Brooke Weston Trust Primary Schools

Assessment Statement

Assessment Overview -

• The new National Curriculum  which came into force in September 2014 does not include any levels (for primary schools generally Level 1 to Level 5) instead it provides an outline of broad expectations indicating what pupils should be taught in different year groups or key stages
• Summer 2016 was the first year of statutory assessment not to use levels.
• Schools have been able to develop their own system or adopt any system  of assessment that they feel meets their needs as there will not be a national system.
• Ofsted will still expect good evidence of pupil progress, both from the tracking of progress over time and from qualitative evidence such as observations of teaching and in pupils’ written work to be available and used to assess pupils’ individually.
• Although academies and free schools do not have to follow the National Curriculum and the assessment processes Brooke Weston Trust Primary Schools will follow the National Curriculum and assessment processes as benefits the children and young people.

At Brooke Weston Trust Primary Schools we have introduced a bespoke system of assessment and all primary schools have collaborated to develop this. A Trust wide process  enables all the schools to assess progress of individual pupils, identified groups and year groups and to moderate our judgements across all schools.

We believe that the processes for tracking pupil progress should enable our schools to present data that supports evaluations made about the attainment and progress of pupils. We recognise the need to enhance teachers’ confidence in various aspects of assessment, so that they can clearly demonstrate the progress that pupils are making in their learning.

We will continue to use the excellent formative assessment processes that are already effectively supporting pupils ensuring that:

• We continue to use quality initial assessments indicating pupils current knowledge and understanding and areas for further development
• Excellent differentiation ensures that tasks are matched to pupils’ abilities and provides high challenge for all
• The use of high quality assessment including written and oral feedback; self-assessment and peer assessment indicate how pupils have progressed against learning objectives and success criteria
• Continuous assessment is used by teachers to develop the next steps in pupils’ learning in subsequent lessons