Assessment at St Peter’s school
As you may know, National Curriculum Levels are no longer used in schools in England and Wales. St Peter’s, like all Primary schools, has adopted an alternative way to assess the attainment and progress of children as they move through the school.
Pupils in Reception complete an informal ‘Upon Entry’ assessment booklet with the teacher, looking at a range of basic skills. Throughout the year in EYFS we use an online assessment journal to track pupil milestones and achievements and to support us in completing the end of year profile document for this age group.
Key Stages 1 and 2
Across the school from Reception through to Year 6 we use teaching guidance and lesson plans from Hamilton Trust; a UK charity founded in 1988 working to support inspirational teaching and learning.
From Year 1 to Year 6 we use the Hamilton Trust’s Assessment Tracker which enables us to track and analyse pupil progress towards mastery of the expected end-of-year age-related English and Maths skills.
Pupils from Year 1 to Year 6 complete a piece of their best writing and include this in their ‘writing journal’ three times a year. This writing is then assessed by the teacher to track attainment and progress according to the standards expected in the National Curriculum.
In addition, we use SATs test booklets and NFER (National Foundation for Educational Research) booklets to provide nationally benchmarked standardised and age-standardised scores for pupils in Reading and Maths.
Pupils from Year 1 to Year 6 undertake spellings and/or times tables tests weekly.
Pupils in Reception and Year 1 undertake regular phonic (letter sounds) assessments as part of our Read Write Inc reading programme.
Pupil Progress meetings.
In the Autumn, Spring and Summer terms the Senior Leadership team meets with each teacher to discuss the accuracy of individual pupil attainment and progress.
We discuss expected progress and whether children are on track for end of year goals. This process of mapping and tracking pupil progress allows teachers and SLT to maintain high aspirations for progress and, where necessary, to consider appropriate and timely interventions to ensure progress. This robust model provides essential information for lesson planning, resource allocation, parent consultations and end of year reports.