Assessment
How do we measure pupils' progress and attainment?
At St Paul's, we have devised a bespoke assessment system that enables us to monitor pupils' progress and attainment across the curriculum and beyond. It's a system that enables us to communicate very clearly with parents, carers and pupils on pupils' strengths and areas for development. It's also a system that can be adapted to ensure that we target teaching and learning in specific areas of the curriculum should that be deemed necessary.
Essentially, pupils' attainment is regularly measured against 10 key performance indicators (KPIs) which reflect the learning objectives they are expected to achieve in their year group according to the National Curriculum. These KPIs have been selected very carefully to ensure that success in achieving them truly indicates that a pupil's attainment is in line with national expectations for their year group.
School reports, which are produced twice a year, list the KPIs and indicate, for each, whether a child is attaining at a level that is in line with (or at) the nationally expected standard, below the national standard, working towards the national standard, or at a level that is beyond the national standard (at greater depth). Parents and carers can see at a glance where strengths lie and where extra work may still be needed.
The KPIs for Years 1 to 6 can be accessed below. You will see how expectations progress year on year.
Developing and Assessing "Life Skills".
We believe that learning and future prospects are enhanced where pupils develop life skills that may not be explicitly mentioned in the National Curriculum. The ability to work and function independently, for example, improves a pupil's efficiency and output at school, and this not only impacts positively on academic results but prepares them to meet the expectations made in the world outside of school. All of our teaching and extra-curricular provision is designed to enable pupil to develop these life skills, and we measure their progress and attainment against our Life Skills KPIs, which can be accessed below.
Assessing Progress and Attainment in RE
One of the subjects that lies at the core of our curriculum is RE. Our vision, values, conduct and approach to teaching and learning are inspired by God's love for humankind. We believe that a child's education is enriched by an understanding of and respect for a variety of faiths.
We also recognise that RE provides an opportunity for children to develop critical analytical and creative thinking skills. All of these aims are reflected in the KPIs that we use to monitor progress and attainment in RE as children journey though the school from early years to Year 6. These KPIs are attached below.
Assessment in Early Years
At the end of the EYFS, staff complete the EYFS profile for each child. Pupils are assessed against the 17 early learning goals, indicating whether they are:
Meeting expected levels of development
Exceeding expected levels or,
Not yet reaching expected levels (‘emerging’)
The profile reflects ongoing observations and discussions with parents and/or carers. The results of the profile are then shared with parents and/or carers.
Staff also complete a narrative describing the children’s characteristics of learning. This is shared with parents through an end of year written report. It forms the basis for moderation discussions with Local Authority moderators and informs the transition meetings with Year 1 staff.
The online Learning Journey ‘Tapestry’ is used to record observations for each child’s own individual Learning Journey. We encourage observations to be added by each member of the EYFS team and by parents and carers at home. The observations are also used to share ‘Next Steps’ and to record assessment data.
Children are assessed by class teachers half-termly against the Development Matters age bands (see below) and this data is recorded internally. A baseline is completed and added by October half-term.