Look at our achievements!

Historically, children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 have achieved better than other children in Sefton and Nationally since 2016-17  in Phonics, Reading, Writing and Maths at the Expected and Greater Depth standard children.

Introduction

The principles that underpin our assessment system are:

• Every child can achieve: teachers at Farnborough Road Infant School have the mindset, ‘What do I need to do next to enable a child in my class to achieve?’
• The National Curriculum objectives will be used as the expectations for all children.
• Pupils will make age appropriate progress from their different starting points – 12 months in 12 months, more for those who need to 'close the gap' to reach  age related expectations.
• Teachers are experts at assessment - assessment will be effectively used to ensure the correct scaffolding is built into lessons to ensure all children achieve.

Assessment is integral to high quality teaching and learning. We believe that effective assessment provides information to improve teaching and learning. We give learners regular feedback on their learning so that they understand what it is that they need to do better. This allows us to base lessons on a detailed knowledge of each pupil. We give parents regular written and verbal reports on their child’s progress so that teachers, children and parents are all working together to raise standards for all our children.

Since the implementation of the National Curriculum 2014 we assess children against age related expectations to gauge current attainment and to measure progress.

Our school statement should be read in conjunction with our Assessment, Marking and Teaching and Learning Policies.

Aims and objectives

The aims and objectives of assessment in our school are:

• to enable our children to demonstrate what they know, understand and can do in their work;
• to help our children understand what they need to do next to improve their work;
• to allow teachers to plan work that accurately reflects the needs of each child;to provide regular information for parents that enable them to support their child’s learning;
• to provide school leaders and governors with information that allows them to make judgements about the effectiveness of the school.

Assessment is not a singular activity; it is about measurement of performance at a given point in time and a way of gaining information to promote future learning. We acknowledge that there are two distinct types of assessment used by the school.

These include:

• Assessment for learning helps to identify the next steps needed to make progress. It takes account of pupils’ strengths as well as weaknesses
• Assessment of learning is more associated with judgements based on final assessments and with public accountability e.g Data Dashboard and Raiseonline.

Therefore we currently use the following assessment procedures to measure outcomes against all schools nationally:

• Early Years - Nursery & Reception

  Class teacher's will use a combination of the EYFS profile and the a baseline assessment to measure children's  progress. 

  Baseline:

• The baseline assessment will result in a score that forms part of each child’s baseline profile. By having a good understanding of the child’s abilities when they start school, class teacher's are able to measure each child's progress and plan for next steps in learning.
• The baseline assessment is face-to-face with a mixture of tasks and observational checklists.

• EYFS Profile:

• The EYFS profile assessment is carried out in the final term of Reception
• The main purpose of the EYFS profile is to provide a reliable, valid and accurate assessment of individual children at the end of the EYFS.

• EYFS profile data is used to:

• Inform parents about their child’s development against the early learning goals (ELGs) and the characteristics of their learning.
• Help year 1 teachers plan an effective, responsive and appropriate curriculum that will meet the needs of each child.

•  

  Children in Nursery and Reception are assessed against the Prime and Specific areas of Learning in the EYFS profile, these are recorded on our on-line system, Target Tracker. Assessments are  based on observation of daily activities and events. At the end of Reception for each Early Learning Goal, teachers will judge whether a child is meeting the level of development expected at the end of the Reception year:

• Emerging, not yet reached the expected level of development
• Expected
•  
• Year 1 Phonics Screening Check
• The Phonics Screening Check demonstrates how well pupils can use the phonics skills they have learned up to the end of Year 1, and to identify those who need extra phonics help.
• The checks consist of 40 words and non-words that your child will be asked to read one-on-one with a teacher. Non-words (or nonsense words, or pseudo words) are a collection of letters that will follow phonics rules your child has been taught, but don’t mean anything.
• The 40 words and non-words are divided into two sections – one with simple word structures of three or four letters, and one with more complex word structures of five or six letters.
• Pupils will be scored against a national standard, and the main result will be whether or not they fall below, within or above this standard
• Pupils who do not meet the required standard in Year 1 will be re-checked in Year 2.
•  
• The School is required to report to the Government at the end of the Academic Year :
• EYFS: % of pupils achieving a Good Level of Development (GLD)
• Phonics Screening Test at the end of Year 1: % of pupils achieving the required screening check pass mark
• End of KS1: % of children working towards expected standard, working at expected standard and working at greater depth within the expected standard for reading, writing and mathematics and the % of children working at the expected standard for science.
•  
• Internal Assessment

The school operates an internal assessment system throughout the school to measure half termly attainment and progress. This is recorded on Arbor. 

In EYFS pupils are assessed against the Development Matters statements and their age in months.

In Key Stage One pupils are assessed against the national curriculum age expectations and the attainment measured as working at:

• Pre- Key Stage 
• Towards the Expected Standard 
• The Expected Standard 
• Greater Depth within the Expected Standard 

Good assessment practice will:

• Raise standards of attainment, and improve pupil attitudes and responses- to enable the active involvement of pupils in their own learning by providing effective feedback which closes the gap between present performance and future standards required
• Promote pupil self-esteem through a shared understanding of the learning processes and the routes to improvement
• Guide and support the teacher as planner, provider and evaluator
• Enable the teacher to adjust teaching to take account of assessment information and to focus on how pupils learn and draw upon as wide a range of evidence as possible using a variety of assessment activities
• Track pupil performance and identify those pupils at risk of underachievement
• Provide information which can be used by teachers and senior leaders as they plan for individual pupils and cohorts
• Provide information which can be used by parents or carers to understand their pupils’ strengths, weaknesses and progress
• Provide information which can be used by the governing body other interested parties.
• Provide information which can be used to evaluate a school’s performance against its own previous attainment over time and against national standards.

The purpose of Assessment for learning is to:

• Provide insight into pupils’ learning for both pupils and teachers
• Promote success for all
• Enable continuous reflection on what pupils know now and what they need to know next
• Measure what is valued
• Promote immediate intervention and link judgments to learning intentions
• Raise standards by ensuring appropriate challenge for pupils

Implications for teaching

The teacher will:

• Provide continuous oral and written feedback which identifies strengths and the next step for improvement in accordance with the agreed marking policy
• Promote pupil involvement in self-assessment
• Act on insights gained to inform personal targets
• Plan against what children know/can do/understand
• Make standards and objectives explicit to pupils
• Promote inclusion by attending to all pupils’ learning needs
• Engage pupils in rich questioning

Impact on learning and the learner

The pupil will:

• Know what to do to improve
• Know what standards are required
• Know what has been achieved against known success criteria and what to do next
• Gain confidence, motivation and self-esteem as a learner

Improve own self-evaluation skills

• Make progress

The purpose of Assessment of learning is to:

• Provide a summary judgement about what has been learned at a specific point in time
• Establish national benchmarks about what children can do and about school performance
• Show what pupils can do without support
• Hold the school to public account

Implications for teaching

The teacher will:

• Provide a periodic summary through teacher assessment and formal tests
• Identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge and understanding
• Identify weaknesses in the taught curriculum and in specific areas of learning through analysis of performance which can guide future planning
• Implement strategies to accelerate progress to meet local and national expectations (narrowing the gap)
• Mark and measure against expectations outlined in the National Curriculum

Impact on learning and the learner

The pupil will:

• Be able to gauge own performance against previous performance
• Be able to measure own performance against externally agreed criteria and standards
• Have a measure of performance at specific milestones in life
• Know what standards and expectations are required