Understanding Assessment in St Gregory’s

Q&A BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER THIS PRESENTATION, IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR CHILD’S ASSESSMENT OR ANY VIEWS YOU WANT TO EXPRESS, PLEASE JOT THEM DOWN ON A POST-IT AND WE WILL ENDEAVOUR TO ANSWER YOUR QUERY AS BEST WE CAN.

SCHOOL PERFORMANCE OfSTED judge a school on its performance data/indicators for the last 3 years:  GOOD NEWS!  We are the best performing school locally (1 mile radius) over past 3 years (4 schools)  In top 5 performing schools (within a 3 mile radius) over past 3 years (out of 17 schools)

Reason for Assessment Evening Direct response to parent survey Purpose of Assessment Evening 1. Help parents understand what assessments their children take in School and why. 2.To help parents understand what the assessments are for and what the results mean.

Assessment plays a key role in helping schools to improve outcomes. Knowing how each pupil is performing allows teachers to help individuals improve. This in turn promotes improvement at class level, then at school level, allowing the school to set meaningful and challenging targets in its School Development Plan. Why Assess?

TYPES OF ASSESSMENT DIAGNOSTIC OBSERVATIONAL FORMATIVE SUMMATIVE

EYFS – STRIVING FOR A ‘GOOD LEVEL OF DEVELOPMENT ’  PSED – Making relationships; self-confidence & awareness; managing feelings & behaviour (Prime)  Communication & language – Listening and attention; understanding; speaking (Prime)  Physical Development – Moving & handling; Health & self-care (Prime)  Literacy – Reading & Writing (Specific)  Maths – Numbers & Shape, Space & Measures (Specific)  Expressive Arts & Design – using and exploring media and materials; being imaginative  Understanding the World – People and communities; the World; Technology

EXPECTATIONS: AVERAGE POINT SCORES (APS) & LEVELS APS NC level Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6 Academic Expectations For All  Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2): Expectation between 5 and 6 APS each year  Key Stage 2 (Years 3,4,5,6) : Expectation 4 APS each year Example: At the end of Year 2, Alice got a secure Level 2 in her Reading (15APS). At the end of Year 6 she got a low Level 5 (31APS). She has, therefore, made 16APS progress, which is OUTSTANDING progress. (12 APS expected; 14 is Good)

Summary of Annual Assessment: THE BIG PICTURE

Targets & Concerns  A target in Reading, Writing and Maths is set for every child in Years 1-6 in school, each year, based on their prior attainment from the previous year.  If we have evidence to indicate that a child is ‘ON-TRACK’ to meet or exceed their end of year target, then that is to be celebrated.  On the other hand, as sometimes happens, if we have evidence to indicate that a child is ‘NOT ON-TRACK’ the following will happen: 1. At the termly pupil progress meeting, or sooner, the class teacher will inform the head teacher and SENCo (Miss Walsh) in writing, using a concern form, about any learning related issues. This is classified as Class Action and is dealt with ‘in-house.’ 2. If no progress is made then parents are invited in to a meeting to discuss the concerns further and ensure there is enough support in place for their child to make gains in their learning.

Reporting to Parents based on assessment

2 Parents’ Evenings, the Spring Term Annual Report to Parents Any additional meetings Formal communication with parents to summarise strengths and areas for development for each pupil.

Pupil Progress The school is actively seeking even greater engagement with parents in order to boost the learning, progress and overall achievement of all the children in school. To this end, the school has decided to clearly define what it thinks is best practice and how parents are kept informed in order to engage more effectively with their child’s learning – as parents still remain the most important, critical and effective influences on their child’s learning. Therefore, the school will inform children in Class 4 about what level they are working at in Reading, Writing and Maths, informing them of what their overall targets is for the end of Year 6 (SATs related) and telling them what they must do in order to achieve their targets. This same information will be shared with parents at the formal parents’ evenings, annual report and any additional meetings. If a pupil is not on track to achieve their end of year targets, parents will be informed as early as there is evidence available and a subsequent meeting convened to discuss the next steps needed to ensure their child is on track.

EXCELLENT RESOURCES  UNDERSTANDING PROGRESS IN MATHEMATICS: a guide for parents  UNDERSTANDING PROGRESS IN ENGLISH: a guide for parents.  It’s best to google to find them!

“ Assessment is not meant to be used as a measure of your child ’ s ability at school but as a means to improve their ability to learn; their knowledge, their understanding and their skills. Much of what is learnt is never fully assessed but used every bit as much. ”