Assessment at Overstone Primary School

The levelling system has been removed for several reasons. Expectations meant that pupils were pushed on to the next level quickly. The levelling system would not always enable all gaps in a pupil’s knowledge to be addressed. Sometimes the system of levelling would have a negative impact as pupils would label themselves as a certain level.

Each school has now been given the freedom to design their own assessment system taking into account the needs of all pupils. This formative method of assessment means that the needs of individual pupils can be addressed and this will enable each child to make maximum progress. Every child has to be secure in each of their year group’s objectives. When this is the case they are at the expected level. Teachers then enable pupils to deepen and extend their knowledge within those objectives. They are not expected to work within the objectives for the next year group. There will still be statutory assessments (SATs) in reading, maths and SPAG (spelling, punctuation and grammar) at the end of years 2 and 6. Writing is teacher assessed.

At Overstone Primary School, we aim for every child to achieve their best. By assessing their learning and ensuring that any gaps within that are filled, we can ensure that pupils will make maximum progress in all areas.

Early Years During their first half term, pupils are assessed against the Early Excellence baseline. As a school, we are then able to track their progress from this point. Throughout the year, Reception pupils are assessed against the Development Matters and Early Learning Goals within the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum. Progress is regularly tracked and targets are set. Parents have access to their child’s targets via the Tapestry online learning journals. Tracking grids are used by the teacher to record termly attainment and progress.

Years 1 to 6 Continuous teacher assessments are carried out against National Curriculum objectives and these assessments are used to inform future learning. At the end of each year (1 – 6), summative assessments will be used alongside these continuous teacher assessments. All children will be developing, secure or extending within the objectives for their year group at the end of the year. This is recorded on our school tracking system; itrack.

Reading In Reception and KS1, the children follow the Read, Write, Inc scheme. Within this scheme, children are continually assessed and their progress is closely monitored. The size of the groups means that children’s progress can be closely tracked and teachers can always ensure that every pupil is working within a group that is suitable for their current ability. Children are assessed according to the objectives listed in the National Curriculum. Children in Years 2 to 6 complete the Suffolk Reading test in the Autumn and Spring terms. This tests pupils’ comprehension skills and gives them a reading age which can be compared to their chronological age. Pupils will complete a test paper (Rising Stars or SATs) at the end of each school year.

Writing A cold (pre teaching) task will be carried out at the start of a unit of work and a hot task at the end, once the objectives for that text type and the appropriate grammar have been covered. A piece of writing will be carried out termly and moderated by staff. This will be assessed against the expected outcomes for writing. When marking a piece of writing, teachers use highlighters to inform pupils of their strengths and areas for improvement. Green is used to show areas for growth and ‘tickled pink’ to identify areas which demonstrate, for that child, where targets have been met and where progress has been made. Pupils are expected to respond to marking using a purple pen. Their responses can therefore be clearly identified and their progress can be seen.

Spelling As a school, we follow a programme called Spelling Bee. Pupils are given a list of 100 words per term and their task is to learn these and to spell them correctly in their writing. Pupils are tested weekly on a given selection of words. They are also tested on the complete list at the beginning of the term and then again at the end. This shows what progress has been made throughout that term and which words still need to be learnt.

Maths Children are assessed according to the objectives listed in the National Curriculum. When teachers mark a pupil’s work they will instruct the pupil to complete an action when appropriate. This will be identified by a red sticker and could consist of a question that reinforces their learning or one that develops it further. Pupils are expected to respond using a purple pen. This means that their responses are clearly identified and their progress can be seen. Children in years 1 – 6 complete an Abacus assessment at the end of the Autumn and Spring terms. These identify any gaps in learning and enable teachers to plan accordingly. Pupils will complete a test paper (Rising Star or SATs) at the end of the year.

Foundation subjects We use an assessment programme called Symphony to track pupils’ progress in the foundation subjects. Children are assessed using the National Curriculum objectives.