Assessment is an integral part of all teaching and learning. At All Souls, we aim to ensure that:
- Every child knows how they are doing, what they need to do next to improve and have an understanding of how to get there.
- Our teachers are well equipped to make accurate judgements about pupils’ attainment and progress and to use this information to plan the next steps in each child’s learning journey.
- We have put in place a structured and systematic assessment system for making regular, useful and accurate assessments of pupils and their progress.
During the course of each term, pupils are assessed in a variety of different ways.
- In every lesson, there will be on-going, formative assessment of the children’s learning which helps to move them forward. Formative assessment is integral to the teaching and learning at All Souls as it informs our lesson planning and identifies the next steps children need to take in order to improve.
- Assessment for learning is part of this process; pupils will make the greatest improvements if they understand the aim of their learning, where they are in relation to this aim and what they need to demonstrate in order to improve.
- Summary assessments such as spelling tests, times tables tests and end of topic tests which measure each pupils’ attainment at that particular point after a period of learning.
At All Souls there are 3 Assessment Points (AP) in the year (November, March, May/July) where all the assessment information is gathered and recorded in order to enable tracking of attainment and progress of individual pupils and groups of pupils. This information is used to set new targets for improvement and to identify any pupils who may require extra support with their learning in the following term.
Teachers meet termly with a member of the Senior Leadership Team to discuss assessment and progress in their class. Termly parent meetings also take place after each AP so that parents receive regular updates and information on their child’s learning.
At the end of EYFS, KS1 and KS2 the pupils are assessed under statutory national frameworks. In EYFS, all these assessments are based on pupil observations collated over the course of their time in EYFS. In KS1 and KS2 a combination of teacher assessment and testing takes place. Children in Y1 also participate in a the national phonics screening programme.
Marking and Feedback
As part of our assessment process children at All Souls receive regular feedback, either verbally through discussion and conferencing, or visually through marking of their written work. Work that demonstrates the pupil is meeting the objectives of the task is marked with a yellow high lighter. Occasionally adults will use a pink highlighter for errors, especially if it is for something the child should be working on to improve. Improvement points, or next step marking, may be made at the end of a piece of work in green pen.
Children may sometimes mark their own work (in a blue pen) and they will complete any responses to marking in blue too.