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At White Cliffs Primary and Nursery School, the unique nature of each child is valued greatly and at the forefront of our minds. The diverse backgrounds and experiences from which our children originate are recognised and celebrated. As such our assessment practices are designed with the following intentions:

 

  1. Our primary aim in assessment is to enhance the children’s learning. We believe that assessment should provide valuable feedback to both children and teachers, guiding our adaptation of the children’s learning journeys and promoting continuous improvement.
  2. We are dedicated to ensuring that assessment processes are fair and equitable for all of our children. We strive to minimise bias and provide accommodations to support diverse learning needs.
  3. Teachers, children, parents, and other stakeholders work collaboratively to create a child centred approach aiding our assessment processes.
  4. Recognising the diverse ways in which our children learn and demonstrate their understanding, we employ a variety of assessment methods, including formative assessments, summative assessments, performance tasks and observations.
  5. In conjunction with this, we understand the importance of fostering a positive attitude towards assessment. We strive to create a supportive and low-stress assessment environment that encourages our children to take ownership of their learning and celebrate their achievements.
  6. We acknowledge that assessment is not just about measuring final outcomes but also about tracking progress over time. We use assessment data to monitor our children’s growth and identify areas for targeted intervention or enrichment.
  7. We are committed to open communication and transparency in sharing assessment results and discussing ways to support our children’s learning.
  8. Assessment practices are subject to ongoing reflection and refinement based on research, best practices, and feedback from all stakeholders.

By adhering to these principles, we aim to create an assessment culture that empowers children, supports their learning journey, and helps them achieve a sense of belonging to our community and provides them with the skills and confidence to make decisions, self-evaluate and become lifelong learners.

 

Target Tracker

The school currently uses Target Tracker to record and analyse assessment data.

The National Curriculum has been written to give Age Related Expectations (ARE) for the end of each year. As children travel from EYFS to Year 6 in our school, they are tracked against the Age Related Expectations. At White Cliffs we use Target Tracker to support our tracking, this provides us with numbered bands and steps to track children.

What are Bands?
Each year group to be a ‘Band’ therefore Year 1 = Band 1, Year 2 –Band 2, Year 3 – Band 3, Year 4- Band 4 and so on.

What are Steps?
Each year band has been broken down into six steps with in the year group:
- beginning (b)
- beginning + (b+)
- working within (w)
- working within + (w+)
- secure (s)
- secure + (s+)
Each pupil begins a year group as a ‘b’ and progress through the levels as the year evolves.

What does each step actually mean?
The three broader sections may be thought of in these terms;
- B/B+ Beginning – Pupil learning is chiefly focussed on the criteria for the band. There may be minimal elements of the previous band still to gain complete confidence in.
- W/W+ Working Within – Pupil learning is fully focussed on the criteria for the band. This is a teacher best fit decision.
- S /S+ Secure – Confidence in all of the criteria for the band. There may be pupil learning still focussed on gaining thorough confidence in some minimal elements but the broad expectations for the band have been met.
Lower and high attaining pupils may be working at a band outside of their current year.
For children to be working at age related expectation, they would need to reach the secure (s) step at the end of the appropriate year.

So what’s the ‘s+’ step all about?
The advice from the Government is that pupils who have gained a secure understanding of the Y1 programme of study, for example, should not be automatically moved on to the next year’s programme.
Instead they should be provided with extension work to challenge and further deepen and consolidate their understanding of the concepts and skills already grasped.
The current curriculum is  challenging so this extension work will be covered by a small cohort of each year group. 


How can you help?
Be aware of what your child is learning - Talk to your child; access the school website; check Seesaw; share Knowledge Organisers; encourage your child to use TTRock Stars, Numbots, Spelling Shed; and enjoy reading for pleasure with your child.
Remember that the curriculum is about breadth, depth and mastery.