Teachers are highly skilled at meeting the needs of all pupils, through a combination of having high expectations, teaching lessons full of pace and challenge, and making outstanding use of assessment to give pupils consistently clear guidance on how well they have done and how they can improve their work. There is a rigorous, whole school approach to record keeping that is followed by all staff to ensure continuity and progression in pupils’ learning.

How do we assess?

We are using ’Depth of learning‘ to assess children's learning. We assess their progress by reviewing the depth of their understanding. All learning is grouped into 3 milestones. Within each milestone, the children are assessed based on their level of understanding of a concept within the curriculum. This is at a basic, advancing or deep level. All children begin each milestone at a basic level. Here, they are acquiring new skills and often need more support. Once they have demonstrated this level of
understanding multiple times, they move to the advancing stage. Some children may reach a deep level of understanding by the end of the milestone.

What are Statutory tests?

At different points in a child’s school life the school is required by the government to test children and report the information.

In Reception, all children complete the Baseline assessment within their first 6 weeks of starting school. Children are then assessed on 7 areas of learning to assess whether they have achieved a 'Good Level of Development'.

In Year 1, children complete their Phonics Screening Check in June. They are asked to read 40 words, which are a mix of both real and 'alien' words to check their phonetic understanding.

In Year 4, children complete the multiplication tables check; this is an online check of children's times table knowledge to 12x12.

In Year 6, children complete 'SATs' in Reading, Maths and Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar. Writing is assessed by teachers, as is Science. Every few years, teacher assessment judgements are moderated by the local authority to ensure they are accurate.

Other forms of assessment

Knowledge Rich Curriculum (KRC) Key Learning Objectives are included in each of the subject folders. These are colour coded to represent the three main ability groups. However, it is acknowledged that some pupils might excel in different subjects; therefore the folders allow for movement between the different ability groups for different subjects.

POP Tasks/Retrieval Practice – used as ongoing formative assessment and to assess whether pupils have retained learning from
previous lessons

Kahoot/Quizzes – used as ongoing formative assessment. These are assessed by formative assessment (through the learning they
have done in class) an through more formal summative assessments (tests taken at the end of a learning point).

Reading is assessed in a variety of ways., including fluency checks, NFER tests and Salford Reading Age checks.

Maths is assessed using White Rose end of term assessments.

Writing is assessed through teacher assessment, using exemplification materials to judge the standard of a child's work.

As a school we also attend both internal and external moderation sessions with other schools within the LA. During these sessions, teachers moderate  small number of selected pupils from the various schools and using the evidence provided, decide whether the level attributed to that child is accurate. We use a collection of evidence (all of the above) to
determine the overall attainment for each pupil. 

KIRFs – Key Instant Recall Facts for each year group (R – 6) are assessed at the start of the Autumn term, the middle of the Spring
term and the end of the Summer term. These are mathematical facts which are deemed essential to develop for fluent mathematics
skills.
Number Clubs– are completed on a weekly basis starting from the Summer term of Year 1, and continuing to Year 6. Children must correctly complete a Number Club three times in a row before moving on to the next stage. The Number Clubs begin with 10 Club and 20 Club which assess number bonds to 10 and 20, moving on to multiplication tables, division facts, fractions, decimals, percentages, square and cube numbers, multiplying and dividing by powers of 10 and algebra. This is a timed activity, which children are given 5 minutes to complete. Later clubs may require a longer time allowance of 10 minutes.

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