assessment policy

Assessment Policy

INTRODUCTION TO ASSESSMENT

Assessment is the judgement of performance which enables the monitoring of pupil progress; is the basis for target setting and informs teaching strategy. Key aspects of assessment are the collection and interpretation of data and feedback to parents and pupils. This document should be read in conjunction with the marking policy.

The aim of regular assessment
• The assessment of learning measures what learners know or can do and can be described as summative; it provides a picture at a given time of a pupil’s development and achievements on specific aspects of the curriculum
• Assessment for learning is conducted on a day to day basis to show how well children fulfil learning intentions and can be described as formative; it helps the teacher to assess areas of strength or weakness and plan a response which will support the learning process.
The purpose of regular assessment
• To provide comparative data to ascertain progress
• To identify areas of strength and weakness and inform target setting
• To improve teaching and learning
• To improve recall and assimilation of knowledge and practice technique

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS USED AT ARNOLD

Early Years
• Pre-school Profile KG all year
• Foundation Stage Profile R all year
• Half year and End of Year Reports KG/R February/June
• Parents’ evenings KG/R Oct/November

Key Stage One
• Parents’ evenings Year 1/2 Oct/November
• Standardised Tests in Literacy and Numeracy Year 1/2 December
• End of Key Stage SATs Year 2 May
• Half year and End of Year Reports Year 1/2 February/June

Key Stage Two
• Screening tests, reading, spelling and NVR Year 3 September
• Reading and spelling tests Year 4/5/6 September
• Parents’ evenings Year 3/4/5/6 Oct/November
• Standardised Tests in Literacy and Numeracy Year 3/4/5/6 December
• Senior School entrance examination Year 6 January
• Optional SATs Tests Year 3/4/5 May
• End of Key Stage Examinations Year 6 May
• Half year and End of Year Reports Year 3/4/5/6 February/June

Recording Data
Records must be accurate, accessible, and regularly maintained.

A folder of information is maintained throughout the year and passed on to the new teacher at the start of the school year.

Information is stored on a central database and can be easily accessed by teaching staff and/or reviewed over a period of time to examine trends and patterns. The Headmaster is responsible for collating such information and making it available to teachers.

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES
1. Involving pupils in their learning;
Most schemes of work emphasise the need to identify clearly the learning objectives for a lesson. Lessons remain better focused when teachers share these objectives with pupils. In order to involve pupils fully in their learning, teachers:
• explain clearly the reasons for the lesson or activity, in terms on the learning objectives;
• share the specific assessment criteria with pupils;
• help pupils to understand what they have done well and what they need to develop;
• show pupils how to use the assessment criteria to assess their own learning.
2. Modelling Quality: showing pupils the learning strategies and goals;
Assessment criteria are often defined in formal language that may not be clear to the pupil, so it is important that teachers share with their pupils examples of work so that they can see the standards they are aiming for. Pupils who study the completed work of others will develop their reflective skills and find out what it is like to take an active part in the assessment process.
These opportunities can include:
• encouraging pupils to listen to the range of pupils' responses to questions;
• showing pupils the learning strategies;
• showing pupils how the assessment criteria have been met in some examples of work from children not known to the pupils;
• encouraging pupils to review examples from anonymous pupils that do not meet the assessment criteria, in order to suggest the next steps to meeting the assessment criteria;
• using examples of their own work from other pupils in the class highlighting the ways it meets the assessment criteria or standards.
3. Giving feedback to pupils on their work;
Feedback is an essential element in assessment for learning. Teachers need to develop methods to interpret and respond to assessment information in a formative way. It is important that there are safe and secure relationships so that trust is established between teacher and pupil, prior to giving feedback.
Pupils benefit from opportunities for formal feedback through group and plenary sessions. Where this works well, there is a shift from teachers telling pupils what they have done wrong to pupils seeing for themselves what they need to do to improve and discussing it with the teacher.
Therefore, giving feedback involves making time to talk to pupils and to teach them to be reflective about both the learning objectives and their work/responses.
Characteristics of effective feedback
• Feedback is more effective if it focuses on the task, is given regularly and while still relevant.
• Feedback is most effective when it confirms the pupils are on the right tracks and when it stimulates correction of errors or improvement of a piece of work.
• Suggestions for improvement should act as "scaffolding" ie pupils should be given as much help as they need to use their knowledge. They should not be given the complete solutions as soon as they get stuck so that they must think things through for themselves.
• Pupils should be helped to find alternative solutions if simply repeating an explanation continues to lead to failure.
• Feedback on progress over a number of attempts is more effective than feedback on performance treated in isolation.
• The quality of dialogue in feedback is important and most research indicates that oral feedback is more effective than written feedback.
• Pupils need to have the skills to ask for help and the ethos of the school should encourage them to do so.
• Marking of work which is consistent and in line with the school marking policy
"Comments are useful because you get to know how to improve."
4. Self assessment and peer assessment.
If pupils are to learn, they need to identify any gaps between their actual and optimal performance. Pupils need to be able to work out why these gaps occur and they need to identify the strategies that they might use to close the gaps. This is something that has to be done by the pupils and cannot be done for them by the teacher, although the teacher's interchange is crucial to the pupil's understanding of what needs to be done next.
In addition, pupils will need to:
• reflect on their own work;
• be supported to admit problems without risk to self-esteem;
• be given time to work problems out.

FORMS OF ASSESSMENT USED AT ARNOLD
Assessment of pupils will take many forms and may include a combination or all of the following at any given time:
• Standardised Tests
• Teacher Assessment covering:
o tests
o exercises
o homework
o oral questioning
o day to day teacher observation of pupils at work
o conversations with pupils and colleagues
Factors to be taken into consideration in assessing pupils:
• a pupil’s commitment on a given task
• clear understanding of a concept
• presentation of work
• originality and creativity exhibited in the work
• use of language
• ability to communicate
• application of skill and knowledge
Teacher assessment should:
• be ongoing throughout the year
• allow pupils to demonstrate what they know and can do
• allow for differentiated work
• show a variety of assessment techniques and be formal and informal in approach
• be rigorous in its application

REPORTING AT ARNOLD
Reporting to parents provides them with the necessary insight into a pupils progress which is vital if the family is to support and encourage development. It is not the end of a process but part of an ongoing process of development and improvement.
We report to parents every term and in a variety of ways:
• Orally
o On an informal basis as the need arises
o In response to concerns raised at home or at school
o Annually at Parents evenings in October/November
• In writing
o On an informal basis as the need arises
o In response to concerns raised at home or at school
o Formally through half year (February) and end of year (June) reports
o After examinations giving details of KS levels in Literacy and Numeracy
Teachers are provided with advice and support at the time of using the computerised report writing program which is available for use on the network or at home. At half year comments are restricted to the core subjects of the National Curriculum whilst at the end of the year a full report notes progress and areas for improvement across the whole curriculum. We aim to distribute reports in enough time to received comments from parents.
Reports will contain information on:
• Academic progress as related to KS objectives
• Application and attitude to learning
• Extra-curricular involvement
• Pastoral matters
They will include:
• Targets for pupil achievement
• An indication of effort and attainment (as related to KS levels)
• Recommendations for improvements and strategies for the future

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