Assessment
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ASPIRE - LEARN - FLOURISH
The Aspire Learning Federation is made up of two schools - Elm Park Primary School and R J Mitchell Primary School in the London Borough of Havering.
At R J Mitchell Primary School we believe that assessment is key for our pupils’ to progress and learn. School staff have a good understanding on how to use formative and summative assessment to plan high-quality lessons based on pupils’ prior knowledge, understanding and misconceptions. Class Teachers ensure the children fully understand a concept or objective before moving the learning on. This ensures that the pupils have a deep understanding of their learning so that they can master the required skills for their age ranges.
Formative Assessment:
We assess through a variety of different methods; teachers use continuous assessment through live feedback and marking, with teachers and support staff giving feedback throughout the lesson verbally and written. We use pre and post assessment through short cumulative quizzes, in the form of socrative quizzes and LbQ tests. As well as retrieval practice at the start of every lesson to consolidate and assess pupils’ knowledge. Teachers use high-quality questioning and encourage pupils to self-assess and reflect on their own learning.
Teachers follow the marking and feedback policy, which gives teachers time to assess pupils' work. This informs them of what the children have learnt and their understanding and knowledge from the lesson. The teachers then use this knowledge to plan and adapt the following lessons.
Summative Assessment:
In order to make decisions about attainment we conduct three formal assessments throughout the year for Reading, Maths & SPAG (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar). Years 1, 3, 4 and 5 use NFER tests whilst Year 2 and 6 use previous SATs papers to form their teacher judgement.
After tests have been completed, scores are analysed and gaps in pupils’ understanding is identified in order to inform planning, interventions and focus pupils over the next term.
Assessment of writing is through a collection of pupils’ work overtime that teachers use to make their judgements. The pupils’ books are moderated across phases and with the Senior Leadership Team termly to ensure accuracy and consistency across the school, as well as cross-federation writing moderation throughout the year.
Phonics is assessed half termly by the Read Write Inc Lead, using the programme’s assessment tools. This information is correlated and used to inform groupings for the following term and ensure that pupils’ reading books are closely matched to their reading ability.
Early Years pupils’ are observed day-to-day throughout the year through play and guided tasks to inform teachers and supporting staff of their understanding against the seven areas of learning. This will allow teachers to provide effective support where needed.
Statutory assessment
During the first six weeks in Reception, pupils take the Reception Baseline Assessment in order to gather information around their understanding and to be able plan next steps, this is done through face to face activities with a familiar adult.
The EYFS profile is completed in the final term of the school year to give accurate assessment data at the end of the year.
In Year 1, pupils take a Phonic Screening Check where they must read 20 real words and 20 pseudo words using their understanding of phonics to blend phonemes. The check takes place in June and the passmark is announced in July; results are shared with parents shortly after this.
Pupils who do not pass the Phonic Screening Check in Year 1 will be required to resit the check in Year 2.
Year 2 takes part in the KS1 SATs test, however, these are now non-statutory. As a school we complete the SATs tests to allow for continuation of assessment data throughout their time at school.
In Year 4, pupils take a Multiplication Tables Check online to test their fluency and accuracy of times tables knowledge. There is no pass mark for this, but pupils’ scores are shared with parents shortly after the test window in June.
Year 6 sit SATs assessments in May each year for Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar, Reading and Maths. These tests are completed in school under test conditions and sent to the STA to be marked. Schools receive results for these tests in July and share results with parents shortly after this date.
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