Assessment
ASSESSMENT
Assessment actually comes from the Latin, assidere, which means to sit alongside. Our aim with assessment at Bealings is to value the whole child, and to be alongside them, watching them and adapting our approaches as each child learns and grows. We are interested in small steps of progress in specific subjects. Of course we are. We are also interested in how they are making connections across subjects, how they are able to help their friends when they are upset, how they tackle new challenges when they might feel a bit out of their depth. These things are all important.
This means that we are more qualitative in our assessment approach than some schools. Our school reports seek to highlight what a child has individually contributed to the learning enquiries, what they have made particular progress with, and what they have found a challenge. The information we give parents is very child focused, and hopefully richer than just a set of scores.
How we check for understanding and progress
We assess pupils in the core subjects (reading, writing and maths) using published frameworks of age related expectations and descriptors. We occasionally do this using summative (end of unit) tests, or use standardised assessment such as the Salford reading test. The children are also assessed at certain end-points, according to the governments statutory assessments. These end-points are:
End of Reception: Assessment according to the 17 Early Learning Goals
Year 1, June: Phonics screening test
Year 4, June: Maths times tables check
Year 6, May: Reading (1 paper/1 score); Maths (3 papers/1 score); Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar [SPaG] (1 paper/1 score); writing (teacher assessed portfolio of writing).
In addition to this we use some of these assessment tools:
Quizzes: We practise recalling what we have learnt, with children sharing with the rest of the class what they now know. The aim is for this to be celebratory. Wow - what a lot we have learnt! The adults will lead the quizzes but we involve the children too - so that they can generate the questions for each other.
Flashback Fridays: We have set aside some time on Fridays for us to see what we can remember from previous Mantles. These are often open tasks like - tell me what you know about the Egyptians - and children jot down their knowledge and take part in a whole class discussion. This means that we refresh our knowledge as we move through the curriculum.
Vivas: We also have checkpoint 'Vivas' which is a term we have borrowed from academia i.e. a Viva Voce when you talk to the examiners about your work when you have completed a thesis. Here we gather with 5-6 pupils and hold structured assessment discussions every few weeks to check in on the explicit knowledge that the children have acquired and to inform our next phase of planning - to deepen areas that are secure, and to go over what is not yet secure.
Most importantly, we take a team approach to assessment so that it is as holistic as possible. Adults in the school are always seeking to understand each child, share feedback with the class teachers, and this is how we ensure that every child is cared for, challenged, and given opportunities as they progress through the school.