Assessment

Assessment at Boundary Primary School

 Assessment should be an integral part of the teaching and learning process. We believe that the whole school community, teachers, support staff, pupils and parents all have an important part to play in that process

General Principles and Aims

In our school teachers are involved in assessment and recording procedures that:

• Support quality teaching and learning
• Find out what children already know
• Are based on clear and shared criteria
• Are manageable, sustainable, consistent and useful
• Meet statutory requirements
   

In our school children are involved in an assessment process that:

• Provides reliable and credible information to support progression in learning
• Identifies and tracks their progress
• Highlights strengths and difficulties
• Raises the expectations of success and celebrates a broad range of achievements
• Is motivating and actively involves them in review and target setting

The school will provide parents with clear information that:

• Involves them in helping their child meet learning targets
• Highlights their child’s success and progress
• Identifies areas for improvement and how they can be addressed
• Provides them with opportunities to review and discuss their child’s achievements

Formative Assessment

Assessment is a continuous process. Teachers assess during lessons and after lessons and use this information to inform next steps. Assessments are recorded onto Classtrack half termly but often teachers record assessments weekly.

The following codes are used:

Grey – absent 

Red – taught, but not achieved 

Orange – taught, but not YET achieved  

Green – taught and achieved (should only be seen by the end of year) 

Purple – GDS (should only be seen by the end of year) 

Summative Assessments are expected to be completed through:

• key objectives – each term, teachers are to make judgements about the progress of the different ability groups, towards the key objectives;
• daily evaluations of lessons – assessment for learning;
• the teachers’ knowledge of the child.
   

Teachers will use the evidence and decide if a child is working AT THE EXPECTED standard, WORKING TOWARDS the expected standard or working at GREATER DEPTH within the expected standard.

Summative Assessments

Throughout the year, Years 1 to 6 will undertake tests in Reading, Writing and Maths.

• Rising Stars
• NFER
• White Rose
   

Year 1 complete national phonics screening and Year 4 will take the Multiplication Tables Check during the summer term.

Year 6 teachers complete the Statutory Assessment Tests (SATs) in the Summer Term.

Although we take a professional view of preparation for and information learnt about the child from National Curriculum Tests, we do not allow the tests to dominate the child’s learning and continue to offer a broad and balanced curriculum.

Throughout the year, sample test questions may also be used as an integral part of English and Mathematics lessons.

Assessment – Reporting to Parents

At Boundary Primary School, each year group has a set of objectives the children must achieve, before the end of the year.
They must demonstrate they fully understand it, can do it, and apply it in a range of situations.

If all objectives are demonstrated at the end of the year, the pupil will be reported as AT EXPECTED. If they are not able to demonstrate all the objectives, they will be assessed as WORKING TOWARDS the expected standard. Some children will be working at GREATER DEPTH within the expected standards.
 

Statuary Assessments

End of KS2 Assessments (Year 6)

By the end of the summer term you will receive test results for your child (scaled score) in English reading, English grammar, punctuation and spelling and mathematics. As there is no test for English writing, this will be reported as a teacher assessment judgement. You will also receive separate teacher assessment judgements for English reading, mathematics and science.

End of KS1 Assessments - Non Statutory (Year 2)

We are going to continue to complete the KS1 tests provided by the Government, during the summer term. Pupils won’t know they are taking them as teachers will incorporate them into everyday classroom practice. Teachers will use the results from these tests, along with the work your child has done throughout the year, to help them reach their own judgments about how your child is progressing at the end of key stage 1. They will also help our teachers to identify any gaps in learning and pass this information onto the next teachers. These teacher assessment judgements will be reported to you by the end of the summer term in your child’s school report. 

Scaled Scores

A pupil’s scaled score is based on their raw score. The raw score is the total number of marks a pupil scores in a test, based on the number of questions they answered correctly. Tests are developed each year to the same specification, however, because the questions are different the difficulty of tests may vary slightly each year. This means the raw scores pupils get in the tests need to be converted into scaled scores, to ensure accurate comparisons of pupil performance over time.

A scaled score of 100 will always represent the expected standard on the test. Pupils scoring at least 100 will have met the expected standard on the test

Year 1 Phonics Screen Check

The phonics screening check is a quick and easy check of a child’s phonics knowledge.  It helps the school confirm whether your child has made the expected progress.

The national phonics screening check was introduced in 2012 to all Year 1 pupils in the country. It is a short, statutory assessment to ensure that children are making sufficient progress in the phonics skills to read words and are on track to become fluent readers who can enjoy reading for pleasure and for learning.

Year 4 Multiplication Check

The multiplication tables check is an online test for pupils in Year 4. Pupils are asked to answer 25 questions on times tables from two to 12. They are given six seconds per question, with three seconds rest between each question, so the test should last less than five minutes. The check is about finding out which children are struggling with their times tables so that they can get extra support – it is a way for school to know how their teaching is going and to adjust their focus if needed.

Moderation

Moderation meetings are conducted termly. All staff bring books and portfolios to a set meeting for standardisation/moderation to take place. Moderation sessions are also planned into the school calendar with other schools.

Year 6 and EYFS will also undertake moderation sessions through the local teaching schools and the LA.

Assessment Across the Curriculum 

Subject leaders have all developed unique assessment processes which support the teaching and learning of their subject and are age appropriate. These processes have been carefully researched, designed, trialled and evaluated and are documented within the Subject Guides.

SEND Assessment

Assessment tasks are differentiated to meet the needs of all learners and to ensure the teacher can assess the knowledge, skills and understanding of a particular subject. Pupils with SEND are assessed against our ‘Boundary Small Steps’ criteria in Reading, Writing and Mathematics. These documents allow us to track the progress of all pupils from their individual starting points, no matter what stage they are working at.

Peer and Self-Assessment

To give ownership of evaluating each other’s and their own learning, we value the importance of pupil voice within the learning environment by:

• Training children to give high quality success and improvement feedback to one another.
• Lessons will give children the opportunity to practice and reflect on their learning to make it even better.

 
Assessment in the Early Years

Assessment within the Early Years is crucial in providing personalised learning opportunities for all children and in supporting progression of learning.

On entry to Nursery and Reception, all children are observed playing and completing activities. This forms our baseline assessment by class teachers with a focus on the three prime areas and four specific areas. This enables teachers to get a clear picture of the child’s starting point and plan appropriately for them. Teachers are then able to produce objective led plans for these key areas, which are personal to all children within the unit. Our Reception pupils also all complete the national Reception Baseline Assessment.

Children are assessed regularly through clear and accurate classroom observations (recorded on ‘Evidence Me’) as well as personalised planning documents. Assessment takes place over all seven areas of learning. 

Several assessments take place across the school year and these are mapped out in our EYFS assessment document. Our progression milestones are identified using the Chris Quigley Curriculum Companion. We also use the Development Matters document to support our judgements and record these on our Assessment Tracker, O Track. O Track is used to monitor progression throughout the school. 

At the end of Reception, all children are assessed against the Early Learning Goals. A ‘Good Level of Development’ is a national measure used to assess children who have achieved the early learning goal (ELGs) in the 3 prime areas of learning (Communication and Language; Physical Development; and Personal, Social and Emotional Development) in the specific areas of mathematics and literacy. Any children who do not achieve a ‘Good Level of Development’ within the Early Years are given the opportunity to continue to work on these areas during the Autumn Term of Year 1.

To take a look at Boundary Primary School’s performance tables, click here.