‘Assessment’ is an activity that is aimed at gauging a child or group of children’s understanding. It is part of our commitment that children should know more and remember more and that learning is evidenced by a change in long-term memory.
Assessment is integral to all parts of school life, in a constant dialogue between teaching staff and child to consider how they are grasping new knowledge and mastering new skills. Some of the research that underlies our thinking includes Black and Wiliam (1998), Clarke (2008) and Sherrington (2019). As well as the activities outlined here, assessment practices include:
Teacher questioning: lesson observations look particularly at how teachers use questions to extend children's thinking, identify misconceptions and help children make links with prior learning.
Marking of children's work and teacher feedback (including post-teaching activities): regular work scrutiny and discussions with pupils help us see how clear children are about next steps and how they can improve.
Subject leader reviews: subject leaders identify how teachers' planning aligns with our curriculum. They also examine books, talk to groups of children and observe lessons. Leaders use this information to identify areas of strength and areas where we would like to continue to improve.
Termly assessment of pupils' attainment and progress in core subjects in relation to national standards: these are analysed and used to inform decisions about deployment of staff and resources. Judgements are also moderated internally and across other schools in our Multi-Academy Trust.
Reporting to parents: At parents' evenings and in annual reports, we recognise children's strengths and areas for development
Additional support for children with special educational needs: The impact of additional support is regularly monitored and reviewed to ensure that these pupils are making as much progress as possible.
These, and other assessment activities, feed into our assessment practices. Our Assessment and Review Pedagogy outlines how assessments are conducted in more detail.
Parent View
