Assessment
Children in Nursery and Reception are assessed against the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum and results are reported in the Pupil Asset App. Information on this page relates to Years 1-6 only.
Regular assessments against National Curriculum Standards
Class teachers make regular assessments throughout the year. Reading, writing and Maths attainment levels are recorded each half term. Results are recorded in the Pupil Asset school management system and are immediately available to parents through the parent app.
We use the 7 element Point In Time Assessment grades below in order to track pupil attainment over time.
Attainment
Learning is assessed against what has been taught to date and your child's achievements are compared against the expected levels of understanding and competencies relative to that 'point in time'.
Where your child is deemed to be meeting expectations, their attainment is graded as 'Expected'.
Children who have achieved more are graded as currently exceeding expectations from 'Just Above Expected', through 'Above' to 'Well Above.' Those attaining less will be graded as below expected to varying degrees from 'Just Below', through 'Below' to 'Well Below. '
Progress
Progress is measured by comparing Point in Time Assessments over time.
If a child consistently meets expectations and continues to work at the expected standard, they are judged to be progressing at the rate we expect. Where a child moves up a grade, this suggests that they have achieved more than expected between the two milestones; they have made better than expected progress. If they move down a grade, this suggests they have achieved less than was expected and so have made less than expected progress.
End of Year and Key Stage Predictions
Point in Time Assessments can also be used to predict end of year and end of key stage attainment. As long as expectations have been mapped out appropriately, a child currently meeting age related expectations in Year 3 can be thought of as 'on track' to meet age related expectations at the end of Key Stage 2.
Of course, any such future projection assumes learners will continue to make progress against our curricular expectations.
Supporting teacher assessment with formal assessments
In order to support our assessments in reading comprehension and maths we use two formal assessments. These assessments are undertaken by thousands of children across the UK at the same time. This helps us to check your child's attainment against a common standard against children in other schools, it provides another element of our assessment picture to inform our decision-making in the classroom and across the school as a whole.
Puma and Pira - Standardised assessment
The tests will be taken each term.
Year 1 undertake these tests in the Summer term only.
Year 6 do not undertake these tests during their Summer term (they have their national SATs.)
There are two tests:
- Progress in Reading Assessment (PIRA)
- Progress in Understanding Mathematics (PUMA)
The test will be available for all children who are working within the ability level permitted by the test. Some children, who may be working more than one year below the average level of the cohort, may not be able to access the tests and will not be entered, usual teacher assessment will be used.
What diagnostic information do the tests provide?
The PiRA and PUMA results can be converted to provide a full diagnostic profile for your child. The profile provides:
- A standardised score
This allows you to immediately see whether your child is above or below the national average for their year. - An age-standardised score
This allows you to see how your child is doing against other pupils of the same age. - Performance indicators for PiRA and PUMA
These show if your child is meeting performance expectations for their year (working towards, working at, or working at greater depth). - A reading age and maths age.
These allow you to get a quick measure of progress against the age your child's performance is typical of. - A Hodder Scale score
This is an independent measure of progress throughout primary that allows fine monitoring of your child's progress and the prediction of future performance.
We will share your child's test results with you through the Pupil Asset App, usually within a few days of your child sitting the test and before a Parent Teacher Meeting.
The tests are taken at the end of each term in years 3-6.
They help the school staff and the Governing Body to:
- Support or challenge current teacher assessments
Our teachers regularly assess against the learning descriptors of the National Curriculum. These assessments will further support teacher assessments and may at times challenge assessments and prompt further analysis and discussion by showing that a child can/cannot succeed in an area. - See which pupils are working above or below age expectations
We can compare performance against national averages and use this to inform intervention strategies or work on deeper understanding - Identify patterns of strengths and weakness
We can highlight skills in which pupils are secure and confident and flag areas where they may need more support - Pinpoint areas for further teaching or intervention
We can assess performance on specific questions or strands (individually or across the class) and use this to refine target setting and inform planning - Demonstrate value added
We can show where pupils are making progress, regardless of their starting point and monitor the impact of interventions or Pupil Premium funding - Check if children are maintaining progress
We can compare actual scores with those predicted, to see if children are continuing to perform at expected levels on a termly basis. Quickly identify if any pupils are falling behind and in which parts of the curriculum
Hodder, who produce the tests for us, have a booklet on standardised assessment for teachers, we have included it below as parents may find it a useful guide. It includes:
- what a standardised test is and why schools might use them
- how standardised tests are developed and how they work
- what information a standardised test can give you
The costs of the assessments are met from the school budget.
