Assessment
EYFS
At Swanland School transition documentation from previous settings is used to inform staff of the child’s starting point before the children enter EYFS. The Reception Baseline assessment is undertaken on entry, which assesses the 7 areas of learning. Phonics assessments are recorded on the school phonics tracker. Continuous assessments are undertaken in all areas of the curriculum during and after each lesson throughout the year, through professional dialogues and the feedforward book. Each term, the 7 areas of development are assessed based on Development Matters. End of year assessment of the Early Learning Goals are submitted to East Riding and in end of year reports to parents.
Early Reading/Phonics
At Swanland School we follow the Little Wandle Programme in Reception and Year 1. Continuous assessments are undertaken during lessons and interventions are put in place on the same day. At the end of each half term, the children undertake an assessment of the unit. In Reception, 5 weekly assessments take place. As the terms progress children who need to revise a unit will then be grouped together and taught separately.
As soon as the Year 2 children begin in September, the children are assessed on the Little Wandle unit that they successfully completed in Year 1, eg Y1 Spring. The children are then grouped and taught the appropriate Little Wandle unit. Children are continually assessed, interventions given and moved groups when required. This information is then passed onto Year 3.
From Year 3 and onwards continue to use Little Wandle with the children that haven’t completed it. The children are continually assessed and interventions given as appropriate. Assessment information is passed on to the next teacher for as long as the child is using the Little Wandle scheme.
Phonic Screening
This takes place in June. Results are submitted to the East Riding and the next class teacher to inform future planning and interventions. Any children that don’t achieve the standard set are then reassessed in June, when they are in Year 2. These children will have continued with the Little Wandle scheme.
Reception and Year 1 track which phase each child is at, on a half termly basis, which is recorded.
Reading
In Year 1 children undertake a baseline assessment in Autumn Term so that points progress can then be tracked.
In Year 2 children are listened to for fluency before they move onto the school reading scheme. Children who are reading Phase 5 books are daily readers and assessed each half term and moved onto the school reading scheme when ready.
From Year 2 and onwards children are listened to as appropriate in groups and individually. Children also complete summative assessments each term and these results inform teacher assessment. Results are collated on Scholarpack. Staff analyse the results of the assessments to inform future planning.
Writing
In Year 1 children carry out a baseline assessment in Autumn term so that points progress can then be tracked.
At the end of the unit of writing, children are assessed, with a ‘Hot Write’. These are done at least half termly. Results are put onto Scholar Pack at the end of each term. We are currently trialling writing outcomes which have been devised by the trust, to help inform teacher assessment.
Grammar
During Literacy lessons, grammar is taught and formatively assessed throughout the year.
Grammar is assessed from Year 3 onwards. Termly summative assessments take place and they inform teacher assessments.
Maths
In Year 1 they carry out a baseline in Autumn term so that points progress can then be tracked.
From Year 2 onwards short unit assessments are carried out at the beginning and end of each unit of work and teachers track results. End of term summative assessments are carried out and results are entered onto Scholarpack and these results inform teacher assessment. Question Level Analysis is undertaken and results are analysed to identify any common gaps in learning and to inform planning. Ongoing formative assessment take place during the lessons and interventions will be put in place to support children.
In Year 4 a baseline check in Autumn is performed on times tables. TT Rockstars is used throughout the year to inform and track attainment and assessment. Year 4 children undertake the national Y4 Multiplication check in June. These results are then passed onto Year 5, to inform their future planning.
Science and Foundation Subjects
At the beginning of each lesson and unit of work, teachers will support children to connect to their prior learning through a ‘Connect’ task. This may be from a previous lesson or unit of work. Teachers then teach the next lesson in the sequence and then assess children through the work they have undertaken as well as through discussions, group work and practical tasks. This is called a ‘Demonstrate’ activity. This is the piece of learning that we want the children to ‘take away’ retain and embed in future learning.
Teachers keep records of progress in each lesson which is kept to inform next steps as well as to pass on to the next teachers.