Assessment Policy
Our organisation of Teaching and Learning
Compassion
High Aspirations
Excellence and Enjoyment
Equity
Resilience
Self belief
Rationale:
Children must be at the heart of our assessment policy. Every child is equally important. In order for them all to reach their potential, we need to know where they are in each subject, where they need to get to and any potential barriers to learning which will stop them reaching this goal. We should aspire that every child masters the new national curriculum standards. It is about deep and secure learning for all through responsive teaching.
We use various assessment methods to gather the information we need. This document will explain the who, when , how and why of assessment at Bovey Tracey Primary School.
Assessment information is then used to plan appropriate teaching and learning strategies, to identify pupils who are falling behind or who need additional support, enabling pupils to make good progress and achieve well.
We use pupils starting points to modify teaching so that pupils achieve their potential by the end of a year or key stage.
Assessment, drawing on a range of evidence, also needs to help direct the next steps for the child. Personalisation enables us to address the needs of all the children.
Our 4 key groups of learners are:
Disadvantaged (PP)
Catch up quickly (WT at end of KS 1 or EYFS)
Most able
SEND
Children within these particular groups will be found on each teacher’s whole class provision map which has replaced many IEP’s.
Disadvantaged - All disadvantaged children are in pupil progress groups as extra support. They are tracked carefully and one of our key stage leaders is their advocate. When high aspiration meetings (HAMs) take place, pupil premium are part of their focus.
Catch up quickly - The SLT and Phase leaders meet about this group when they do the termly analysis. On our assessment sheets, some children who are 'working towards,' are given an asterisk next to their name. They are identified as ready to shift with extra input and careful monitoring. As an SLT we look at this to ensure that by the end of the year, the majority of the cohort are at age expected or beyond.
Most Able - Our other Key Stage leader is the advocate for our 'more able,' pupils and again these pupils are a focus for HAMs.
SEND - The SENDCO monitors the provision for these children. Pupils with SEN and disabilities are assessed appropriately and effectively in line with the purposes and principles of inclusive assessment. They have starting points and, along with other professionals, achievable targets are formed. These are linked with their specialist provision through their EHCP.
If a child needs specific support, we will do one of the following things:
· Organise 1:1 support if the child cannot access the content at all. The teacher will have a separate evidence file for specific children in this category. They are called 'case studies,' and can be found on central resources. Early and timely interventions are crucial.
· Organise a pupil progress group which allows children who have the same barrier to learning to work together. These groups will be held outside of the Literacy and Numeracy lessons and will be short 20 minute sessions usually 2 or 3 times per week. They will be time limited to a maximum of 6 weeks. The children will be given a baseline assessment which is then repeated at the end of the 6 weeks. We use these for 'fluency,' aspects of maths and grammar or sentence level aspects of literacy. Our expectation is that every child, unless they have exceptional circumstances (SEND, EHCP), will achieve all of the expectations for their age by the end of the year. They will then be assessed as 'working at age expected.'
· Organise tutorials. These take place during the lesson. We do not expect children to sit through inputs from a teacher if it is not relevant to them. The planning stage is crucial for a teacher to have maximum impact on the children's learning. Therefore, the daily assessing of where a child has reached and the struggles they have encountered are extremely important.
· To support the previous statement, we also believe in the importance of self assessment and pupil voice. Each child needs to be engaged and involved in their learning journey and they need to know where they are heading but also how to build in achievable steps to get there.
Daily Marking and Feedback
Marking moves the learning forwards. Personalised planning sets achievable outcomes, puts appropriate support in place regarding fluency as well as offers greater depth opportunities.
The teacher or TA marks according to the outcome or target. It is clear from the planning and learning task what outcome is expected. Children will be given feedback as to how to progress next – either consolidate, re-teach or greater depth challenge through an independent task. The child is given response time to ensure they know clearly where they need to take their learning next. Pupil voice is also key and these conversations will be noted differently depending on the phase. Every book will show children responding to the feedback. It may look different in each phase.
Start and End of a unit, Afl –
At the start of a unit, this formative assessment is used to assess knowledge, skills and understanding, and to identify gaps and misconceptions. An elicitation task will give more details on how the child has reached their conclusion (in maths) or what a child can do without support.
They will revisit this at the end of a unit and, using Bloom’s depth of questioning, show their progress. The teacher may set a challenging question which can be asked at all different levels. If a child is falling behind, has not made expected progress or understands and demonstrates it already, this leads to pupil progress groups and tutorial groups.
End of term – For teachers use, they will assess whether a child is pre working towards, working towards, working within, working securely within or working at greater depth.
For governors, they will be given updates on specific groups twice per year.
Evidence will be from:
End of term test if appropriate
Teacher assessments at the end of each unit
Work books
Moderations
End of year – Teachers need to have evidence as to whether a child is pre working towards, working towards, working within, working securely within or working at greater depth.
So what is then done with the evidence and data collected?
In order to make good use of the data information collected, staff and governors have different roles and responsibilities:
|
Who? |
What and how is data information being collected? |
What will be the impact? |
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Class teacher |
Highlight in September if SEND, Catch up quickly, Most able or Disadvantaged. Daily marking and assessing to inform planning. Initial Afl at the start of a unit and demonstrating progress at the end. Complete termly assessment grid - Pre/WT/WW/WSW/WGD. Each term, calculate %'s at the bottom of each grid for maths, reading and writing. Analyse the groups to see progress and who needs regrouping. Scrutinise for slow progress and audit provision. Upload onto central resources. Termly - Fluency - Extract information from Puma scores regarding each area of maths. Is there a weaker strand? |
Clear Progress can be seen in books
This information can be discussed with SLT in termly High Aspiration Meetings. This will ensure no child is left to 'coast or struggle,' without being picked up by the teacher.
Certain areas can be taught again from the evidence gained. |
|
Phase Leader - |
Half Termly - Check with class teachers that appropriate pupil progress groups are in place and monitor impact.
Use termly data to monitor specific groups across the year groups in their phase and discuss in phase meetings. Disadvantaged WT at end of KS 1 or EYFS (Catch up quickly) Most able SEN
Feedback to SLT
|
Train middle leaders in monitoring impact upon progress. No children in any year group will slip through the net in terms of progress or provision. PL's and SLT will have an overview of each cohort including specific groups. This can then enable regrouping and Quality Assurance of provision. |
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Key Stage leaders |
From half termly pupil progress group information, check rigour of specific barriers to learning. From pp (AK) and most able (KG) Identify children, who from the data, are not making expected progress.
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Quality assurance for barriers to learning in pupil progress groups.
Close monitoring and therefore termly impact focussing on PP and most able. Follow this up with High Aspiration meetings with class teacher. |
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DH and HT |
From termly data, focus on 'catch up quickly,' group (WT at end of KS 1 or EYFS).
Termly and end of year - Helicopter view of data for each group within each cohort across the school. Information from termly data from class teachers, %'s already completed.
Analysis of RAISE data in November
Analyse longer term data to see how the school is performing year on year
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Close monitoring and therefore termly impact focussing on 'Catch up quickly,' Follow this up with High Aspiration meetings with class teacher.
Bar chart per cohort showing on track for expected or above, per group (Disadvantaged, Catch up quickly, (WT at end of KS 1 or EYFS) Most able SEND boys/girls
To feed into current SDP if needed.
Accountability for school leaders as well as progress year on year. |
|
Governor (OG) |
To meet with SLT termly (2 weeks into a new term?) |
To be familiar with termly data and also RAISE in November. |
How are children tracked for attainment?
National Standards for Attainment:
EYFS – When children start at school, teachers will observe and assess over the first few weeks. This forms our on entry (baseline) assessment. Throughout the year, on a daily basis, observational assessment informs our planning in reception. At the end of the year we will assess pupils using the EYFS profile and then a report is shared with parents and KS 1 teachers.
Phonics – Pupils will be tested in June each year with a list of 40words. As part of our tracking system we also run a termly screen on all year 1 children to track progress. They need to achieve approx. 32/34 marks to pass this phonics screening. If they fail this test, they are required to retake it again in year 2.
Y2 SATS – During May all year 2 children who are working towards, or at the expected standard will undertake the SATS reading papers (x2) and the SATS maths papers (x2). In Spring term and the first half of Summer term, writing, reading and maths evidence for each child will be gathered across the curriculum.
Y6 SATS – During a week in May all year 6 children take part in statutory tests in Reading, maths and SPAG. Prior to this, practice papers and assessments inform progress groups and tutorials. Writing is assessed by the teacher and we moderate across schools to validate our judgement.
Class teachers will make a termly judgement of which children are Pre WT/WT/WW/WSW/WGD
Class teachers will make a termly judgement of either 'on track,' or 'not on track,' for each child towards National expectation for their year group.
How are children tracked for progress?
Class teachers will make a termly judgement of either 'on track,' or 'not on track,' for each child with regards to their progress. Children will already be highlighted as to where they were at the end of EYFS or KS1.
Most able are pink
Catch up quickly (so was behind at EYFS and/or end of KS1) are blue
SEN are green
PP are red
If a child changes bands, their progress is above expected.
If a child is in WW/WSW or WGD and remains within the same band, their progress is expected.
If a child is in the 'catch up quickly,' group, their expected progress is to move from WT to WW.
The assessment only works if the quality of the information is good. In order to do this we need to ensure we have solid moderation processes in place.
Moderations are built into staff meetings. We all need to know what Pre/WT/WW/WSW and WGD pieces of work look like.
Our Moderation will be built in across cohorts, across our school and across other schools.
Transition
When moving from class to class, teachers will meet in July and moderate together to ensure clear and honest information is passed on. Pupil progress groups can be set up before September starts.
It is essential that how secure a pupil is in their knowledge of the previous year’s curriculum and how ready they are for progression.
Reporting Arrangements
Governors - The head will report the on track information for cohorts and groups at FGB meetings. The FGB will review this data twice per year.
Parents – Annually, we will report attainment through Pre working towards, working towards, within, securely within or greater depth. We will also use these terms when meeting at parent consultations.