How and why we assess children

1. How and why we assess children September 2017

2. Aims of the Evening What is assessment and why do we do it? At Havannah we ensure that each pupils entering our school makes the best possible progress given there starting point. We continually monitor progress through discussions, observations, marking etc. In addition to this we complete cold and hot pieces in maths and English. These tasks allow the teacher to assess when the children are at the beginning and end of their learning topic. There are also Formal tests taken in Y1, Y2 and Y6

3. Subject covered The subject which are taught in school are grouped into core and non core groups. All subjects are assessment through formal and informal methods.

4. Changes The new National curriculum is more prescriptive in English and Maths Expectations are much higher eg some Y5 expectations are now found in Y3

5. Summarise new assessments(Summarised in the children’s home-school contact book) The expected standard is 100 and to achieve a greater depth A parent (Year 1, 2 and 6) presentation regarding formal assessment at Havannah is planned for the Spring Term.

6. Formal tests(there will be presentations later this term) • Reception – Foundation stage profile • Year 1 - Phonics Screening • Year 2 - SATs Reading, writing, spelling • Year 4 - Times Tables (from 2019) • Year6 - SATs Reading, writing, SPAG (spelling, punctuation and grammar)

7. How we track assessments Children are assessed in September and are given an entry level grade (b) level. Progress is then monitored on a termly basis and results are tracked using school’s internal tracking system. A child is expected to make 6 point progress however this can be different, based on the needs of individual children. Progress reports are sent home with the children’s end of term reports, they are also used to inform the children’s

8. Tracking Expected progress looks like this. • B- B B+ D- D D+ E- E E+ • B- BB+ D- D D+ E- EE+ • B- B B+ D- D D+ E- E E+ • End of year expectations is now that children are ‘secure’ in their year group, this is where they need to be at the end of the year.

9. Increased expectations and breadth The expectations of the new curriculum (set in 2014) are much higher at the end of each year group. The current year 5 and 6 are the last classes to have made the switch from the old to the new curriculum as a result Pupils may still have gaps and may not reach the ‘expected outcomes for their year group’ as they have only complete half of the new curriculum. There is also a focus on children being able to explore the curriculum in more depth, being able to apply their learning before moving on – the concept of MASTERY. So it is likely that not so many children will achieve this grade.