Assessment Policy Norton Road Primary School, Luton

Good Practice and Vision:

• We believe that effective assessment provides information to improve teaching and learning. It is a fundamental part of a practitioner’s teaching for learning process, i.e. assess – plan – teach – assess etc...

• We give learners regular feedback on their learning so that they understand what it is that they need to do better. This allows us to base our lesson plans on a detailed knowledge of each pupil. We give parents regular written and verbal reports on their child’s progress so that teachers, children and parents are all working together to raise standards for all our children.

• Target Tracker is used as our school-wide summative recording tool.

• We will also use Target Tracker to provide a view on how assessment beyond levels may look, and adopt a 2014 National Curriculum steps approach. Regardless of this we will work in partnership with the local authority and any other external agencies (e.g. DFE / NFER) to design new assessment tools as appropriate.

• We provide an approximate best - fit levels to steps ‘translation’ sheet as a guide for teachers which may be provided to other colleagues, parents, children and external agencies as necessary.

• 1. include a levels to steps ‘translation’ sheet as a guide at the end of this policy.

   

Aims and objectives of ASSESSMENT:

• The aims and objectives of assessment in our school are:

  a) To enable our children to demonstrate what they know, understand and can do;

  b) To help our children understand what they need to do next to improve their work;

  c) To allow teachers to plan work that accurately reflects the needs of each child;

  d) To provide regular information for parents that enable them to support their child’s learning;

1. To provide school leaders and governors with information that allows them to make judgements about the effectiveness of the school.

Overview:

Assessment is not a singular activity; it is about measurement of performance at a given point in time and a way of gaining information to promote future learning. Our first point of principle should be to hold on to aspects of assessment that aim to measure what we value rather than simply valuing what we are able to measure. Secondly, we acknowledge that there are two distinct types of assessment used by the school. These include:

•Assessment for learning helps to identify the next steps needed to make progress. It informs teacher planning. It takes account of pupils’ strengths as well as weaknesses. Please see also our Marking policy, and our Teaching and Learning policy.

•Assessment of learning is more associated with judgements based on grades and ranks, tracking of progress and with public accountability. This will also have a part to play in performance management of staff, most especially teachers. Please see our Performance Management / Appraisal policies.

Assessment of learning.

Therefore we use the following formal assessment procedures to measure outcomes against all schools nationally:

•end of EYFS

◦ (% of pupils achieving a “Good Level of Development”)

•Phonics Screening Test at the end of Year 1

◦ (% of pupils achieving the required screening check score)

•End of KS1

◦ % of pupils achieving the required step and above in reading, writing, maths, speaking and listening, and science.

•End of KS2

◦% of pupils achieving required step and above in reading, writing, maths and science.

◦% of pupils making expected or better progress in reading, writing, maths and science.

Good assessment practice will:

•raise standards of attainment and behaviour, and improve pupil attitudes and response

•enable the active involvement of pupils in their own learning by providing effective feedback which closes the gap between present performance and future standards required

•promote pupil self-esteem through a shared understanding of the learning processes and the routes to improvement

•build on secure teacher knowledge of the diverse linguistic and cultural background of pupils

•guide and support the teacher as planner, provider and evaluator

•enable the teacher to adjust teaching to take account of assessment information and to focus on how pupils learn and draw upon as wide a range of evidence as possible using a variety of assessment activities

•track pupil performance and in particular identify those pupils at risk of underachievement

•provide information which can be used by teachers and managers as they plan for individual pupils and cohorts

•provide information which can be used by parents or carers to understand their pupils’ strengths, weaknesses and progress

•provide information which can be used by other interested parties

•provide information which can be used to evaluate a school’s performance against its own previous attainment over time and against national standards.

The purpose of Assessment for learning is to:

•Provide insight into pupils’ learning for both pupils and teachers

•Promote success for all

•Enable continuous reflection on what pupils know now and what they need to know next (feedback and feed forward)

•Measure what is valued

•Promote immediate intervention and link judgements to learning intentions

•Raise standards by taking pupils to the ‘edges of possibility’

Implications for teaching

The teacher will:

•Provide continuous oral and written feedback which identifies strengths and the next step for improvement

•Promote pupil involvement in self-assessment

•Act on insights gained to inform personal targets

•Plan against what children know/can do/understand

•Provide opportunities for all pupils to demonstrate their achievements in their first language

•Make standards and objectives explicit to pupils

•Promote inclusion by attending to all pupils’ learning needs, particularly for pupils who are at risk of underachievement

•Engage pupils in rich questioning with ‘wait’ time

•Build in time for focused observation of teacher-directed and child-initiated activity

Impact on learning and the learner

The pupil will:

•Know what to do to improve

•Know what standards are required

•Know what has been achieved against known success criteria and what to do next

•Gain confidence, motivation and self-esteem as a learner

•Improve own self-evaluation skills

•Make progress

The purpose of Assessment of learning is to:

•Provide a summary judgement about what has been learned at a specific point in time

•Establish national benchmarks about what children can do and about school performance

•Show what pupils can do without support

•Hold the school to public account

Implications for teaching

The teacher will:

•Provide a periodic summary through teacher assessment and formal tests

•Identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge and understanding

•Identify weaknesses in the taught curriculum and in specific areas of learning through analysis of performance which can guide future planning

•Implement strategies to accelerate progress to meet local and national expectations (narrowing the gap)

•Mark and measure against expectations outlined in the National Curriculum

Impact on learning and the learner

The pupil will:

•Be able to gauge own performance against previous performance

•Be able to measure own performance against externally agreed criteria and standards

•Have a measure of performance at specific milestones in life

•Know what standards and expectations are required

Types of assessment.

Day to day

Effective practice would 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.

Use these objectives as the basis for questioning and feedback during plenaries.

Evaluate this feedback in relation to achievement of the learning objectives to inform the next stages of planning.

Helping pupils to know and recognise the standards they are aiming for

Show pupils’ work which has met criteria, with explanations of why.

Give pupils clear success criteria then relate it to the learning objectives.

Model what it should look like. For example, exemplify good writing on the board.

Ensure that there are clear, shared expectations about the presentation of work.

Provide displays of pupils’ work which shows work-in-progress as well as finished product.

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.

Encourage pupils to work/discuss together, focusing on how to improve.

Ask pupils to explain the steps in their thinking. ‘How did you get that answer?’ for example.

Give time for pupils to reflect on their learning.

Identify with pupils the next steps in learning.

Providing feedback which leads to pupils recognising their next steps and how to take them

Value oral as well as written feedback.

Ensure feedback is constructive rather than positive, identifying what the pupil has done well, what needs to be done to improve, and how to do it.

Identify the next steps for individuals and groups as appropriate.

Promoting confidence that every pupil can improve

Identify small steps to enable pupils to see their progress, thus building confidence and self-esteem.

Encourage pupils to explain their thinking and reasoning within a secure classroom ethos.

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.

Pupils and teachers collaborate with progressing towards next steps targets. They monitor their own progress against their targets alongside teachers. Pupils also self assess and peers assess progress against learning objectives and targets.

Choose appropriate tasks to provide quality assessment information (emphasis on process, not just the correct answer).

Provide time for pupils to reflect on what they have learned and understood, and to identify where they still have difficulties.

Pupils to have opportunities to assess their own work against learning objectives or their own targets.

Pupils to have opportunities to assess one another’s work against learning objectives or targets.

Adjust planning; evaluate effectiveness of task, resources, etc. as a result of the above assessment.

Termly strategies:

Termly

Effective practice would include:

Monitoring of books

• Provide time for all staff to review progress, coverage and marking and feedback in books. Curriculum Leaders/ Middle leaders/Team leaders hold the overview of this task

• Senior leaders quality assuring the strengths and weaknesses identified by staff following their own reflection

• During learning walks/lesson observations senior leaders review books and interview pupils about their learning and steps to improve

Moderation across year groups and phases of learning

• Provide time for regular moderation of work linked to the National Curriculum

• Provide time for EYFS/KS1 staff to moderate progress

• Provide time for KS1/KS2 staff to moderate learning

• Provide time for Lower KS2 / Upper KS2 staff to moderate learning

Formal testing

• Use a range of materials to undertake a snap shot view of pupil attainment. This snap shot should provide further evidence to confirm judgments made by the gathering of the above evidence

• Whilst this range of materials is constantly being refined it typically consists of former SATS papers, NFER tests, QCA tests and test base materials

• Assessment of writing is by portfolio across the year, with at least six samples being produced per pupil across the academic year for internal or external moderation. (N.B. this moderation will be a sample).

   

Pupil progress meetings

• Time provided for senior leaders, teachers and teaching assistants to review progress of learning

• To identify groups of pupils making expected and exceeding progress

• To use data to inform teaching and learning

• Review the provision map for pupils

• :These meetings will happen in year teams in order to refine the provision map to offer best progress for children, and may be longer meetings twice a term or frequent shorter mini –meetings, as part of year team meetings, on average every two weeks

• These meetings will happen in SMT in order to check the progress of pupils and refine the provision map to offer best progress for children

Parent Evenings

These meetings are led by teachers, who highlight key issues that pupils may need to focus on. Work is shared, positive points are emphasised, and next steps are discussed.

In a collaborative way, teachers and pupil’s co- construct their own next steps to share with parents/carers, through work, and through separate but linked discussions.

Yearly reports

Reports summarise the achievements for pupils during the year, offering next steps for improvement.

Appointments are available for parents that wish it to discuss the reports.

Parents/carers respond to comments.

PLEASE ALSO SEE T&L PLUS ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING AND GENERAL MARKING POLICIES.

Acknowledgements: Adapted for NRPS using ideas from Kent LA, Herts LA, Target Tracker.