St Paul's Catholic Primary School, V.A.

Assessment

“The teacher’s job is not to transmit knowledge, nor to facilitate learning. It is to engineer effective learning environments for the students. The key features of effective learning environments are that they create student engagement and allow teachers, learners, and their peers to ensure that the learning is proceeding in the intended direction. The only way we can do this is through assessment. That is why assessment is, indeed, the bridge between teaching and learning.”
― Dylan Wiliam, Embedded Formative Assessment

What is Assessment?

Assessment is a continuous process which is integral to teaching and learning; it supports the teachers to ensure that children  reach their true potential. It is be incorporated systematically into teaching strategies in order to promote better than expected progress for individuals, groups and cohorts. The 2014 National Curriculum is a starting point for all of the teaching and learning experiences that we provide for our children. We enhance and extend this core offer with wonderful spiritual, cultural and pastoral opportunities for all of the our children.  

Assessment of English, Maths, Science and RE. (The Core Subjects)

Reception

At the end of Reception, a detailed Tapestry profile is completed on each child - see our Early Years Policy for more details. Pupils leave the Early Years Foundation Stage (Reception class) and move into Key Stage One. At the end of Reception class, the child’s individual profile is shared with their parents. This informs the baseline assessment in Key Stage 1.

Key Stage One

The Key Stage 1 curriculum covers two year groups. - Years One and Two. At the end of Key Stage 1, pupils are assessed by the class teacher. Each pupil’s journey is assessed by analysing which objectives (from the National Curriculum) have been achieved. There will be formal assessments, which are set nationally, in reading, writing and maths (previously known as KS1 SATs). Teachers will make judgements in RE and Science, based on evidence gathered throughout the year, including observations, tests and pupil responses/written evidence.

Key Stage Two

The Lower Key Stage 2 curriculum covers two years - Year 3 and 4. The Upper Key Stage 2 curriculum covers the last two years - Year 5 and 6.

At the end of Key Stage 2, (May in Year 6) pupils will be formally assessed in Reading, Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar, and Mathematics. These SATs assessments are set nationally and are marked externally. Children are also teacher assessed on their writing standards, using a set criteria. Writing is moderated externally by the Leeds Local Authority.

The different forms of Assessment 

There are two main forms of assessment; summative and formative.

• Summative assessment (Assessment of Learning) gives information on how well an objective has been achieved at the end of a period of time.
• Formative assessment (Assessment for Learning) gives information on how well a child is progressing to meet a given objective or target and provides information to assist the next steps.

SATs at the end of each Key Stage are only a small part of the way in which children are assessed throughout their time in our school. At the end of each term, every class teacher is required to carry out NFER assessments in Reading, SPaG and Maths. These assessments are then recorded centrally to enable the class teacher and leadership to monitor pupil progress. These summative assessments are used to identify particular cohort strengths or weaknesses to be addressed in future teaching and learning.

In addition to these formal NFER assessments, teachers will be continually making assessments of children’s progress and using these to inform future planning to meet the children’s needs. This could be through looking at written work and marking to indicate the next steps, through observations or through questioning.

Summative judgements are made in Science, informed by Developing Experts quizzes and tests. In RE, judgements are made, based on written work, observations, drama and the pupil’s oral responses in class.  

Statutory Assessment

The content of the national curriculum is assessed to show whether children are:

Working towards the expected level for their year group (WTS)

Working at the expected level for their year group (EXS or N or AT)

Exceeding the expected level for their year group. (GDS)

The end of year expectations only give a broad indication of what the majority of children nationally are expected to achieve. Children’s progress may not always be linear and inline with the national age-related expectations. It is also important for teachers, parents and pupils to focus on what the individual child is achieving, year on year and term by term. All children are unique.

Non-Core Assessment at St Paul’s CPS VA

Ongoing, day-to-day assessment, which is carried out by teachers and is key to effective classroom practice. Learning outcomes are shared with pupils and they play and important role through self-assessment of their own learning. Formative assessment is used by teachers to inform planning, resources and support in order for all children to progress. Retrieval practice and cumulative quizzing  helps determine pupils’ ability to retain and transfer learnt knowledge from one unit to the next and from one year group to the next; these are 'low stakes, low risk' assessments.  At the beginning of each unit, pupils undertake retrieval exercises in school to ensure that previously learned knowledge is brought to the fore. They are equipped with ‘knowledge organisers’ to use to support learning at home and school throughout the unit. 

End of unit teacher assessments tracks pupils’ knowledge acquisition alongside skill development.  At St Paul’s CPS VA, we use carefully planned unit overviews and progression documents as a framework to help teachers make an informed decision as to whether a pupil is showing that they have acquired the necessary knowledge and skill. Class teachers make ongoing assessments in all non-core subjects. These assessments are used to monitor the performance of individuals, groups and cohorts as well as identifying gaps and next steps for planning. 

Teachers regularly review the learning gained from the whole unit – including delivery, engagement and quality to ensure the curriculum remains relevant to the children, the world we live in and are of a high quality.

Subject leaders review and evaluate assessment systems and ensure ‘sticky knowledge’ is embedded.

Virtues and British Values

Staff carefully plan units of work in all subjects to reflect the theological virtues, that permeate through all aspects of school life. Fundamental British Values are also carefully planned for to ensure children have a knowledge and an understanding of the world around them. At St Paul’s Catholic Primary School, VA, the most important thing for the children to achieve in their primary school journey is the virtue of love. We teach that all children should have good manners, be kind to their neighbour and to be compassionate to the needs of others. Faith, Hope and Love, help to create the wonderful ethos that exists in our school. Every child really does matter here!  

For more information about NFER tests used in school, please see the following YouTube video:

FFT Aspire Pupil Tracking and Target Setting

We use FFT Aspire to set pupil targets and monitor achievement. For more information about FFT, please click here: https://fft.org.uk/fft-aspire/pupil-tracking/ 

OTrack

We use OTrack to record pupil assessments and ongoing progress. Teacher assessment is the primary source of information that informs the termly data drops. NFER test scores, statutory assessment milestones and other noteworthy assessment information is also recorded, as appropriate.

For more information about OTrack, please click here: https://www.optimumotrack.co.uk/