At Wesley, we value the importance of assessment and understand that it is integral to high quality teaching and learning. We believe that effective assessment provides information to improve teaching and learning. We give learners regular feedback on their learning so that they understand what it is that they need to do better. This allows us to base lessons on a detailed knowledge of each pupil. We give parents regular written and verbal reports on their child’s progress so that teachers, children and parents are all working together to raise standards for all our children.  This allows every child to reach their true potential and shine like stars as children of God.

Since the implementation of the National Curriculum 2014 we assess children against age related expectations to gauge current attainment and to measure progress.

Our school statement should be read in conjunction with our Assessment, Marking and feedback and curriculum policies.

Aims and objectives

The aims and objectives of assessment in our school are:

• To enable our children to demonstrate what they know, understand and can do in their work;

• To help our children understand what they need to do next to improve their work;

• To allow teachers to plan work that accurately reflects the needs of each child;

• To provide regular information for parents that enables them to support their child’s learning

• To provide school leaders and governors with information that allows them to make judgements about the effectiveness of the school.

Assessment is not a singular activity; it is about measurement of performance at a given point in time and a way of gaining information to promote future learning. We acknowledge that there are two distinct types of assessment used by the school.

These include:

• Assessment for learning helps to identify the next steps needed to make progress.

It takes account of pupils’ strengths as well as areas for improvement

• Assessment of learning is more associated with judgements based on grades and ranks and with public accountability. Therefore, we currently use the following assessment procedures to measure outcomes against all schools nationally:

EYFS:

(% of pupils achieving a “Good Level of Development”)

Year 1:

Phonics Screening Test at the end of Year 1

(% of pupils achieving the required screening check pass mark)

End of KS1:

% of children working towards expected standard, working at expected standard and working at greater depth within the expected standard for reading, writing and mathematics

% of children working at the expected standard for science.

End of KS2:

% of pupils working towards the expected standard, working at the expected standard and working at a greater depth within the expected standard for reading, writing, maths and SPaG.

% of pupils working at the expected standard for science.

Internal Assessment

The school operates an internal assessment system to measure termly attainment and progress through the use of Rising Stars NTS assessments. Pupils are assessed against the national curriculum age expectations termly and the attainment measured as:

Entering a specific year group (working towards expected standard 1 for that year group)

Within a specific year group (working towards expected standard 2 for that year group)

Secure at a specific year group (working at expected standard for that year group)

Greater Depth at a specific year group (working above the expected standard for that year group)

A points system is allocated to specific attainments so that progress can be measured.

Good assessment practice will:

• Raise standards of attainment, and improve pupil attitudes and response

• Enable the active involvement of pupils in their own learning by providing effective feedback which closes the gap between present performance and future standards required

• Promote pupil self-esteem through a shared understanding of the learning processes and the routes to improvement

• Guide and support the teacher as planner, provider and evaluator

• Enable the teacher to adjust teaching to take account of assessment information and to focus on how pupils learn and draw upon as wide a range of evidence as possible using a variety of assessment activities

• Track pupil performance and identify those pupils at risk of underachievement ( through pupil progress meetings) and provide information which can be used by teachers and senior leaders as they plan for individual pupils and cohorts

• Provide information which can be used by parents or carers to understand their pupils’ strengths, weaknesses and progress

• Provide information which can be used by other interested parties which can be used to evaluate a school’s performance against its own previous attainment over time and against national standards.

The purpose of Assessment for learning is to:

• Provide insight into pupils’ learning for both pupils and teachers

• Promote success for all

• Enable continuous reflection on what pupils know now and what they need to know next

• Measure what is valued

• Promote immediate intervention and link judgements to learning intentions

• Raise standards by continually challenging pupils

Implications for teaching

The teacher will:

• Provide continuous oral and written feedback which identifies strengths and the next step for improvement

• Promote pupil involvement in self-assessment

• Act on insights gained to inform personal targets (Even Better Ifs- EBIs’)

• Plan against what children know/can do/understand

• Make standards and objectives explicit to pupils

• Promote inclusion by attending to all pupils’ learning needs

• Engage pupils in rich questioning

Impact on learning and the learner

The pupil will:

• Know what to do to improve

• Know what standards are required

• Know what has been achieved against known success criteria and what to do next

• Gain confidence, motivation and self-esteem as a learner

• Improve own self-evaluation skills

• Make progress

The purpose of Assessment of learning is to:

• Provide a summary judgement about what has been learned at a specific point in

• time

• Establish national benchmarks about what children can do and about school

• performance

• Show what pupils can do without support

• Hold the school to public account

Implications for teaching

The teacher will:

• Provide a periodic summary through teacher assessment and formal tests

• Identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge and understanding

• Identify weaknesses in the taught curriculum and in specific areas of learning

• through analysis of performance which can guide future planning

• Implement strategies to accelerate progress to meet local and national expectations

• (diminishing the difference)

• Mark and measure against expectations outlined in the National Curriculum

Impact on learning and the learner

The pupil will:

• Be able to gauge own performance against previous performance

• Be able to measure own performance against externally agreed criteria and

• standards

• Have a measure of performance at specific milestones in life

• Know what standards and expectations are required

• This assessment statement will be updated as our assessment process evolves further and in accordance to government guidelines.