Holmer Lake Model of Assessment
(Assessment, recording and reporting post National Curriculum Levels)
Teachers’ Use of the Holmer Lake Model of Assessment.
Teachers will use the National curriculum to plan lessons which allow the pupils to achieve the curriculum statements for their current year and therefore be fully prepared for the next stage in their education. They will use a best fit statement based system, which has a point basis to it to describe the level that each individual pupil is working at.
Teachers will use the assessment moderation materials created for each year in maths and writing, to assess if the pupil is working at, above or below age related expectations. These will be termed – below standard, at standard and greater depth standard. In the Early Years, staff will use a below expected standard and at expected standard.
In writing, pupils will be assessed via independent opportunities to write. This will take the form of Chance to Shine pieces of work, but also evidence can be taken from other curriculum areas. In maths, pre and post assessments will inform teacher judgements across individual units of work, leading to moderation of pupils work across the term.
The use of Standardised Tests at Holmer Lake.
Underpinning all of this are the NFER standardised tests. Standardised tests enable pupil performance to benchmark against the national average and compare them with other pupils. From the standardised tests, we are able to extract standardised scores, age-standardised scores and age-related expectations. Standardised scores compare a pupil’s performance to that of a nationally representative sample of pupils from the relevant year group, who will have all taken the same test at the same time of year. Pupils will be assigned an age related code according to the standardised scores they achieve on the tests.
NFER assert that it is important that teachers use professional judgement when interpreting test outcomes. This is the reason that a band of marks is used to judge the ‘average’ attainment of the pupils. Here at Holmer Lake, we recognise the importance of teacher assessment and it is for this reason that the NFER tests make up only one part of the pupil assessments.
‘By utilising standardised tests and applying their own professional judgements when interpreting the results, teachers can build a profile of attainment and progress for their pupils and be confident in their conclusions and next steps. Standardised tests should form just one part of a school’s approach to assessment, with on-going formative assessment informing teaching throughout the year’.
Teachers will record pupil progress against the assessment model using an online tracking system. This will help teachers to analyse which performance information, showing which groups are making expected progress and reaching age related expectations. To enable accurate assessment for learning, teachers will enter question level data into the NFER reporting tools at the end of each term. This will enable teachers to plan lessons to address any gaps or misconceptions in learning.
