Aims

The aims of assessments are to enable:

• Teachers and other staff to identify what learning pupils have or have not achieved, give ongoing support to enable all pupils to make progress
• Targets set through next step marking
• Pupils metacognitive skills including their capacity to learn how to learn
• Pupils to have an active role in identifying their own learning needs and know how to improve their work
• Parents to support their child’s learning
• Leaders to evaluate and continually improve on the quality of provision for all pupils

Avanti Meadows Primary School will use Arbor Summative Tracking Tool to record assessment results at key points throughout the year to measure pupil’s overall knowledge and progress.

Arbor Summative Tracking tool is used by all Avanti schools so we can share and compare date. This system will help us moderate our assessments and ensure that we are constantly comparing and improving how we assess. Arbor, forms part of a range of tools we at Avanti Meadows use. Please see below how we use assessment on a daily basis.

Key objectives

Using formative assessment to inform teaching and learning

Typical methods of formative assessment include:

• Targeted questioning
• Think/Pair/ Share
• Peer/ self-assessment
• On-going observations
• Opportunities for pupils to make their learning visible, for example, on mini-whiteboards
• Discussions between staff working with groups of pupils
• Verbal and written feedback

Recording pupils’ achievements using consistent methods and approaches across the school and the Avanti Trust

We ensure consistency in teacher assessments by:

• Using Arbor as a tool for assessment recording and Tapestry for recording children’s evidence in EYFS
• Moderating within/across year groups half termly
• Joining local authority (LA) moderation activities and Trust moderation activities twice a year
• Discussing consistency in planning sessions

 Giving constructive feedback to pupils so that they achieve and make progress

Pupils know how they can improve by:

• Teachers providing verbal and written feedback
• Targets displayed in booklets in both KS1 and KS2- teachers reminding them about those targets
• Being involved in next steps and target setting
• Linking the WALT to their targets and understanding the success criteria given (WILF)
• Following the marking code set

 Using a systematic approach for informing parents of their child’s progress

We inform parents of pupils’ progress by:

• Sending parents yellow Target Sheets termly
• Conferences with parents informally and formally (twice a year)
• Sending parents annual written reports
• Sending pupils homework/home project feedback
• Providing information on Key Stage Summative assessments on our website and through parent mail

Parents are supported through:

• Regular Parent Workshops
• Open Door Policy to watch assessment during lessons

Systematically monitor and evaluate pupils’ progress on an individual and school basis, and use the results to plan for improvement

SLT are responsible for ensuring that:

• Assessments are maintained consistently, and teachers are given advice and support in maintaining them through pupil progress meetings
• Assessment information is used to evaluate provision and improve practice through feedback, advice and also improve attainment. Interventions are clearly identified for particular pupil/s.

Involving staff in the process of assessment and informing them of the outcomes

To support staff, we:

• Provide training in assessment processes and appropriate software
• Give feedback to individuals or groups through monitoring activities
• Provide opportunities for staff to identify their own training needs through the appraisal process
• Pupil data will be reviewed at a regular basis and will form part of the appraisal process.

Sharing information about pupils’ attainment

Information about individuals is restricted under our data protection policy to:

• School staff on a need-to-know basis, i.e. for the purposes of teaching
• The receiving school when pupils leave
• Professionals who work with the school for advisory purposes

For further information, please see the Assessment Policy on the school website.