William Fletcher Primary School
Policy for Assessment
This document is a statement of policy, was written through a process of consultation with staff and takes into account statutory
requirements.
DEFINITION
Assessment is the ongoing process by which teachers, parents, children, and, in some cases,
external agencies, evaluate children’s educational progress.
Assessment serves three distinct purposes:
 To assess what children already know and identify their needs (diagnostic)
 To improve learning for every child (formative)
 To report on every child’s learning in terms of progress and attainment at the end of a
fixed period of time (summative)
In part, it is concerned with the collection of evidence extracted from records and formal testing
in order to produce numerical data which can then be analysed to raise School standards.
AIMS
Diagnostic assessment
 To assess what children know and don’t know
 To help teachers make informed decisions about where to focus teaching
 To pitch activities to ensure the biggest impact on learning
Formative assessment
 To help children to become efficient learners and more confident people
 Encourage children to take an appropriate level of challenge by undertaking relevant
tasks and therefore make progress appropriate to their needs.
 To provide a starting point for further work, helping teachers to plan work best suited to
the child's stage of development.
 To inform adults of progress made so far.
Summative assessment
 To inform children of their attainment, progress, and achievements
 To provide parents with information about their child's stage of development.
 To raise performance standards.
 To assess how well the school is functioning as a learning institution.
 To meet School, County and Government achievement targets.
PRACTICE
We acknowledge that assessment is part of the learning and teaching process and not in
addition to it.
“Good assessment influences teaching and learning: the processes of teaching, learning
and assessing are intimately linked. Assessment should therefore be fully integrated with
the school’s curriculum.”(Collins)
“…….Most day to day assessment in primary and secondary schools is informal, frequently a
seamless part of the process of teaching and learning.” ‘Assessment and Learning’ Ted Wragg 1997
Informal assessment
We use a variety of methods of informal assessment. The method used depends on the
situation and the needs of the child. Teachers respond to children’s learning on a day to day
basis through:
 Observation
 Verbally in class or 1-1 discussion.
 Written marking of children’s work
 The child's own assessment of his/her work using criteria clearly explained by the teacher.
 Peer assessment using criteria clearly explained by the teacher
 End of topic assessment, when appropriate, as the teacher considers the progress the child
has made over a period of time, using children’s work as evidence.
 Lesson evaluation
Formal Assessment
Formal assessment activities run to an agreed time schedule and records are kept for
stakeholder information.
 Each child has an assessment folder in which specific assessment tasks in English, Maths
and Science are filed at termly intervals. Information about children’s progress contained in
these folders contributes to school target setting and progress monitoring and tracking.
 Online tracking is carried out by teaching staff four times per year using OPT.
 EYFS assessments are carried out throughout the foundation year and reports are made to
parents. This runs alongside OPT. Pupil profiles are kept as an ongoing record of
achievement.
 Baseline assessments are conducted through Early Excellence.
 Learning cards are used to record achievement in English and Maths for year 1-6.
 All other subject areas are teacher assessed
 All cohorts undertake standardised tests three times per year (using PiRa, PUMa tests).
 Year 1 also undertake Phonics screening.
 Statutory assessment, as required by the government, is undertaken at the end of Key Stage
1 and 2 in English and Maths.
 SEN pupils are assessed using P Levels. (See SEND policy for procedures)
 Annually during Summer term, teachers make predictions about pupil/school achievement
and set targets for the following year
See Appendix 1: Assessment Booklet for parents and carers outlining the school’s development
of Learning Cards.
Summative Assessment Cycle Grid
See appendix 2
Marking
There is a standardised response to children’s work throughout the school
with which all teachers and TAs should be familiar: see Marking Policy
Records
Assessment is of a positive nature and this will be reflected in the children’s
records.
Learning Cards (written by the school staff, based upon the new national Curriculum) are used
to make informed judgements about child’s achievement in specific areas of mathematics,
reading and writing. This information is transferred to our school tracking IT programme based
upon OPT.
 Ongoing records are kept in a file kept by the class teacher.
 Annotated work provides an assessment record in its own right
 Portfolios of examples of assessed and annotated work or other evidence are collated by
curricular co-ordinators.


Oxfordshire Pupil Tracking is used to record and analyse pupil progress, highlighting
where improvement strategies need to be put in place
Personal profiles record progress of SEND pupils
Target Setting
The above, combined with RAISEonline and LA data reports, is used in analysis and to set
school attainment targets on an annual basis, for each cohort, at the end of each academic
year. Teaching staff collate data four times per year, analyse and present to Head and
governors as part of the Governing Body’s monitoring cycle of work.
Reporting to parents
All of the above is used by teachers to inform and report to parents. This is done
through:
 Annual written reports in July
 Parent Teacher Interviews held twice per year in autumn and spring
 SEND review meetings
 Informal Parent teacher discussions.
 Parental access to RM Unify
Professional Development
Adults are given the opportunity to attend INSET and take part in other relevant projects that
allow professional development to take place. When appropriate, other agencies will be called
upon to advise and support teachers in assessing and teaching children with specific needs.
These will include the SENCo (special educational needs co - coordinator) and the Educational
Psychologist.
Inclusion
Please see policy for Children with Special educational Needs
Moderation
The school undertakes a number of moderating activities, which ensure that assessment
judgements are accurate and consistent. These include:




Termly in-school progression and moderation tasks
Woodstock partnership network meetings moderation
Partnership INSET day moderation
External advisory moderation visits as requested by the school
Agreed on:
June 2015
To be reviewed: June 2016
Appendix 1
Person Responsible: Deborah Nind
William Fletcher Primary School
Assessment
Information for Parents and Carers
Changes to Assessment
• From September 2014, level descriptors were removed from the National Curriculum.
• During 2014-2015 schools developed their own methods of assessing pupil progress towards end of
Key Stage expectations.
Why were levels removed?
When revising the National Curriculum, the Expert Panel put forward four reasons for the removal of
levels:
• An Undue Emphasis on Pace
The rate of progress, or how fast pupils moved through the levels, had become more important that
pupils’ understanding of the curriculum. This led to pupils being expected to exceed the national agerelated expectation.
• Unsuitability of Using ‘Best Fit’ Descriptors
Many pupils were moved on because they best fitted a descriptor but may have had some significant gaps
in their understanding
• Problem with Determining Levels by Average Marks on a Test
A high number of marks could be gained from, for example, Level 2 questions and some Level 4
questions, and yet, when averaged out, a pupil may have been awarded a Level 3. The pupils weren’t
really a Level 3 but the marks may have declared them so.
• High Academically Ranking Countries have Never Used a System of Levels
In these countries assessment is based on ‘depth’ of understanding or ‘mastery’ of all key concepts of the
curriculum.
William Fletcher Primary School has been working with a number of local schools, including The
Marlborough Academy, to explore how the new changes can be implemented to ensure cohesion across
schools, and more importantly, to ensure that children know exactly what it is they need to do to improve
and succeed.
We have grasped the opportunity to provide parents, and children with a more understandable assessment
procedure, which will give clear information and identify what your child can do and the next steps in
their learning.
Within all our work on assessment we are guided by these agreed principles:
• All assessment is a true reflection of where children are in their learning.
• Everything we do as part of the assessment process has an impact on learning and progress.
• Children, parents and staff are actively engaged in the assessment process.
• Assessment processes are accessible to all: everyone understands the system and its purpose.
Our Approach to Assessment
Children’s on-going progress will continue to be assessed and formally recorded at three points in the
year in relation to the expectations for their year group as detailed in the National Curriculum.
The large majority of pupils will progress through the curriculum content at the same pace with the
expectation that most achieve the ‘expected’ standard for their age group and are supported to move to
the ‘embedded’ stage.
Learning Cards
•
All children will have a learning
card for reading, writing and
mathematics.
•
The children will use their
Learning Cards every day in
class. Together with their
teacher the children will review
which targets they need to work
on in order to develop their
learning.
Learning Cards continued….
• The three boxes next to each objective will be ticked in the following order: 1. the objective has been taught
and the child has shown some understanding 2. Further teaching of the objective has taken place 3. the
objective has been learnt 4. the objective will be highlighted when it is fully embedded in the child’s
understanding.
• Towards the end of each term (6 points in the year), your child will bring home their Learning Cards. You will
be able to see which learning objectives your child has been working on over the term and what their next steps
are in order to develop their learning further.
• Children who are on the SEN register or who are particularly gifted and able may be given Learning Cards
from another year group. All Learning Cards will look the same so children will not be aware that other
children in their class have a different set of learning objectives. Parents will be informed if their child is
working on a different year group Learning Card.
High Quality Formative Assessment
• Teachers and classroom-based staff will be continually assessing children’s progress through thorough
marking, observation and discussion against year group expectations. The Learning Cards will form an
important part of our Formative Assessments.
Informative Summative Assessment
 Assessment is also informed by tests and other diagnostic assessments, please see our “Summative
Assessments at William Fletcher Primary School” for further information.
This combined and detailed information is then put on the school’s Tracking System where the teachers will make
a robust judgement about how well children are doing against age-related expectations.
We do hope you will find the Learning Cards useful in deepening your understanding of the progress your child is
making at school. You may also like to use the Learning Cards as a tool for supporting your child’s learning at
home.
Please do not hesitate in speaking to your child’s class teacher or Mrs Nind if you would like further information
about the school assessment system or how you can support your child’s learning at home.
Appendix 2
Summative Assessment at William Fletcher Primary School
2014/2015
From September 2015
(This academic year)
In-school Summative Assessment
Years R-6
Progress in Reading Assessment (PIRA): End of term 2, 4 and 6
Progress in Understanding Mathematics Assessment (PUMA): End of term 2,
4 and 6
Unaided Writing Assessment (Big Write): End of each term.
National Summative Data
Age 2
Year R
Age 4 & 5
Year R
Age 4 & 5
Year 1
Age 5 & 6
Year 2
Age 6 & 7
Year 2
Age 6 & 7
Year 6
Age 10 & 11
2 year old screening conducted by
your health visitor
Class teacher baseline
assessments in first few weeks of
school.
Vocabulary assessment (BPVS)
Children assessed against the
seven areas of learning to
determine if they have achieved a
“Good Level of development –
GLD”
Phonics screening – June
(Pass/Fail)
Phonics screening recheck- June
(Pass/Fail) for pupils who did not
meet the expected standard in
phonics in year 1
Children take externally set tests
marked by the class teacher in:
 Reading
 Mathematics
 Writing
This is the last year that children
will be given a level. Children in
year 2 are expected to achieve
level 2B. These levels are reported
to parents and to the DfE.
Externally set and marked tests in:
 Mathematics (2 written papers
& mental arithmetic)
 Reading
 Grammar, punctuation and
spelling
 Teacher assessment fro writing.
This is the last year that children
will be given a level. Children in
year 6 are expected to achieve a
level 4B. These are reported to
parents and to the DfE.
2 year old screening conducted by your
health visitor
Government accredited Baseline
assessment for reception children taken
within first few weeks of school
Children assessed against the seven
areas of learning to determine if they
have achieved a “Good Level of
development – GLD”
Phonics screening – June (Pass/Fail)
Phonics screening recheck- June
(Pass/Fail) for pupils who did not meet
the expected standard in phonics in
year 1
Children take externally set tests
marked by the class teacher in:
 Reading
 Mathematics
 Writing
 Grammar, punctuation and
spelling
Externally set and marked tests in:
 Mathematics (2 written papers &
mental arithmetic)
 Reading
 Grammar, punctuation and spelling
 Teacher assessment for writing.
A scaled score out of 130 will be
awarded.