Rationale

Longwick's approach to assessment is broadly in line with the recommendations and findings of the Final Report of the Commission on Assessment Without Levels published by the DfE in September 2015. This has given us the freedom to plan assessment in line with what is most effective for us in this school and we work alongside the assessment expectations of the ODBST who undertake regular data drops to monitor our effectiveness. 

The needs of each individual pupil are paramount in the planning, delivery and evaluation of our curriculum. Knowing what each pupil has learnt enables us to plan carefully for future learning and so ensure that every pupil secures strong progress across the school, leaving us having achieved the highest possible personal outcomes. We use detailed and accurate assessments to ensure that we identify and challenge early on those more able pupils who have the capacity to learn at a greater depth as well as putting into place support for those who find learning a little trickier. 

We undertake three forms of assessment:

• in-school formative assessment which is used by teachers and other staff on a daily basis to evaluate pupil knowledge and understanding, to tailor future learning precisely and to quickly identify misconceptions. We use pre-assessment tasks to effectively plan for new concepts particularly in Maths and Writing and we call these "cold tasks"; 
• in-school summative assessment which enables us to evaluate learning at the end of key teaching periods and to monitor how much pupils are learning and retaining over time. We report these findings to parents/carers but the data is also used by the SLT, the Local Governing Body and the ODBST to monitor the effectiveness of learning; 
• nationally standardised summative assessment which is used by the government and are reported to parents/carers. This data is also used by the SLT, the Local Governing Body, the ODBST and by OFSTED to monitor the effectiveness of learning over time. 

Longwick C of E School uses all three forms of assessment to benefit all pupils. We know that when learning is accurately pitched and delivered with appropriate pace, pupils will learn more and remember more. 

Teachers feedback to pupils where they are with their learning so that they can identify next steps and future goals. Feedback may be in the form of marked pieces of work but it can also be as probing questions while pupils are thinking learning through, discussions with individuals or groups of pupils or it might be recapping learning at the end of a session. Regular formative and in-school summative assessments are recorded on our school system and are the bedrock of our planning. Target Tracker is the database that we use to record assessments and this data feeds directly into the ODBST Target Tracker database so that the MAT can also see directly how unnamed groups of pupils are performing. 

Accountability 

Accountability is core to ensuring that our learning is effective. Each half term the SLT hold pupil progress meetings with teachers across the school to determine any pupils who are at risk of underachievement and those pupils for whom a more challenging curriculum is needed. This ensures that all pupils at Longwick are supported to make at least good progress. The Local Governing Body data group work with SLT to monitor pupil progress across the school and termly governing body meetings look at data and progress.

The ODBST undertake termly data drops and hold school leaders to account. 

It is crucial that parents/carers have the right information on assessment for individual pupils. Each term parents/carers receive up to date information that tells them where their child is and what the next steps are to make progress. 

Assessment to Inform Teaching

This continuous process of high quality questioning, observation and marking allows teachers to establish pupil understanding of a teaching point and swiftly act to tailor their response or design an activity to further challenge.

At the end of a term teachers will pose questions against curriculum milestones for the term. This information will be used to generate shared targets with parents and carers and will be carried out for all subjects. For Reading and Maths this will usually take the form of a short test and for Writing a piece of unaided writing pertinent to the genre being studied. 
In the Early Years, this is done at the midway point of the year and achievement is measured against their age in years and months and assessed development in years and months. In Early Years assessment is recorded on Tapestry and shared with parents/carers. 

Statutory Assessment

The following statutory assessments take place whilst a child is at Longwick.

There is a statutory requirement to report to parents on their child’s achievement at least once each academic year. At Longwick, we report to parents termly, and set four targets for each child.

At the end of each academic year we will report a pupil's achievement in relation to age related expectations e.g. At for most pupils who are working within age related expectations, Working Towards or Working Above as a Greater Depth learner. 

Moderation/Benchmarking

Moderation is an assessment of our assessments. Teachers work with colleagues to agree what constitutes an assessment judgement. This takes place on a regular basis in school to ensure consistency and within other schools who are part of the ODBST. 

Target Setting

This school sets and agrees pupil targets for Maths, Reading and Writing for the end of the academic year as well as at the end of each Key Stage. We also target set for the phonics tests and for the Times Tables test. These targets are agreed by teachers. The school has a target that at least 80% of pupils will reach age related expectations by the end of Key Stage 1 and Key stage 2. The school also aims for at least 75% working to the expected standard in all three areas which exceeds the national target of 65% and for at least 20% to be working at a Greater Depth in all three areas. We aim for, and expect, pupils at Longwick C of E School to do well. 

Reporting 

Reporting on assessment is carried it out in a number of ways: 

• yearly passing on of information between members of staff; this is a core part of our assessment process; 
• consultation evenings are held twice a year and give parents/carers the opportunity to forge working relationships with teachers and ensure that everyone has a full picture of the each pupil and their needs; 
• informal additional meetings between parents/carers and teachers;
• annual reports to parents/carers with detailed assessment information including reporting on national statutory testing.