have an active role in their own assessment, identifying their own learning needs and how they could improve their work. They are continually encouraged to be reflective and have a good understanding of their own strengths and how they can develop their learning further. All our assessment has a clear purpose to ensure swift action and avoid unnecessary workload.
Assessment Approaches
At Greenleas Primary School, we see assessment as an integral part of teaching and learning, and it is inextricably linked to our curriculum.
We use 3 broad overarching forms of assessment: day-to-day in-school formative assessment, in-school summative assessment and nationally standardised summative assessment.
Formative Assessment
Effective formative assessment enables
➢ Teachers to identify how pupils are performing on a continuing basis and to use this information to provide appropriate support or extension, evaluate teaching and plan future lessons
➢ Pupils to measure their knowledge and understanding against learning objectives, and identify areas in which they need to improve
➢ Parents to gain a broad picture of where their child’s strengths and weaknesses lie, and what they need to do to improve
Formative assessment is an integral part of every lesson in our school. The underpinning pedagogy of our curriculum centres around research informed practice to support quality first teaching and ensure the children have in-depth learning opportunities. For example, Rosenshine’s Principles. We use various retrieval methods to recap on prior learning and ascertain through formative assessment what children can remember from previous teaching. This may be in the form of mini quizzes, ‘show me what you know about…’, quick fire questions answered on whiteboards or analysing/connecting images. Although retrieval practice is a form of teaching rather than formative assessment at its core, it can be a useful indicator as to concepts that are not embedded into children’s long-term memory. Throughout lessons formative assessment is continuous, via Rosenshine’s ‘checking for understanding’ and ‘questioning’ principles, and its key focus is on ensuring all children are active participants in the learning in order for teaching staff to check whether everyone has understood the key teaching points rather than using methods such as hands up which only involves gaining feedback from one child. Any gaps or misconceptions seen can then be acted upon via providing immediate feedback or by making a note to inform same day intervention if a misconception requires more time and explanation. Any large group or whole class gaps/misconceptions will change the structure of following lessons in the sequence to allow for these to be addressed. Children are aware of their role in this process and know they are required to contribute and answer all questions asked of them so the teacher can see who needs further explanation/support/clarification with the concept in hand.
Summative assessment
Effective in-school summative assessment enables:
➢ School leaders (SLT, Band Leaders, Subject Leads) to monitor the performance of pupil cohorts, identify where interventions may be required, and work with teachers to ensure pupils are supported to achieve sufficient progress and attainment
➢ Teachers to evaluate learning at the end of a unit or period and the impact of their own teaching
➢ Pupils to understand how well they have learned and understood a topic or course of work taught over a period of time. It should be used to provide feedback on how they can improve
➢ Parents to stay informed about the achievement, progress and wider outcomes of their child across a period
Summative assessment strategies in English and Maths at Greenleas includes, but not limited to:
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EYFS |
· On entry baseline activities · DfE Reception Baseline Assessment · Little Wandle Phonic Assessments and reading progression – LW phonic tracker · Common exception words reading checklists · TT summative teacher assessments – end of Autumn 1, end of Spring 1, Summer 2 · End of unit White Rose tests in maths which inform retrieval practice needed in next block. |
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KS1 |
· TT summative teacher assessments – steps for R, W, M end of Spring 1 and Summer 2 · Little Wandle Phonic Assessments and reading progression- LW phonic Tracker · Common exception word reading and spelling checklist · Reading fluency · Termly NTS standardised assessment tests in reading and maths – Autumn 2, Spring 2, Summer 2. · Half termly ‘mock’ Phonics Screening Checks (Y1 and Y2 resits) · End of unit White Rose tests in maths which inform retrieval practice needed in next block. |
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KS2 |
· TT summative teacher assessments – steps for R, W, M end of Spring 1 and Summer 2 · Common exception word reading and spelling checklist · Reading fluency using Collins ‘Assess Fluency in Reading: Reception to Year 6’ Resource · Tracking reading progression through ARE Book Bands (Big Cat) · Termly NTS standardised assessment tests in reading and maths – Autumn 2, Spring 2, Summer 2. · Little Wandle phonics assessment for any child who did not leave KS1 with a secure level of phonics · Half termly ‘mock’ PSC for any child who did not leave KS1 with a secure level of phonics · End of unit White Rose tests in maths which inform retrieval practice needed in next block. |
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End of topic assessments in Science and foundation subjects to inform of any end points which have not been learned/retained by children and need further teaching. These might be through multiple activities to gain a summative knowledge of what children have learnt in each topic and help them know and remember more. E.g. brain dumps, baseline questions/knowledge mats, presentations, quizzes etc.. |
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Children are assessed against the school’s learning objectives for our curriculum. See Appendix 1 assessment calendar
Nationally standardised summative assessment
Nationally standardised summative assessment enables:
➢ School leaders (SLT, Band Leaders, Subject Leads) to monitor the performance of pupil cohorts, identify where interventions may be required, and work with teachers to ensure pupils are supported to achieve sufficient progress and attainment
➢ Teachers to understand national expectations and assess their own performance in the broader national context
➢ Pupils and parents to understand how pupils are performing in comparison to pupils nationally
Nationally standardised summative assessments include:
➢ EYFS Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA)
- Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) profile at the end of reception
- Phonics screening check in Year 1
- Multiplication check in Year 4
- National Curriculum tests and teacher assessments at the end of KS1 (year 2) KS2 (year 6)
Collecting and using data
At Greenleas Primary school teacher assessment information for R, W and M is recorded by the class teacher on Target Tracker. Assessment against the statements takes place at least half termly or more regularly as a appropriate e.g., at the end of a unit of work. This information is used by class teachers to identify gaps, refine objectives and plan for the next half term for the class as a whole and also for targeted pupils. Targeted Tracker steps will be completed in Spring 1 and Summer 2 to support summative assessment information.
From 2023, NTS Assessment will be completed for Years 1-6 in reading and maths. Teachers will input test scores into the ‘MARK’ online system to ensure future provision takes account of the gap analysis. This termly collection of additional assessment information will ensure that teachers and leaders can analyse pupil progress more accurately for all groups, particularly pupils who are disadvantaged or have SEND.
Termly strategy meetings are held with SLT, to discuss outcomes from formative and summative assessments. The progress of individuals, classes and year groups as a whole will be the focus. Outcomes will then ensure provision is adapted where necessary for the following term.
Reporting to parents
Parent Consultations are held in Autumn1 and Spring 2 with individual appointments offered to all parents. Attainment and progress is discussed. Next steps are identified and shared. Final attainment and progress is reported via an annual written report in Summer 2.
Annual reports to parents include:
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- Strengths and next steps in R,W,M.
- Attainment and effort in all subjects
- Personalised comments on overall performance, successes etc
- Attendance, including total number of possible sessions and unauthorised as a percentage of possible attendance.
- The results of:
- EYFS
- Phonics
- Multiplication Check
- End of KS2 statutory TA (writing and science)
- End of KS2 statutory standards assessment outcomes (reading, maths, GPAS)