Assessment and Reporting at Key Stage 2

A Parental Guide to Assessment and Reporting in Key Stage 2 at Scissett Middle School

Reporting to Parents

Four times a year parents will receive reports on their child’s progress in school. One of these will be the established Parents’ Evening with an opportunity for parents to discuss attainment and progress with subject staff. There will also be three additional written reports.

Attitude to Learning (ATL) Report - Term 1

• A pathway target for reading, writing and maths.
• A judgement in relation to attitude to learning and homework in all subjects

Interim Report - Term 2

• An end of year forecast grade
• A further ATL and homework judgement to ascertain whether current effort levels are acceptable.

Full Report - Term 3

• An end of year attainment grade for all subjects.
• A final ATL and homework judgement.
• A form tutor comment.

Report example

Year 6 Pathway

The Initial Year 6 Pathway Banding allocated is based on Prior Performance, Baseline Assessments and Statistical Predictions. All Year 6 pathway estimates are initially assigned based on Teacher Assessments submitted in English and Maths by First School teachers at transfer and the scores pupils achieved in their GL assessment entry tests for English and Maths (taken in September). These estimates are in place so teachers can ensure they pitch their lessons at the correct level ensuring all pupils in their class are challenged accordingly in order to ensure they make excellent progress.

In Year 6 we use the following pathway grades which are based on age related expectations.

• ‘Working towards’ – working below age related expectations
• ‘Meeting’ – working at age related expectations
• ‘Enhanced’– working beyond age relation expectations

Year 6 End Forecast

Throughout the year, teachers monitor the progress of all pupils against the assessment criteria for each pathway. Pupil progress varies throughout the year and from topic to topic and so the ‘year end forecast' column is a best fit of all the current assessment information. When a child is forecast as being below their pathway, it may be that your child is not making the necessary progress as a result of their ATL levels in school. As such the Year End Forecast should always be read in conjunction with the ATL column grade. A forecast below the assigned pathway may also indicate that the required skills and knowledge at various formative and summative assessment points since the start of the year is below what is expected.

 

Attitude to learning / Pupil Progress Monitoring

Pupil Progress Monitoring is an indicator of behaviour and attitude in lessons, and effort and attainment in homework. The Pupil Progress Monitoring grades for Attitude to Learning and Homework are:

 

Grade	Attitude to Learning	Homework
A	They show outstanding effort in lessons. They enjoy challenges and are resilient. They are constantly seeking ways to improve their work and are highly self-motivated. They take pride in their learning and the presentation of their work.  They show a very high level of commitment to their learning, are aspirational and driven to improve.  Feedback is always responded to.  They are fully focused, attentive and cooperative at all times. They are always prepared and bring the correct equipment to lessons. They are organised and fully engaged in lessons, including contributing to class activities.  Their attitude makes them a pleasure to teach.	All homework is completed on time, they frequently produce work of exceptional and exemplary quality to maximum ability.
B	They consistently try hard in lessons and are resilient in the face of challenges. They are self-motivated and show a positive attitude to their learning.  They know how to improve their work and are keen to do well; they act on feedback.  Classwork is completed to a good standard and shows pride in their work.  They show good levels of focus, attention and cooperation in class and contribute to class activities. They are polite and courteous. They work well alone and with other students. They are organised and engaged in lessons. They are always ready to learn, including having the correct books and equipment.	They complete homework on time to a good standard, appropriate to ability.
C	They try in lessons, but can be a passive learner.  They need to be more aspirational and strive to improve.  They usually engage well in the lesson but can need reminding to keep on task or work at an appropriate pace.  They can often give up when learning is perceived as challenging. A lack of self-motivation can mean they produce work that doesn’t reflect their true ability.  They generally show good behaviour for learning, but they need to be more focused at times.  They need to make more contributions in lessons.	They complete homework and this is mostly handed in on time.  It is not always completed to a good standard appropriate to ability.
D	Their effort can be variable.  They can work well at times, but need to be more resilient.  They lack motivation in lessons and need to adapt a more positive attitude.  They need to respond to feedback and show a commitment to improving their work.  They need to be more aspirational. Sometimes they need to be more respectful of other pupils or their teacher. They have lapses in concentration which means they can be easily distracted or can try to distract others. They are not always organised or engaged in lessons and need to contribute more.  They can sometimes arrive unprepared, e.g. forgetting books/equipment.	Homework is often late or incomplete and is not of a satisfactory standard appropriate to ability.
E	They make little effort and need frequent reminders to stay on task. Work is usually incomplete and there is an unwillingness to improve work when prompted. Overall commitment to learning needs much improvement. They are often reluctant to contribute to lessons.   They are rarely prepared for lessons. They regularly display disruptive behaviour which prevents other students learning and the teacher teaching. They can be disrespectful towards other students and the teacher. They are often not willing or ready to learn, frequently forgetting books and equipment.	Homework is rarely completed.

 

How do we assess pupils at SMS?

Essentially we assess the learning of pupils in two ways, which act as two separate layers of assessment. These are as follows

Layer 1: Formative

Formative assessment takes place on a day-to-day basis during teaching and learning, allowing teachers and pupils to assess attainment and progress more frequently. It does not involve the grading of work but instead the teacher identifying pupils’ strengths and weaknesses, supporting them to respond to their areas for development, and adapting their teaching to help pupils improve. Formative assessment is what we want teachers to focus on most. This is because research evidence tells us that this has the greatest impact on learning. Some examples of formative assessment are:

• Quizzes
• Multi-choice questions
• Retrieval activities
• Reading or observing pupil work (either during or after a lesson)
• Live marking (marking pupils’ work as they are completing it)
• Breaking a complex task down into several smaller parts and assessing one part at a time
• Spelling and vocabulary tests
• Filling in blank knowledge organisers
• Questioning

Layer 2: Summative

Summative assessment is sometimes called assessment of learning and is a formal method to evaluate achievement and learning against key skills/knowledge and expected standards over a period of time. The period of time may vary, depending on what the teacher wants to find out. There may be an assessment at the end of a topic, at the end of a term or half-term, at the end of a year or, as in the case of the national curriculum tests, at the end of a Key Stage. Assessments can take the form of an end of unit test, formal exam, practical performance and project work.

Who do I speak to if I have any further questions?

If you have any queries/questions about your child’s progress within a specific subject, please contact their subject teacher in the first instance.  In addition to this the calendar for Parents’ Evenings has been aligned with the school reporting schedule in order to allow much more informed discussions to take place. Where you have more general concerns i.e. across three or more subjects, please contact your child’s Form Tutor.