Assessment at Well Green Primary School
Early Years
On entry to Nursery and through their Nursery Year, all children are assessed against the age appropriate Development Matters. These assessments continue into Reception and form an important part of the transition between the two classes. Assessment continues in all the seven areas of learning and is tracked as an ongoing process throughout the year. The children's learning is observed during play and some adult led activities. They have a selection of books where pieces of work relating to the different areas are kept as a record of their learning, progress and achievements.
At the end of Reception, children are assessed against the ‘Early Learning Goals’ (the age related expectations at the end of Reception). They are judged at either emerging, meeting, or exceeding these objectives.
Key stage 1 and 2
The current National Curriculum was introduced in September 2014 and schools are required to assess pupils attainment against the objectives for their year group as outlined in the National Curriculum so that progress can be measured and tracked. At Well Green we assess pupils three times a year to determine their progress and attainment.
There are statutory national assessments at the end of each Key Stage (in Year 2 and Year 6) and a phonics check near the end of Year 1 (and a re-test for children in Year 2 if they do not pass in Year 1). These tests are challenging in line with the curriculum objectives which set high expectations of the children in each year group. The tests report a precise scaled score, where 100 is the expected standard of the test. A scaled score of 110 or more on these tests is regarded as working at greater depth.
At Well Green Primary we use the FFT Aspire Pupil Tracking system to record our termly summative assessments of the children’s progress against the national standards. The achievement of pupils is recorded as a scaled score which then correlates to a performance indicator which shows whether they are working below, meeting or working at greater depth against the expected standard for the year group.
The conversion of scaled scores is explained below:
Teachers assess Reading, Writing, Maths and SPAG (spelling, punctuation and Grammar) each term and foundation subjects after each half-termly unit.
When a child is 'meeting 'their year group expectations, they are expected to add more depth and breadth to their knowledge by using and applying their knowledge and skills in a range of contexts. It is expected that they gain depth and mastery of the concepts rather than moving on to the objectives for the next year group.
To help you to understand what the expectations are for reading, writing, GPS (grammar, punctuation and spelling) and mathematics in each year group, please find copies of the school leaflets containing these below.