Assessing Pupil Progress at Valley
There are five core principles that guide our assessment practice at Valley.
- The child is at the heart of assessment
- Assessment provides a view of the whole child
- Assessment is integral to teaching and learning
- Assessment includes reliable judgements about how children are performing related, where appropriate, to national standards
- We collect only information that will make a positive impact on pupil outcomes
Each professional involved with the child makes a contribution to the review and gives an indication of the actions they plan for the coming year. The review discusses the report made on the child, the child’s progress against targets set at their previous review and views expressed by the family. Data is collected around achieved targets and this informs pupil progress outcomes.
Highly ambitious and child-centered targets are set for each child in school. They are specific to their needs and ability levels. They relate to the annual review outcome from the EHC. Teachers liaise with other professionals including Speech and Language Therapists, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Learning Disability Nurses and Educational Psychologists.
These IEPs are evaluated each term and new ones written. Teachers are given feedback on targets and achievements and the data is used to inform pupil progress outcomes. Parents are given opportunity to contribute towards IEPs.
Assessment in Reception and Nursery follows EYFS guidance and uses systematic observations and of assessment of each child’s achievements, interests and learning styles. For some children the Early Years SEN Play and Communication based assessment is also used to identify the small steps in progress that they make.
Tracking Grids in Year 1 to Year 6
In Year 1, teachers use the EYFS assessment information and base line each children using a range of tracking grids. These include Hampshire Grids for learners working at a pre-formal level and grids monitoring achievement in mathematics, reading and writing for our semi- more able. Communication and Interaction Tracking Grids will be introduced in 2019-2020. Over a pupil’s time at Valley, these are updated at least termly and provide data around progress as well as providing pupil progress information for when children move on from Valley.
At the end of KS1 and KS2, the pre-key stage standards (PKS) are used for teacher assessment of our semi-formal learners in mathematics, reading and writing. Until further guidance is published, P scales will be used for the assessment of pupils working below PKS.
Data from these assessments are shared with the LA and DfE.
End of Year Reports
At the end of the Summer term, parents are informed of their child’s progress in the key areas of learning.
Year 6 Assessment Results 2018-2019
All 6 of our Year 6 pupils were judged to have made good or outstanding progress.
For further information, please ask to see our school’s Assessment Policy.