Assessment

This section sets out how we assess children, day to day (formative) and at various points across the year (summative). The information below is reflected in our Assessment Policy. Our Marking & Feedback Policy is an important party of our ongoing assessment.

Assessment in Early Years

We use our observational assessments to inform our planning and teaching. We assess the children daily and make ongoing changes to our planning to meet their needs.
We use an online learning journal called ‘Tapestry’ to document the children’s learning and progress. Photos and videos are taken with comments made about what the children are doing. Links to learning are then made by all staff using the Birth to Five matters statements.
We carry out more formal assessments every half term. This is assessed against our in school ‘range’ documents using ‘Birth to Five Matters’ and we track the children and carry out interventions using this information.
Assessment activities are planned-in at key points in the year e.g. half termly phonics assessments.
Children in Reception carry out the Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA) and are assessed against the Early Learning Goals in the prime and specific areas at the end of the school year. They will be assessed as ‘expected’ or ‘emerging’.
A progress check is carried out by staff in Little Butterflies (our two year old provision) and shared with parents/ carers and other professionals.
Vulnerable groups such as Ever 6/ Pupil Premium, SEND children, LAC and EAL children are tracked closely to ensure good progress is being made. We also closely monitor the gender gap to ensure boys are making expected or more than expected progress. This information is shared with members of the SLT and during termly governor meetings.

Assessment in English

How we make our judgements

Teachers use a range of strategies for both formative and summative assessment.
During phonics lessons, children are assessed half termly through dictation exercises and activities provided by the monster phonics scheme.
Children’s reading fluency is assessed through weekly reading sessions with an adult, and reading books are adapted accordingly.
Within English sessions for reading and writing, children’s contributions during class discussion, white board work and the work produced during the lesson are used to formulate an assessment of children’s knowledge.
Each half term, children will complete two extended pieces of writing which are used to assess children’s grammatical knowledge. Children are formally assessed in Year 1, Year 2 and Year 6 where they complete the phonic screening check and SATs.
Teachers complete marking and feedback sheets following each lesson. These show which children have achieved the objective and those who have not. They identify any basic skills errors or misconceptions children have. These marking and feedback sheets are referred to during the assessment process when identifying the objectives children have met.
Children who have identified SEND, or who are not working at age related expectations, are assessed at the year group/level in which they are working at. If children are working more than two years behind their expected level, then PIVATs is used. This is a planning and assessment tool which breaks down curriculum objectives into smaller steps. These children will often be assessed more regularly, as smaller steps are required to ensure they reach the learning outcomes.

How we record our assessments

We have devised our own assessments for reading and writing. These were based on the medium term planning produced by English co-ordinators. The curriculum and assessments are based on documents produced by Sunderland TfC (by a working group made up of School Improvement Officers and English Leads).
Teachers highlight the objectives in which children are confident, those working towards, or those children not yet meeting. Teachers make their judgements if they see evidence of children using the skills more than twice independently in their work. For those children not able to work at the current year group expectations then their year group appropriate assessment sheets are used.
There are three assessment sheets for each year group, which teachers complete at the end of each term.

How is assessment data used?

The assessment sheets allow the teachers to identify the areas of strength and weakness in their cohort, appropriately plan for the next term, and plan interventions to close any gaps. Any larger gaps in attainment are then planned to be re-taught during the next half term before moving on.

Assessment in Mathematics

How we make our judgements

Staff use a range of formative and summative assessments to support their judgements.
During the maths lesson, staff use questioning throughout the lesson, both orally and using whiteboards in order to assess whether the children will need support of concrete or pictoral representations or if they will need adult support.
At the end of each lesson, staff complete marking and feedback sheets in order to evaluate which children needed support during the lesson or which children will need intervention before the next lesson. These sheets are then referred to when completing assessments.
Regular maths meetings give a further opportunity to assess children’s understanding in maths – which may be from a different maths domain and will therefore also support staff in their assessment – and future planning of maths.
After each maths unit, staff may use a more formal assessment – usually White Rose End of Unit Assessments which can be adapted to assess objectives the children have been taught.
When assessing times tables in each year group, children are formally assessed orally 1:1 before achieving their awards.
Children are formally assessed in Year 2 and Year 6 when they complete SATs and in Year 4 where children will complete a Multiplications Tables Check.

How we record our assessments

Using objectives from the Sunderland Solutions document, teachers highlighted the objectives in which children were confident, those working towards, or those children not yet meeting. Teachers made their judgement if they had seen evidence of children using the skills independently.
The assessment sheets will allow the teachers to identify the areas of strength and weakness in their cohort, appropriately plan for the next term, and plan interventions to close any gaps.

How is assessment data used?

The assessment sheets allow staff to identify areas of strengths and weaknesses in order to adapt planning or to support children in areas of need. Staff adapt their planning appropriately for the following term and plan appropriate interventions.

Assessment in the Foundation Subjects

How we make our judgements

Teachers use a range of strategies for both formative and summative assessment.

Formative:

During lessons teachers use a range of questions to assess knowledge and understanding of the objectives being taught.
Regular recall discussions within a lesson and at other points during the day assess how well the children can retain and verbalise what they have learned. Children may be asked to recall events and key information or answer quiz style questions.

Summative:

At the end of a series of lessons teachers will assess children’s knowledge more formally using a short quiz or test.
A piece of writing may be also be used to evidence children’s learning e.g. a diary entry in history or a record of a science investigation.

How we record our assessments

We have devised our own assessment records for each foundation subject. These are based on the medium term planning produced by subject co-ordinators.
Assessment documents are used in PSHE, PE and RE which link to the overall schemes which are in use in school i.e. Jigsaw, PE Planning and RE Today and Understanding Christianity.
Teachers annotate the objectives in which children are confident, those working towards, or those which children are not yet meeting. Teachers make their judgements based on recall activities, formative and summative assessments.
Assessment sheets have been created for each sequence of learning for each year group. Teachers complete these throughout a sequence of lessons and/or after summative assessment.

How is assessment data used?

The assessment sheets allow the teachers to identify the areas of strength and weakness in their cohort, which then enables them to plan lessons and recall activities which will build upon children’s knowledge.
Teachers plan to cover objectives which have not been met in recall sessions in subsequent lessons within the sequence or in other points throughout the year.
Subject Leaders use teacher assessment to monitor overall progress within their subject and to identify any gaps in learning. Long term plans are amended as appropriate and further experiences are planned to enhance the curriculum.