Effective assessment practice is crucial to the learning process, enabling every learner to make progress. The purpose of assessment in the Curriculum for Wales framework is, fundamentally, to support progression towards the four purposes. Schools and settings will need to ensure that practitioners develop a shared understanding of what progression looks like, across the setting, in order to inform planning for learning. Schools should give themselves permission to stop any assessment practices that do not contribute to this or that do not directly enhance the learning experience or wellbeing of their learners.
With appropriate support and challenge, learners will not only make progress, but will also learn to recognise their individual achievements and identify their next steps in learning independently. The Curriculum for Wales places the focus of assessment in schools on formative assessment, taking place while the learning is happening, and considering the whole child – their knowledge, skills, experiences, attitudes, values and wellbeing.
Schools now have the autonomy to design a curriculum for their context and their learners’ individual needs whilst fully including the learners in the process. Professor Louise Hayward described the reform as, 'moving the school culture from measuring to feeding'. Learning experiences, therefore, should focus on 'growth', ensuring that there is scope for breadth and depth of learning that allows learners to make progress at their own pace in order to reach their true potential.
