ASSESSMENT POLICY

Our assessment Policy was last updated in November 21 and can be read below -

ASSESSMENT POLICY

Our assessment Policy was last updated in November 2021 and can be read below -

Assessment is a continuous process integral to learning and teaching. It is how teachers gain knowledge of their pupils’ needs, achievements and abilities, enabling planning and delivery to be more effective, thereby raising attainment for every child.

Our principles of assessment are:-

• the responsibility to make and hold accurate assessments for every individual in their class rests with the class teacher, regardless of pupil ability or group teaching arrangements
• to provide information to support progression in learning through planning
• to provide information for target setting for individuals, groups and cohorts
• to share learning goals with children
• to involve children with self-assessment
• to help pupils know and recognise the standards they are aiming for
• to raise standards of learning
• to identify children for intervention and support
• to inform parents and other interested parties of children’s progress
• to complete a critical self-evaluation of the school

Formative assessment

Formative Assessment provides opportunities which are a natural part of teaching and learning; it is constantly taking place in the classroom through discussion, listening and analysis of work. It is essential that teachers know how well a child has progressed and that pupils understand how well they are doing and what they must learn to help them improve.

To achieve this at Riverside School we will:

• Evaluate pupils learning to identify those pupils with particular needs (including those who are able) so that any issues can be addressed in subsequent lessons
• Adjust plans to meet the needs of the pupils, differentiating objectives where appropriate
• Ensure pupils are aware of the learning objective (and steps to success within these) and encourage them to evaluate their progress so that they understand the next steps they need to make
• Set individual, challenging targets in Maths and English on a regular basis and discuss these with the pupils so that they are involved in the process; these do not need to be written down
• Regularly share these targets with parents to include them in supporting their child’s learning
• Encourage pupils to evaluate their own work against success criteria based upon specific, key learning objectives
• Mark work so that it is meaningful, motivating, constructive and informative in accordance with the Marking and Feedback Policy
• Incorporate both formative and summative assessment opportunities in medium and short- term planning
• Assess English (inc. phonics), Maths and Science using a common format and make relevant comments about pupils’ progress in order to close the gaps to the National Curriculum age related expected standard, as well as stretching those working at greater depth and our higher ability pupils.
• Pass on assessment information to the next class teacher so children can be tracked as they progress through the school
• Ensure SEND/Pupil Premium and those vulnerable to not achieving Age Related Expectations or not making expected progress across time and are NOT SEND/PP are tracked and provision is mapped termly to accelerate progress and close the gap to Age Related expectations, as well as extending and challenging higher ability members of these groups.

Use Assessment for learning strategies such as:

• “Top down” planning
• Working walls
• Sharing success criteria- use modelling – “what a good one looks like and why”
• Self and peer evaluation
• Discussion, talk and modelling
• Question and answer /paired peer work to explain learning/challenge each other
• Marking of pupils’ work
• Observational assessment
• Regular short re-cap quizzes
• Scanning work for pupil attainment and development
• Asking pupils about their learning
• Showing explanations of thinking/workings
• Reading inference/comprehension assessment through questioning
• Planning for opportunities to use and apply knowledge and skills in a variety of contexts

Formal Assessment Cycle

Formal assessment is a systematic part of our school’s work which will be used to track each cohort in the school. It is through an effective tracking system that the needs of every pupil can be met and that the school develops a clear understanding of how to raise standards.

The Assessment cycle at Riverside School will include

• Data from statutory assessments
• Early Years Foundation Stage Profile
• Year 1 Phonics test/ Year 2 retest for those “Working Towards” previously in Year 1
• Year 4 Multiplication tables check
• end Key Stage 1 assessments
• end Key Stage 2 assessments

Information from tracking points as below – this is the STAR MAT Primary Assessment Calendar:

• Nursery and Reception internal on entry assessments entered into RBA /internal Baseline
• Whole school targets entered into FFT target setting by mid-October
• Targets are reviewed termly at pupil progress meetings and reported to parents using an interim report format (Feb)
• All test outcomes for PUMA and PIRA alongside Teacher Assessments are kept on the school tracking system

For Foundation subjects, teachers will informally track pupil attainment against the taught, differentiated year group curriculum and use this information to inform reporting attainment at the end of the year.

The regular reviewing of tracking data will give teachers the opportunity to revise and refine targets for the class. It is in recognising the individual abilities of pupils, that the school can make finely tuned adjustments for target setting for each cohort. The discipline of regularly analysing pupils’ attainment will ensure that every pupil has challenging and realistic targets set for them and that the path of reaching those targets is determined through effective classroom organisation; setting learning groups and careful planning.

To achieve this at Riverside School we will:-

• follow the Assessment cycle and update the data on a regular basis into the school tracking system (termly)
• use information to identify percentages of children working at each step within a cohort, percentages below, at and above Age- Related Expectations and also percentages who are making expected or better than expected progress when compared to previous data
• analyse the data and review targets for individuals and groups and use the information to identify intervention groups, including those pupils who are gifted and able, those with special educational needs and those in receipt of Pupil Premium Funding.
• set cohort targets for English and Maths and share information with headteacher, assessment coordinator, SENCO, subject leaders and governors
• work with colleagues both internally and in STARMAT work to moderate especially in writing
• analyse data at the end of academic year to track ‘value added’ progress made by cohorts, groups of pupils and individuals

Reporting

Reporting to parents / carers provides the opportunity for communication about their child’s achievements, abilities and future targets. The end of year reports will be written so that they have a positive effect on pupils’ attitudes, motivation and self- esteem.

At Riverside School we will:-

• • Provide opportunities for two parent consultation evenings so that parents can discuss how well their child has settled and be involved in target setting process; have opportunities for a mid-year progress report and have a final end of year report. (Parents with children on the SEND register or those who are disadvantaged will have more frequent opportunities for teacher consultations).
• • Provide an interim report detailing effort, progress and attainment in core subjects as well as an indication of current targets.
• Provide an end of year written report which include results of statutory tests and assessments and gives information relating to progress and attainment
• Discuss pupil progress at the request of parents by appointment.

The assessment leaders will:

• Formulate the school’s assessment policy in consultation with the leadership team, staff and governors
• Review the policy regularly in the light of statutory requirements and the needs of the school
• Provide support and guidance with assessment and keep up to date with current information
• Resource the school with relevant tests and update the assessment cycle
• Ensure pupil progress meetings are held and rigorous
• Highlight pupils and groups of pupils who have made less than expected progress or are working below expectations
• Analyse results to identify attainment and progress made by pupils and for groups of pupils such as those who are registered as disadvantaged (Pupil Premium), gender, vulnerable children and children from an ethnic background
• Report to governors regarding the policy, statutory test results and cohort targets

Moderation

Moderation is important to ensure a consistent approach in assessment throughout the school. It is important that when teacher assessments are carried out, there is evidence recorded to justify judgements made.

At Riverside School we will:

• Meet regularly when in phase meetings to moderate all core subject assessments and peer moderation for end of year assessments for all reportable year groups
• Moderate work through planning and book scrutinies, feeding findings back to members of staff
• Collate evidence to back up teacher assessments
• Participate in STARMAT/NYCC moderation schemes as well as partner work with other local schools.

 Next review Nov 2024