Assessment at The Priors is very important - it helps us understand what the children can do and what they need to do next. We use three broad overarching forms of assessment: Day to Day Formative Assessment, In-School Summative Assessment and Nationally Standardised Summative Assessments.

Formative assessment

Day to Day formative assessment is an integral part of teaching and learning. It helps children to measure their own strengths and areas for development. It allows teachers to understand pupil performance on a continuing basis, enabling them to identify when pupils are struggling, when they have consolidated learning and when they are ready to progress. In this way, it supports teachers to provide appropriate support (corrective activities) or extension (enrichment activities to deepen understanding) as necessary and informs progress. It enables teachers to evaluate their own teaching of particular topics or concepts and to plan future lessons accordingly. Through Formative Assessment’, we will

• support children in measuring their knowledge and understanding against learning objectives and wider outcomes, identifying where they need to target their efforts to improve.
• ensure that problems are identified at the individual level and that every child will be appropriately supported to make progress and meet expectations
• following Day-to- Day assessments record and report progress to parents via rungs in Learning Ladders.

A range of ‘Day-to-Day In-School Formative Assessments’, will be used including, for example,

• Reference to assessment of rungs within Learning Ladders in Reading, Writing, Maths, Science, Computing, History and Geography.
• making use of rich question and answers
• Marking of pupils’ work following the feedback policy
• Observational assessments
• Scanning work for pupil attainment and development
• Pupil self-assessment
• Peer marking

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Summative Assessment

In-school summative assessments will be used to monitor and support children’s performance. They will provide children with information about how well they have learned and understood a topic taught over a period of time, providing feedback on how they can continue to improve. In-school summative assessments will also inform parents about achievement, progress and wider outcomes. Teachers will make use of in-school summative assessments to evaluate both pupil learning and the impact of their own teaching. Both of these purposes will support teachers in planning for subsequent teaching and learning. In-school summative assessments will also be used at whole school level to monitor the performance of pupil cohorts, to identify where interventions may be required and to work with teachers to ensure pupils are supported to achieve sufficient progress and expected attainment.

 A range of ‘In-school-summative assessments’ will be used including, for example.

• End of term tests (PIRA, PUMA)
• Reviews for pupils with SEN and disabilities
• Termly monitoring of learning ladders by the SLT
• Termly ‘best fit’ assessment relating to the National Curriculum age related expectations recorded on Learning Ladders and Tapestry in the Early Years

  At The Priors School, we use three broad overarching forms of assessment: Day to Day Formative Assessment, In-School Summative Assessment and Nationally Standardised Summative Assessments.

National standardised assessments

Nationally standardised assessments will be used to provide information on how children are performing in comparison to children nationally. They will provide parents with information on how the school is performing in comparison to schools nationally. Teachers will have a clear understanding of national expectations and assess their own performance in the broader national context. Nationally standardised summative assessment enables the school leadership team to benchmark the school’s performance against other schools locally and nationally, and make judgements about the school’s effectiveness. The government and OFSTED will also make use of nationally standardised summative assessment to provide a starting point for Ofsted’s discussions, when making judgements about the school’s performance.

 A range of ‘Nationally standardised summative assessments’ will be used:

• A Baseline Assessment in Year Reception
• Assess the children in Reception against the Early Learning Goals
• A phonics screening check in Year 1
• National Curriculum tests to inform teacher assessments at Key Stage 1
• Multiplication check in Year 4
• National Curriculum tests at the end of Key Stage 2
• Local authority moderation

An inclusive approach to assessment

In addition to the assessments above, the school will make use of additional diagnostic assessments to contribute to the early and accurate identification of children and young people’s special education needs and any requirements for support and intervention.