The purpose of the assessment process is to ascertain how well pupils are progressing through the national curriculum programmes of study. Teachers assess children's progress continually through: class discussions and planned dialogues, activities, pupil responses, marking books, pupil contributions in class and more formal assessments. By assessing continuously, teachers are able to support pupils in their learning at that point in time, planning to consolidate and extend their learning in the next lesson.
In addition to this, the government assesses children's progress at specific milestones in their learning.
Reception: At the beginning of Reception, all children carry out the Baseline assessment. This provides a basis for measuring the progress primary schools make with their pupils. It also supports us with a measure of each child’s starting point. At the end of the Reception year, pupils are assessed against Early Learning Goals and the data compared nationally.
Year 1: All pupils in year 1 are required to take a phonics test. The children are asked to read 40 progressively more difficult words aloud to their teacher on a 1:1 basis. The test ascertains whether children can decode and read whole words. It does not test their ability to read sentences or gain meaning from their reading. Results of the test are shared with parents and published nationally.
Children in Year 2 will undertake non-statutory end of Key Stage Tests at the end of the summer term in Reading, Writing and Maths. These are used to support the class teacher's assessment of the children in these areas and a teacher assessment judgement is then reported to parents. Those who did not pass the phonics screening check in year 1 will also retake this in year 2.
Year 4: All year 4 children will take the Multiplication Check at the end of the academic year. The purpose of this is to determine whether pupils can recall their times tables fluently, which is essential for future success in mathematics. It helps us as a school to identify pupils who have not yet mastered their times tables, so that additional support can be provided.
Year 6 children will undertake end of Key Stage 2 Tests in May for: Reading, Maths, Grammar, Spelling and Punctuation. Children's writing is assessed by a teacher and then moderated, either by other year 6 teachers or by a trained county moderator. Science is also reported on and published to parents and nationally.
Ide Hill focuses on results of every kind. We aim to equip children to approach tests in a calm yet confident manner, with a positive mind set and therefore give all children the opportunity to show their best.