Progress and Assessment

We are committed to ensuring that our pupils are making progress at a relevant pace whilst ensuring they are supported and challenged appropriately.

We support all learners along the learning continuum, as they move between different groups, different classes, different years and different settings. We ensure that the well-being of all learners is an important and integral part of our processes, recognising the needs of individuals, while also supporting both continuity and progression in their learning. We utilise various assessment strategies, which will enable each individual learner to make progress at an appropriate pace, ensuring they are supported and challenged accordingly.

Assessment is built into our school’s curriculum and is part of our everyday learning experience.

The school will fulfil the Curriculum’s Assessment Purposes (WAG Guidance) as follows:

1. Support individual learners on a daily basis in the classroom and beyond using assessment for learning strategies consistently which will provide learners and practitioners with a clear picture of attainment and next steps.

2. Identifying, capturing and reflecting on individual learner progress over time

3. Understanding group progress in order to reflect on practice.

Assessment Strategies

We use a range of assessment strategies to contribute to developing a holistic picture of the learner to inform next steps in learning and teaching.

We use the Descriptions of Learning for each What Matters Statement to assess and plan for learners' progress. These broadly correspond to expectations for ages 5, 8, 11, 14 and 16 and offer guidance on how learners should demonstrate progress within each Statement. These are not used as a list of tick boxes, but as tools to consider when planning for our learners' progress.

AoLE teams are responsible for supporting Curriculum Design, including ensuring appropriate coverage of the AoLEs and appropriate continuity and progression within their phase.  AoLE teams work with the SLT to contribute to whole school Curriculum Design, ensuring continuity and progression throughout the whole school.

Practitioners are given specific and regular periods to discuss the progress and needs of learners and specific groups of learners through professional dialogue during Learner Progress Reviews in order to plan for further progress, ensuring appropriate support and challenge for all learners. Such discussions will also facilitate any transfer and transition between classes and schools. Formative use is made of national and standardised tests e.g. PASS and WG National Tests as required in these discussions. We also use the Read, Write, Inc. phonics assessment, Single Word Spelling Test and Single Word Reading Test. Formative TAPAS maths assessments are also used to assess pupil progress and identify next steps in learning.  In addition, there are Principles of Progression that underpin our planning for learners' progress across each AOLE.