Assessment at Nancledra

Children’s progress is closely monitored in order that we can provide the best possible opportunities and highest levels of support for all children.  All assessment activities aim to ensure that the children are able to make excellent progress in their learning whilst taking into account the needs of individual children.

The aims and objectives of assessment in our school are:

  • to enable our children to demonstrate what they know, understand and can do in their work;
  • to allow teaching teams to plan work that accurately reflects the needs of each child;
  • to help our children understand what they need to do next to improve their work;
  • to provide regular information for parents that enables them to support their child’s learning;
  • to contribute towards accountability data;
  • to enable local and national benchmarking between schools and monitoring of performance;
  • to ensure that an appropriate amount of time is allocated for recording and reporting purposes, such that it does not negatively impact on the time available for personal interaction with learners;
  • to ensure that all statutory requirements for assessing, recording and reporting indications of pupil mastery, attainment and progress annually and at the end of each Key Stage are met.

 

Aims of the new National Curriculum (2014)

Following the announcement, by the Department for Education, of the removal of levels for the attainment and progress of children (2013) and the relaxation of restrictions on centrally led reporting requirements (Department for Education and Gibb, 2015 and Ofsted, 2015), schools have now been given the opportunity to conduct more ‘assessment of the right kind’, to offer task specific, personalised feedback and to become ‘Assessment Professionals’ by creating an assessment system that supports the learning of the individual children in their school. (Tim Oates, Chair of the expert panel for NC review).

 

Ofsted has stated the following:

 

  • Ofsted recognises that marking and feedback to pupils, both written and oral, are important aspects of assessment. However, Ofsted does not expect to see any specific frequency, type or volume of marking and feedback; these are for the school to decide through its assessment policy. Marking and feedback should be consistent with that policy, which may cater for different subjects and different age groups of pupils in different ways, in order to be effective and efficient in promoting learning.
  • Ofsted does not expect performance and pupil-tracking data to be presented in a particular format. Such data should be provided to inspectors in the format that the school would ordinarily use to track and monitor the progress of pupils in that school.

(Ofsted inspections – clarification for schools, March 2015, No. 140169)