Assessment, Progress & Attainment

Assessment at St Denys CE Infant School takes two forms:

1. Formative Assessment
2. Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Formative assessment takes place every day and in every learning opportunity. Teachers and Learning Support Assistants check on a child’s understanding of a skill and/or knowledge and adapt the learning and teaching accordingly. Further intervention, support and/or challenge will be planned in light of this assessment. Learning within a lesson may also be adapted or redirected to support the learning needs.

Summative Assessment:

Summative assessment is used to evaluate how much a child has learned at the end of a teaching period. As an infant school we have children in two different key stages, the Foundation Stage (year R) and Key Stage 1 (years 1 and 2), with each of these key stages following a different curriculum. These are the Early Years Statutory Framework and the National Curriculum.

Our summative assessment procedures are matched to the demands of these two curricula, which means that the systems in year R are different to those in years 1 and 2, although the principles remain the same.

Year R – Foundation Stage:

On entry to school, the children will take part in a Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA). The RBA is an age-appropriate assessment of early mathematics and early literacy, communication and language. It is delivered in English and is administered within the first six weeks of a pupil starting reception. The assessment has two components, each consisting of practical tasks using physical resources. There is an online scoring system for the practitioner to use as the pupil engages with the tasks. Department of Education will use the data from the RBA to create school-level progress measures for primary schools, which will show the progress of pupils from reception until the end of key stage 2. The data gathered in school, from these assessments, will inform the interventions, learning and support the children will need.

Day-to-day informal checking of what children have learnt will inform teaching and learning on an ongoing basis throughout the year in EYFS. This will include identifying areas where children may be at risk of falling behind, so that practitioners can provide rapid, effective support.

Judgements are made at the end of each term (Nov, Feb, April) and at the end of the year to measure progress and identify next steps in learning. At these times, parents/carers are invited into school during parent evenings to discuss their child’s progress and ways in which they support the learning at home. Staff will also share the learning on a day-to-day basis through the use of the Class Dojo.

Years 1 and 2- Key Stage 1:

In Key Stage , each curriculum area of reading, writing and maths is divided into domains (areas of learning), and the school year is split into three phases (each term).

Phases

Phase 1: September to the end of November

Phase 2: December to the end of March

Phase 3: April to the end of June/Mid July

The judgments made for each domain at each phase are:

EXS – Securely on track to meet the end of year age related expectations

WTS – Working below the level needed to be on track to meet the end of year age related expectations

GDS – Working beyond the level needed to be on track to meet the end of year age related expectations

Domains/Areas of Learning:

Children who are working below the level needed to be on track and who have a cognitive special educational need (SEN) will be on the school SEN register. These children will have a SEN profile plan, which will indicate achievable targets and interventions to support these targets. We recognise that a child with SEN, may make smaller incremental steps of progress and these will be shared and celebrated as part of their plan during parents/carers evenings. A child with SEN will have the learning adapted and varied to meet their needs.

There are parents/carers evenings at the end of phase 1 and 2 in order for teachers to share the assessment information with parents/carers and discuss the next steps in learning. At the end of the year parents receive a written report detailing their child’s achievements.

Statutory assessments:

Towards the end of year 1 (June) there is a government statutory assessment, the phonics screening check, the outcomes of which will be shared with parents.

The phonics screening checks children’s ability to blend together the sounds which they have learnt. Outcomes from the screening are shared with parents/carers at the end of the year.

In year 2– the Statutory Assessment Tasks or SATs in reading and maths are now optional and the school are in the process in deciding if these tests will still be undertaken. Throughout the year, teachers making on-going assessments on your child’s learning as part of the phase assessments. An end of year outcome for reading, writing and maths will also be made. Outcomes at the end of year 2 will be shared with parents/carers as part of the end of year report, with outcomes also being shared with their feeder junior school. Children who did not reach the required standard in the phonics screening in year 1 will be screened again at the end of year 2.

Early Years Foundation Stage Results

% of children reaching a ‘Good Level of Development’ (GLD)	2019	2022	2023
St Denys CE Infant School	73.2%	76.3%	71%
National	71.8%	65.2%	67%

Year 1 and 2 Phonics Screening Results

% of children passing the Phonics Screening Check	2019	2022	2023
St Denys CE Infant School (Year 1)	72.2%	84.3%	92%
National	81.9%	75.5%	79%
St Denys CE Infant School (Year 2 Retake)	81%	29%	57%
National	56%	87%	60%

Key Stage 1 Results- Meeting the Expected Level

% children meeting the expected level or above	St Denys 2023	National 2023
Reading	68%	69%
Writing	60%	60%
Maths	72%	71%
Combined	58%	56%

Key Stage 1 Results- Achieving Above the Expected Level

% children achieving above the expected level	St Denys 2023	National 2023
Reading	20%	19%
Writing	11%	8%
Maths	19%	16%
Combined	6%	??%