Thornham St. James’ C.E. (controlled) Primary School
ASSESSMENT, RECORDING AND REPORTING
POLICY
Revised and updated March 2018
This policy and procedure has been produced based on recommendations in the Final Report of the Commission on Assessment without Levels (Sept 2015) and in line with the ‘Purposes and Principles of Assessment without Levels’.
(https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/commission-on-assessment-without-levels-final-report)
Rationale:
“Assessment involves two distinct but linked processes, mapped across the whole school and the distinct features of individual subjects. Assessment comes in two forms:
At Thornham St. James’, assessment is an integral part of the educational process, not an end in itself. From an assessment of children’s progress, next steps for learning must be formulated so that the child moves continually forward. Target setting and evaluation are the driving force behind our School Improvement and the raising of standards.
Aims and Principles of Assessment
Using the principles and processes of assessment, we aim to ensure that:
Assessment Guidelines
Standardisation and Moderation
The process of moderation is an essential part of the assessment system. Teachers are involved in the moderation process to ensure agreement on criteria for attainment in the following ways:
line with other schools
National standardised summative assessment
Nationally standardised assessments are used to provide information on how children are performing in comparison to children nationally. They provide parents with information on how the school is performing in comparison to schools nationally. Teachers have a clear understanding of national expectations and assess their own performance in the broader national context. Nationally standardised summative assessment enables the school leadership team to benchmark the school’s performance against other schools locally and nationally, and make judgements about the school’s effectiveness. The government and OFSTED will also make use of nationally standardised summative assessment to provide a starting point for OFSTED discussions, when making judgements about the school’s performance.
A range of ‘Nationally standardised summative assessments’ are used:
Assessment in the Early Years’ Foundation Stage
On entry to the school reception children will be informally assessed (non-statutory at present). Results are used to inform planning, set targets and aid early identification of special needs. As in both Key Stages, children will be assessed each half term to ensure that the next steps in learning are appropriately planned in order to help children make progress. During their reception year children will be assessed using the Foundation Stage Profile, which is based on the teacher’s on going observations and assessments in the six areas of learning. Each child’s typical developments and achievements are recorded in the Profile.
Note: As yet, progress will continue to be measured from KS1 only to the end of KS2, with plans for a new reception baseline assessment to be introduced by the DfE in 2020.
Assessment for Learning:
Within our school, Assessment for Learning is a ‘live’ and continuous process which involves the seeking and interpreting of evidence for use by children and teachers to decide where children are in their learning, where they need to go next and which is the best way to get there.
Embedded in our assessments are the ten principles of Assessment for Learning as outlined by ‘The Assessment Reform Group’ (See Appendix).
Assessment for Learning should:
We believe that children should be aware of how to be successful in a given task or learning opportunity, when they have been successful and why. They should receive constructive advice, feedback and guidance from teachers about how to improve, while, at the same time becoming more reflective and self-managing in assessing their own learning and performance. This enables the full range of achievements of all our children to be recognised.
An inclusive approach to assessment
In addition to the assessments above, the school will make use of additional diagnostic assessments to contribute to the early and accurate identification of children’s special educational needs and any requirements for support and intervention.
Recording
Assessment of children’s progress and attainment is on-going throughout each curriculum area, although the type of records kept varies from subject to subject. Record keeping is kept as manageable as possible; the main aim being to highlight strengths and diagnose weaknesses. In addition, teachers use records to review pupil’s progress, set appropriate targets for the future and to form the basis of reports.
The following is a summary of the records kept in each of the core subjects:
LITERACY:
Primary Reading Test ~ annually.
NUMERACY/MATHS
SCIENCE
COMPUTING
REPORTING:
At Thornham St. James’, we believe that reports should promote and provide:
During the course of the academic year, and at regular intervals, both verbal and written reports are given to parents:
KS1 and KS2 Teacher Assessments
KS2 SATs
In Conclusion:
At Thornham St. James’, assessment lies at the heart of the process of promoting children’s learning. It provides a framework within which educational objectives may be set and children’s progress expressed and monitored. This should be done in partnership with the children.
We believe that assessment should be incorporated systematically into teaching strategies in order to diagnose any problems and chart progress. It helps the school to strengthen learning across the curriculum and helps teachers enhance their skills and judgments. Our assessment procedures are free from bias, stereotyping and generalisation in respect of gender, class, and race
and disability.
Monitoring and Evaluation
The Assessment Co-ordinator is responsible for updating this policy in line with any new developments in the school and new government guidance. All staff are expected to follow the policy and the Leadership team, following regular ongoing reviews of classroom practice, will be responsible for ensuring the effectiveness of practice across the school, reporting to the relevant Governing Committee as required.
Data Protection Statement
The procedures and practice created by this policy have been reviewed in the light of our Data Protection Policy.
All data will be handled in accordance with the Data Protection Policy.
Agreed by:
A.Tomlinson
Reviewed and revised March 2018
Thornham St. James’ C.E. (controlled) Primary School
ASSESSMENT, RECORDING AND REPORTING
POLICY
Revised and updated March 2018
This policy and procedure has been produced based on recommendations in the Final Report of the Commission on Assessment without Levels (Sept 2015) and in line with the ‘Purposes and Principles of Assessment without Levels’.
(https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/commission-on-assessment-without-levels-final-report)
Rationale:
“Assessment involves two distinct but linked processes, mapped across the whole school and the distinct features of individual subjects. Assessment comes in two forms:
At Thornham St. James’, assessment is an integral part of the educational process, not an end in itself. From an assessment of children’s progress, next steps for learning must be formulated so that the child moves continually forward. Target setting and evaluation are the driving force behind our School Improvement and the raising of standards.
Aims and Principles of Assessment
Using the principles and processes of assessment, we aim to ensure that:
Assessment Guidelines
Standardisation and Moderation
The process of moderation is an essential part of the assessment system. Teachers are involved in the moderation process to ensure agreement on criteria for attainment in the following ways:
line with other schools
National standardised summative assessment
Nationally standardised assessments are used to provide information on how children are performing in comparison to children nationally. They provide parents with information on how the school is performing in comparison to schools nationally. Teachers have a clear understanding of national expectations and assess their own performance in the broader national context. Nationally standardised summative assessment enables the school leadership team to benchmark the school’s performance against other schools locally and nationally, and make judgements about the school’s effectiveness. The government and OFSTED will also make use of nationally standardised summative assessment to provide a starting point for OFSTED discussions, when making judgements about the school’s performance.
A range of ‘Nationally standardised summative assessments’ are used:
Assessment in the Early Years’ Foundation Stage
On entry to the school reception children will be informally assessed (non-statutory at present). Results are used to inform planning, set targets and aid early identification of special needs. As in both Key Stages, children will be assessed each half term to ensure that the next steps in learning are appropriately planned in order to help children make progress. During their reception year children will be assessed using the Foundation Stage Profile, which is based on the teacher’s on going observations and assessments in the six areas of learning. Each child’s typical developments and achievements are recorded in the Profile.
Note: As yet, progress will continue to be measured from KS1 only to the end of KS2, with plans for a new reception baseline assessment to be introduced by the DfE in 2020.
Assessment for Learning:
Within our school, Assessment for Learning is a ‘live’ and continuous process which involves the seeking and interpreting of evidence for use by children and teachers to decide where children are in their learning, where they need to go next and which is the best way to get there.
Embedded in our assessments are the ten principles of Assessment for Learning as outlined by ‘The Assessment Reform Group’ (See Appendix).
Assessment for Learning should:
We believe that children should be aware of how to be successful in a given task or learning opportunity, when they have been successful and why. They should receive constructive advice, feedback and guidance from teachers about how to improve, while, at the same time becoming more reflective and self-managing in assessing their own learning and performance. This enables the full range of achievements of all our children to be recognised.
An inclusive approach to assessment
In addition to the assessments above, the school will make use of additional diagnostic assessments to contribute to the early and accurate identification of children’s special educational needs and any requirements for support and intervention.
Recording
Assessment of children’s progress and attainment is on-going throughout each curriculum area, although the type of records kept varies from subject to subject. Record keeping is kept as manageable as possible; the main aim being to highlight strengths and diagnose weaknesses. In addition, teachers use records to review pupil’s progress, set appropriate targets for the future and to form the basis of reports.
The following is a summary of the records kept in each of the core subjects:
LITERACY:
Primary Reading Test ~ annually.
NUMERACY/MATHS
SCIENCE
COMPUTING
REPORTING:
At Thornham St. James’, we believe that reports should promote and provide:
During the course of the academic year, and at regular intervals, both verbal and written reports are given to parents:
KS1 and KS2 Teacher Assessments
KS2 SATs
In Conclusion:
At Thornham St. James’, assessment lies at the heart of the process of promoting children’s learning. It provides a framework within which educational objectives may be set and children’s progress expressed and monitored. This should be done in partnership with the children.
We believe that assessment should be incorporated systematically into teaching strategies in order to diagnose any problems and chart progress. It helps the school to strengthen learning across the curriculum and helps teachers enhance their skills and judgments. Our assessment procedures are free from bias, stereotyping and generalisation in respect of gender, class, and race
and disability.
Monitoring and Evaluation
The Assessment Co-ordinator is responsible for updating this policy in line with any new developments in the school and new government guidance. All staff are expected to follow the policy and the Leadership team, following regular ongoing reviews of classroom practice, will be responsible for ensuring the effectiveness of practice across the school, reporting to the relevant Governing Committee as required.
Data Protection Statement
The procedures and practice created by this policy have been reviewed in the light of our Data Protection Policy.
All data will be handled in accordance with the Data Protection Policy.
Agreed by:
A.Tomlinson
Reviewed and revised March 2018