At Ramridge Primary School the key purpose of assessment is to move children on in their learning. Continued monitoring of each child’s progress gives a clear picture of what each child has learnt and how we can move learning forward. It is important that the teacher knows what has been learnt, what skills have been acquired and what concepts have been understood. This enables teachers to reflect on what children are doing and informs their future planning. The outcome of assessments should help children become more involved in raising their own expectations, recognising their own achievement which will in turn increase their self-motivation.

Assessment at Ramridge Primary School is the basis of where sound planning and teaching starts. There is an expectation that pre-assessment will take place and the results analysed before planning commences. A variety of assessment procedures are followed including formative assessment, summative assessment and diagnostic testing. Although ongoing assessment takes place throughout the term, there is in addition to this an identified Assessment Week at regular intervals (determined by the academic calendar year). This enables staff to spend time assessing the progress pupils have made, identifying individual targets for pupils and planning ways to move forward.

Formative Assessment

Following the setting of Learning Intentions and Steps to Success, it is recognised that formative assessment plays a key part in assessing the progress and future learning needs of individuals. Teachers are encouraged to recognise the importance of formative assessment by spending time on it and involving pupils in the assessment of their own learning.

Formative Assessment can take many forms:

• Listening to and observing pupils – both informally and in planned scenarios.
• Looking at pupils’ work – spending time on marking and feedback in order to see if pupils are reflecting on learning.
• Planning for and observing pupils’ thinking and problem solving activities.
• Asking differentiated questions and listening to responses.
• Talking to parents/carers, pupils and support staff.

Summative Assessment

Throughout the year, pupils are assessed using a range of summative assessment materials. These are used to support teacher assessment and identify what needs to be taught to secure pupil’s progress.

Additionally, pupils will take part in the following national assessments:

• All pupils in Reception will participate in the Reception Baseline Assessment during their first 6 weeks in school. More information about this can be found here.
• All pupils in Year 1 will take part in the Phonics Screening Check in June. More information about this can be found here.
• In Year 2, pupils can take part in the Optional Key Stage 1 national curriculum tests. At Ramridge Primary School, we have chosen to use these materials to support the assessment of pupils at the end of Year 2. More information about these assessments can be found here.
• All pupils in Year 4 will take part in the Multiplication Tables Check in June. More information about this can be found here.
• Pupils in Year 6 sit externally set and marked tests in mathematics, reading and grammar, punctuation and spelling. There is also teacher assessment in mathematics, reading , writing and science to give a broader view of children’s attainment. Results in the tests will be reported as scaled scores. More information about this can be found here.

Diagnostic Assessment

Some assessments are carried out each year or term to identify particular progress or areas to develop.

• In line with the Read, Write Inc programme, phonic checks will take place at regular intervals (approximately 8 weeks) in order to assess the progress pupils have made and to ensure that pupils are being taught at the correct stage of the Read Write Inc programme.

Reporting to Parents/Carers and pupils occurs throughout the year in a number of forms.

• Interim Reports are produced in the Autumn and Spring Term for all pupils in KS1 and KS2. They provide information related to children’s progress and attainment. In addition to this, there is opportunity to provide information related to attendance and behaviour.
• Annual Reports are produced in the Summer Term for all pupils. They are summative and informative, providing information on progress and achievements throughout the year. They inform parents/carers of targets to work on and information related to attendance.
• Parent/ Carer Consultation evenings are held in the Autumn and Spring term. This is an opportunity to discuss the reports received and any issues rising from these.
• Parents are also invited in to discuss their child’s final report in the summer term.
• In addition to the more formal reporting, there is opportunity for personal contact with parents/carers at the beginning and end of each day. This is seen as an important opportunity to develop a partnership between home and school.

To see more of our performance results, provided by the DfE school perfomance website, please click here.