Shaw Primary Academy Assessment
Our principles for assessment
1. Assessment is at the heart of teaching and learning.
a. Assessment provides evidence to guide teaching and learning.
b. Assessment provides the opportunity for students to demonstrate and review their progress.
2. Assessment is fair.
a. Assessment is inclusive of all abilities.
b. Assessment is free from bias towards factors that are not relevant to what the assessment intends to address.
3. Assessment is honest.
a. Assessment outcomes are used in ways that minimise undesirable effects.
b. Assessment outcomes are conveyed in an open, honest and transparent way to assist pupils with their learning.
c. Assessment judgements are moderated by experienced professionals to ensure their accuracy.
4. Assessment is ambitious.
a. Assessment places achievement in context against nationally standardised criteria and expected standards.
b. Assessment embodies, through objective criteria, a pathway of progress and development for every child.
c. Assessment objectives set high expectations for learners.
5. Assessment is appropriate.
a. The purpose of any assessment process should be clearly stated.
b. Conclusions regarding pupil achievement are valid when the assessment method is appropriate (to age, to the task and to the desired feedback information).
c. Assessment should draw on a wide range of evidence to provide a complete picture of student achievement.
d. Assessment should demand no more procedures or records than are practically required to allow pupils, their parents and teachers to plan future learning.
6. Assessment is consistent.
a. Judgements are formed according to common principles.
b. The results are readily understandable by third parties.
c. A school’s results are capable of comparison with other schools, both locally and nationally.
7. Assessment outcomes provide meaningful and understandable information for:
A. pupils in developing their learning;
B. parents in supporting children with their learning;
C. teachers in planning teaching and learning.
Assessment must provide information that justifies the time spent;
D. school leaders and governors in planning and allocating resources; and
E. government and agents of government.
8. Assessment feedback should inspire greater effort and a belief that, through hard work and practice, more can be achieved.
Our approach to assessment
Assessment is integral to high quality teaching and learning. It helps us to ensure that our teaching is appropriate and that learners are making expected progress
All staff are regularly trained in our approach to assessment
We have a senior leader who is responsible for assessment
Our method of assessment
Assessment serves many purposes, but the main purpose of assessment in our school is to help teachers, parents and pupils plan their next steps in learning
We also use the outcomes of assessment to check and support our teaching standards and help us improve
Through working with other schools and using external tests and assessments, we will compare our performance with that of other schools.
We assess pupils against assessment criteria, known as Key Performance Indicators, which are short, discrete, qualitative and concrete descriptions of what a pupil is expected to know and be able to do
Assessment criteria are derived from the school curriculum, which is composed of the National Curriculum and organised into a thematic approach across a 2 year rolling programme in Key Stage 1 and a 4 Year rolling programme in Key Stage 2
Assessment criteria for periodic assessment are arranged into a hierarchy, setting out what children are normally expected to have mastered by the end of each year, these are known as Key Performance Standards
The achievement of each pupil is assessed against all the relevant criteria at appropriate times of the school year
Each pupil is assessed as either ‘developing’, ‘meeting’ or ‘exceeding’ each relevant criterion contained in our expectations for that year and a ‘grading’ and points system has been devised to provide quantitative information for strategic data collection and analysis
Where a pupil is assessed as exceeding the relevant criteria in a subject for that year they will also be assessed against the criteria in that subject for the next year. For those pupils meeting and exceeding the expected standards, we provide more challenging work
Assessment judgements will be recorded and backed by a body of evidence created using observations, records of work and testing
Our use of assessment
Teachers use the outcomes of our assessments to summarise and analyse attainment and progress for their pupils and classes
Teachers use this data to plan the learning for every pupil to ensure they meet or exceed expectations. Teachers and leaders analyse the data across the school to ensure that pupils identified as vulnerable or at particular risk in this school are making appropriate progress and that all pupils are suitably stretched
The information from assessment is communicated to parents and pupils on a termly basis through one to one mentoring meetings will pupils and termly meetings with parents. Parents and pupils will receive rich, qualitative profiles of what has been achieved and indications of what they need to do next
We celebrate all achievements across a broad and balanced curriculum, including sport, art and performance, behaviour, and social and emotional development