Nursery
At the start of the academic year, Nursery children are assessed, using observations and focus activities, against the EYFS Development Matters statements 2021 to provide a baseline assessment in all of the seven areas of the EYFS curriculum. This process continues throughout the year and the children’s attainment of these statements is recorded at the end of each half term.
Reception
From September 2021, the reception baseline assessment (RBA) is a statutory national assessment that is administered in reception classes in all primary, infant and first schools in England. This assessment will form the baseline for primary progress measures, from reception to Y6, to evaluate the progress pupils make throughout their time in primary school. This assessment must be completed by the 1st of November 2022.
The RBA is an interactive and practical assessment of children’s early literacy, maths, communication and language skills. In addition to this, children are assessed, using observations and focus activities, against the EYFS Development Matters statements 2021 to provide a baseline assessment in all of the seven areas of the EYFS curriculum. This process continues throughout the year and the children’s attainment of these statements is recorded at the end of each half term.
Children also complete a termly independent writing task and are also assessed in their phonic knowledge using RWI assessment tools on a half termly basis. Data from these assessments are recorded.
Children’s EYFS Profile is completed at the end of the year, using information from tracking, teacher observations, and assessments data.
EYFS and ILD
The EYFS team notice and celebrate children’s achievements in all seven areas of learning. The team records such observations, using the Interactive Learning Diary (ILD) is an online reporting tool which practitioners use to record observations, assessments and next steps and to share these observations with parents via the ILD App. Parents can also record observations at home and upload these observations to their child’s ILD.
Years 1 – 6
Writing:
Half-termly independent writing tasks, work completed during English lessons and teacher’s observations are used to determine which of the end of year objectives, for each year group, a child has achieved or may still require further consolidation.
Maths:
Short end of unit assessments supports teachers to determine any areas of learning that need additional coverage, before moving on to the next unit of work. End of term assessments are mapped to the coverage of each term and provide a further means to identifying areas which may still require further consolidation. Assessment data, work completed during maths lessons and teacher’s observations are used by the teacher to determine which of the objectives within the program of study have been achieved.
Reading:
Children in EYFS and KS1 learn to read using RWI, and regular RWI assessments allow children to be taught in small RWI groups that match their phonic knowledge. These assessments, together with continuous formative assessment by their RWI teacher, help to identify children that would benefit from additional RWI support and intervention.
Hackney Loves Reading (HLR) lends itself perfectly to allow teachers time to read with children and assess children’s decoding and comprehension skills on a regular basis. Half-termly reading tasks, set at an appropriate level, also provide evidence of a child’s reading progress. In addition to these regular assessment opportunities reading completed during daily English lessons and teacher’s observations will determine which age-appropriate reading objectives a child has achieved or may still require further consolidation in.