Assessment – Cheetwood Primary School

Assessment at Cheetwood Primary School

When the revised curriculum was introduced into schools in September 2014 the way that pupils’ learning is assessed was also changed. The Government no longer requires schools to use a single system for ongoing assessment so it is the responsibility of the individual school to implement its own assessment method as long as it:

Gives reliable information to parents about how their child and their child’s school is performing
Helps to drive improvements for pupils and teachers
Makes sure that the school is keeping up with external best practice and innovation

Assessment is the process by which we know how well pupils are doing. It is also used to help ensure that the pupils who need targeted intervention are quickly identified, appropriately supported and monitored so that they can fully achieve their potential.

Different Types of Assessment

Formative Assessment

This is also referred to as assessment for learning (AFL) and it is used by teachers to inform planning and coverage of the curriculum. Pupils are given feedback on their learning so they can reflect on their progress and identify where they need to improve. At Cheetwood AFL is an integral part of effective teaching as it is identifies strengths and gaps in pupils’ knowledge and understanding of the programme of study. The school’s feedback and marking policy outlines the range of AFL strategies that are used to evaluate learning and assess the needs of each individual.

Summative Assessment

Summative assessment enables teachers to evaluate pupils at the end of a set period of time or at the end of a unit of work. This type of assessment activity usually takes the form of a test, quiz or an observation. It provides pupils with information about how well they have learned and understood a topic or unit of work and can be used to give feedback on how they can continue to improve. Summative assessments are also reported to parents to inform them about the achievement, progress and wider outcomes of their children over a period of time. These assessments are reported on in assertive mentoring reports and in the end of year report.

Assertive Mentoring

Assertive Mentoring is a focused, pupil centred, collaborative approach to raising standards. It is based on a dialogue about the pupil’s present and future learning needs.

The Aims of Assertive Mentoring are:

to raise standards for all
to motivate and involve pupils
to inform and involve parents/carers

Assertive Mentoring was introduced at Cheetwood Community Primary School in November 2012 in maths and literacy. It’s about each pupil knowing where they are with their learning and knowing what they have to do to get to the next level of attainment.

Each pupil has their own Assertive Mentoring File that holds all the information about their progress. This stays with them throughout their time at Cheetwood.

In the autumn and spring terms pupils meet with their mentor (class teacher) to celebrate what is going well and to identify what they need to focus on to improve their work. Pupils are rated as Red/Amber/Green in maths and literacy depending on the progress towards their targets .Attendance, punctuality, behaviour, effort, homework and uniform are also RAG rated. Together pupil and mentor agree targets to work on and then the assertive mentoring reports and home learning materials to support homework activities are shared with parents.

Consultations were held with parents and carers when the assertive mentoring programme was introduced and more recently in 2016 when parents were asked their views on the way that school reports pupil progress and attainment. A full analysis of the 2016 consultation is in the Parents and Carers Area on the website but the following data demonstrated how much parents value the assertive mentoring programme:

What do you think of our assertive mentoring programme?

excellent		very good		good		satisfactory		room for improvement	Total
51	63%	25	31%	4	5%	1	1%		81

Nationally Standardised Summative Assessment

These are tests and assessment activities that provide information on how pupils are performing in comparison to pupils nationally.

These tests now include:

Year 1 and Year 2 Phonics Screening

End of Key Stage 1 National Curriculum Tests

Pupils at the end of KS1 in Year 2 are assessed in maths, reading, writing and GPS (grammar, punctuation and spelling). This is used to inform teacher assessment.

End of Key Stage 2 National Curriculum Tests

Pupils at the end of KS2 in Year 6 are assessed in maths, reading, writing and GPS (grammar, punctuation and spelling).

Assessment within the National Curriculum

Please click on the link below to read more information about assessment within the National Curriculum

Assessment Information for Parents

Assessment within Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

When children enter the nursery at Cheetwood Community Primary School baseline data is collected to show where they are functioning within the EYFS framework.

EYFS Baseline

Children are assessed on entry to Cheetwood’s nursery across all areas of learning to give a baseline for their progress. This baseline is collated using a variety of sources including observations of the children from Stay and Play sessions before they start school, home visits, information from previous settings and staff observations from the first two weeks in school.

Baseline assessments are also completed in reception baseline and this involves using standardised materials to assess pupils within the first 6 weeks of entry into reception.

If you have any further questions on how attainment and progress are assessed please speak to Mrs Walklett, the school’s EYFS Leader.

EYFS staff regularly assess children and update their ‘learning journeys’ which highlights successes and areas that need to be worked on. This assessment process continues throughout the EYFS.

Methods used to assess children’s progress include:

Observations by all members of the EYFS and Y1 team of the children’s independent learning
Class teacher judgement based on an overview of the evidence collected
Evidence gathered from group and individual work eg writing books and guided reading
Using evidence based materials such as Early Talk and Talk Boost

Evidence from assessments is tracked using EYFS Target Tracker. This includes samples of the children’s writing, photos of the children, comments from members of staff, input from parents, the children’s own discussions and brief summative assessments from phonics and maths.

At the end of the EYFS, when children are finishing the reception class, they are assessed on the EYFS profile. Teachers make a judgement for each Early Learning Goal as to whether the child’s learning and development is best described as:

1 – EMERGING : Not yet at the level of development expected at the end of the EYFS
2 – EXPECTED : At the level of development expected at the end of the EYFS
3 – EXCEEDING : Beyond the level of development expected at the end of the EYFS

Cheetwood outcomes in 2019-2020

Due to school closures during the Covid 19 pandemic, statutory testing in primary schools was suspended in 2019-2020, so Cheetwood’s most recent externally validated data is from the academic year 2018-2019. This data is summarised below along with school’s own internal data from 2019-2020.

Early Years Foundation Stage

Good Level of Development = Achieved expected or exceeding in all prime areas of learning and Literacy and Maths

Prime Learning Goals x3 = Communication and Language, Physical Development, Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Specific Learning Goals x4 = Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the world, Expressive arts and design.

	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	Manchester	National
GLD	50%	59%	64%	64%	67%	66%	72%
Prime ELG	54%	79%	75%	71%	74%	72%
Specific ELG	39%	59%	68%	64%	67%	65%

Outcomes continue to improve in EYFS and are on an upward trend. This year outcomes in GLD were above the Manchester average and remain broadly in line with the National average
In the specific and prime areas outcomes were above the Manchester averages

Phonics Screening

Since 2012 all Year 1 pupils undertake a phonics screening check. This takes place in early June. Pupils are asked to read a number of decodable words, some of which are real and some of which are ‘nonsense’ words. The class teacher administers the test on a one to one basis. Pupils who do not reach the required level in the check in Year 1 retake the check the following June when they are in Y2.

Phonics 2019	School	National	Manchester
All	81%	82%	79%

Cheetwood has consistently outperformed the Manchester and national averages over the past few years and was once again ahead of Manchester this year. Attainment fell just below national, as this year three pupils were not able to access the test: a pupil with an EHCP and two international new arrivals. With these pupils taken out of the data, the pass rate was 91%.

The teaching of phonics over time is good as 86% of pupils that have been at Cheetwood since nursery passed the phonics screening.

End of KS1

At the end of KS1 pupils are assessed in reading, writing and maths. The assessment is informed by end of KS1 tests and teacher judgement taking into account pupils’ work in all their lessons.

In 2019 pupils undertook the following tests to help their teacher to form these judgments:

Reading – two papers one with shorter texts and questions and one with longer texts and questions

Maths – two papers arithmetic; mathematical reasoning

Grammar, punctuation and spelling (this is optional) – two papers including vocabulary

Meeting Expected Standard

	School 2019	Manchester 2019	diff to MCR	National 2019	diff to National	School 2018
Reading	72%	71%	+1	75%	– 3	82%
Writing	79%	66%	+13	69%	+10	67%
Maths	86%	72%	+ 14	76%	+10	82%

Exceeding Expected Standard

	School 2019	Manchester 2019	diff to MCR	National 2019	diff to National	School 2018
Reading	21%	21%	–	25%	-4	14.3%
Writing	10%	12%	-2%	15%	-5	7.1%
Maths	14%	19%	-5%	22%	-8	17.9%

Local Authority Ranking (out of 143 schools)

Reading

Writing

Maths

Summary

Cheetwood was in the top 10 Manchester schools for outcomes in writing and maths
The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in writing was well above Manchester and national
The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in maths was well above Manchester and national
The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading was above Manchester and broadly in line with national
Progress over time was good with a significant number of pupils making accelerated progress.
In reading 33% of the lower attainment group were boosted to meet the expected standard.
In writing 44% of the lower attaining group met the expected standard and in maths 40% of this group met the expected standard.
In all subjects disadvantaged pupils did as well or better than those without.
All disadvantaged pupils in the middle or higher attaining group achieved the expected standard in all subjects and in reading and writing over half of the lower attaining group were boosted to meet the expected standard
The percentage of pupils meeting the higher standard was the same as Manchester in reading but below national
The percentage of pupils meeting the higher standard was below Manchester and national in writing and maths
Transience and the high level of EAL had an impact on attainment at the higher level; within the core group of Year 2 pupils that have been at Cheetwood since reception, the percentages of pupils meeting the higher standard were higher than national and Manchester in reading (27%) ; higher than Manchester and in line with national in writing (14%) and broadly in line in maths (18%)

End of Key Stage 2

Pupils are assessed using the National Curriculum, undertaking tests in maths; grammar punctuation and spelling; and reading. They are assessed using teacher judgements in writing. Pupils are assessed as working below the expected standard, at the expected standard or at greater depth than the expected standard for writing. Pupils are assessed at working below, at or at a higher standard in reading; maths; and grammar, punctuation and spelling.

Cheetwood Progress Outcomes

Subject	Cheetwood	MCR	National	Diff to Nat	CW Greater Depth	MCR Greater Depth	National Greater Depth	CW Av Scaled Score	MCR Scaled Score	National Scaled Score
Reading	76%	68%	73%	+3%	14%	23%	27%	103	103	104
GPS	83%	77%	78%	+5%	41%	37%	38%	108	106	106
TA Write	79%	73%	78%	+1%	17%	16%	20%
Maths	79%	77%	79%	–	24%	25%	27%	104	105	105
RWM	66%	60%	65%	+1%	10%	9%	11%

Subject	Progress
Reading	+ 0.49
Writing	+1.33
Maths	+ 0.06

The progress scores were within the National average in reading and writing and maths.

Summary

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard is above Manchester and national in reading, writing, GPS and the same as national in maths
The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined is above Manchester and national
The percentage of pupils achieving the higher standard in reading, writing and maths combined is above Manchester and in line with national
The percentage of pupils achieving the higher standard is above national in GPS, broadly in line with national in maths and writing and below in reading
The average point score is above Manchester and national in GPS and the same as Manchester in reading (but one point below national)
In maths, the average point score was below Manchester and national as SEN pupils and those with other vulnerabilities in particular struggled to tackle some many of the questions
There was no significant difference between the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and those without disadvantage.
In all areas the percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard was higher than the same group nationally

Progress and attainment for the pupils that have been part of the Cheetwood ‘Core Cohort’ has been good demonstrating the impact of good teaching over time:

Core Since Reception (17 pupils)
Core Cohort		Meeting 2019	National	Greater Depth	National	Av Point Score
Read	17	79	73	16	27	104
GPS	17	90	78	53	36	109
Write	17	84	78	21	20
Maths	17	79	79	32	27	104
RWM	17	74	65	11	11

Core Since Year 2 (23 pupils)
Core Cohort		Meeting 2019	Greater Depth	National	Av Point Score
Read	23	83	17	73	104
GPS	23	91	52	78	109
Write	23	87	22	20
Maths	23	78	30	79	104
RWM	23	74	13	65

Internal Data 2019-2020

Cheetwood uses the Target Tracker assessment tool to track progress and attainment and the last data call prior to school closure was at the end of Spring 1. At this time there was strong evidence that there was above expected progress in reading, writing and maths across the majority of cohorts resulting in an increase in the percentage of pupils meeting age related expectations. Progress for groups of vulnerable learners was especially strong indicating targeted teaching and specialist intervention was helping to close the gap for these pupils.

EYFS: Accelerated progress in all Prime Areas and RWM with the cohort on track to be in line with national average for GLD.

Phonics: Expected progress in Y1 reading with the cohort on track to be in line with national expectations in phonics

Y2: Accelerated progress in reading, writing in maths with the cohort tracking to be above or in line with national average all areas

Y6: Accelerated progress in reading, writing and maths. Although at the end of spring 1 the cohort was tracking to be just below floor at the end of KS2 typically momentum continues to grow in the second half of the academic year. Based on trend from previous years it would have been expected that outcomes would have been above floor and in line with Manchester averages.

Transience throughout the school continued to impact on the percentage of pupils meeting age related expectations. However, tracking data for the ‘Ever Cheetwood’ group of pupils (those that have been at Cheetwood continuously since Reception) indicates that in the majority of subjects and cohorts the percentage of pupils meeting age related expectations is above national average. This demonstrates the impact of high quality teaching over time.

You can find more information about the school’s performance by clicking on the following link

https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/105461