Nields Academy

Assessment is at the very heart of the learning process; it provides valuable evidence to guide and improve the teaching and learning. It supports precise identification of what children can do and what their next learning steps ought to be. Furthermore, it also offers an opportunity for children to demonstrate and review their progress over a period of time.

How do we assess at Nields Academy?

Formative assessment is the most frequent type of assessment used; teachers and teaching assistants use opportunities to understand what children know about a subject. Teachers will use class discussions, group work, evidence in children’s books, and observations to assess the progress that children are making over time.

Summative assessment this is the use of tests or more formal assessments to find out what children have learnt. At Nields Academy we carry out these assessments usually each each term to give a summative judgement used for tracking children's progress.

Teachers use both formative and summative to make a judgement about a child’s attainment at the end of a term.

Click here to view Parents Guide to Assessment at Nields

National Statutory Assessments:

Reception

All children as they enter Reception, will be assessed using a baseline test. Teachers build their knowledge of each child through their observations, interactions and every day activities which they then use to make a series of professional judgements about each child based on assessment criteria from the EYFS profile.

Towards the end of the year in Reception, all children are assessed against the Early Learning Goals. The children’s attainment at this time is reported to parents and is used to inform the work that they are assigned at the beginning of Year 1.

Year 1 Phonics Screening

Towards the end of Year 1, all children complete a simple test to determine if they have met a set threshold in their phonetic knowledge. The children are required to read 40 words which consist of real and made up words. Their mark will be reported to you and you will be informed whether or not they have met the pass threshold. Those children who do not pass in Year 1 will repeat the test in Year 2.

Year 2

Towards the end of Year 2 all children sit a writing, reading and mathematics test (commonly referred to as KS1 SATs). These tests are marked by the class teachers and are used to support their existing knowledge and form a teacher assessment judgement.

Year 6

In May of each year, Year 6 sit reading, GPS and mathematics tests (commonly referred to as KS2 SATs). These tests are both set and marked externally. An attainment level is reported for both the outcomes of the tests. For writing there is no test, only a teacher assessment is required which is based on the work completed throughout the year.