Assessment
We believe that it should go without saying that the most important aspect of assessment is that a child knows what they can do well and what they need to improve on.
This is reliant on a balance of core teacher support, clear marking strategies, good feedback followed by considered reflection from the pupil, and clear points in time when a child and family can reflect on what progress is being made.
How is this lived out at St Paul’s? In practical terms you will see our teachers teaching groups of learners to ensure that all learners are able to access quality first teaching. There are other adults in most classrooms supporting small groups or individuals (often on bespoke strategies) to ensure that all learners are able to access the learning and make progress.
In order to give meaningful feedback to pupils about their learning, teachers employ a range of methods. Often, the most impactful means of assessing happens 'live' during lessons, meaning children can learn from errors or make improvements to their work on the spot.
Over the last few years, the school has developed a marking code that rapidly directs children to misconceptions or strategies in how to improve. The system has been shared with a number of local schools, including our partner schools.
Our marking and assessments feed into our main assessment program, where we upload a termly judgement about where the children are. For our core subjects (Reading, Writing, Maths and Science), this takes place on our 'Arbor' computer program and is tracked each term. In other subjects, we have developed our own bespoke means of assessing the children's knowledge and skills; for example mini-quizzes or curriculum 'end-points' to celebrate learning.
If you have a concern or worry about the progress your child is making, please talk to your child’s teacher. It is always best to do this as soon as possible so to avoid a small concern growing into a bigger worry. If you are unable to contact your classroom teacher at the start or end of day you can always arrange a meeting with them via the office, who would be happy to help you.
