Assessment Guidance - EYFS & KS1

Assessment is a crucial part of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Assessment is used as part
of a cycle to inform planning. Staffs assess the children on a daily basis, observing what is happening during their work and play. All members of staff are responsible for observing all children, regardless as to which class they are in, and feeding this information to the class teacher.

1. The children are observed during their work and play- notes are made
2. Staff meet weekly and assess the observations in order to meet the needs of each child and decide on their next steps.
3. The findings are fed into the planning so that the children are challenged appropriately in future activities.

How We Record

1. Assessment, in the form of photographs, videos and written observations are recorded on an online app using an iPad. The app we use at Warren Mead is called Tapestry. All staff are responsible for updating the information daily.
2. In Reception examples of children’s writing, maths and topic work is kept in their own individual folder.
3. In Nursery sample pieces of each child’s work are kept in an evidence folder.

Moderation

• Moderation takes place both in school and externally.
• Reception staff attend regular moderation sessions with other local schools.

Parental Involvement

Parents are the child’s first educator and they know their children best. We encourage parents to
share what they know about their children on a regular basis.  Parents can gain access to their child’s assessment by having an individual login to Tapestry and can also upload significant achievements at home.

Start of EYFS

When children start in Reception and Nursery, the staff will spend the first few weeks carrying out a baseline assessment. In Nursery, the children will be assessed against the Development Matters age band descriptors.

End of EYFS

At the end of Reception, the children will be assessed against the Early Learning Goals. Teachers will say whether they are expected (achieved Early Learning Goal) emerging (not yet at Early Learning Goal) or exceeding. The teachers will use the additional Exceeding descriptors to assess whether have exceeded. Teachers will then work out the Good Level of Development (GLD) for the Reception cohort. The GLD is the percentage of children who have met or exceeded the Early Learning Goals in the prime areas of learning (personal, social and emotional development; physical development; and communication and language) and in the specific areas of mathematics and literacy.

Children in Nursery will be assessed at different points throughout the year using Development Matters month bands.

Assessment Guidance - KS1

Accurate, informed assessment provides valuable data for our teachers in planning learning matched to the needs of the children. It is a continuous process by which teachers find out about their children’s capabilities and achievements. It is essential that we, therefore, use accurate data to identify where children are and what their next steps are. At Warren Mead we assess children in the following ways:

Assessment for Learning (formative assessment)

• Sharing learning objectives and success criteria with the children
• Providing focused feedback on lesson learning outcomes
• Individual target setting based on pupils’ previous achievement
• Appropriate questioning
• Pupils involved in self-assessment
• Best fit DNA ticks

Assessment of Learning (summative assessment)

• Writing levelling using national curriculum criteria
• Maths and Reading levelling using national curriculum criteria
• Standardised diagnostic test
• Individual assessments

We use statements to assist us when making judgments of a child’s attainment against the National Curriculum expectations. We use a tracking system called Pupil Asset which is a bespoke online tracking system.