Assessments
It is our philosophy that all pupils should do their best at all times, not only academically but in all areas of school life. This is a non-selective school, meaning that we are able to cater for most children’s additional learning needs. We do not, however, have access for children with physical disabilities. At TPS, assessment is used to monitor progress and to access the gaps in a child’s learning. It is also used as a measure of teaching and learning. Teachers use this to find out which topics they need to re-teach and which ones have been grasped by their students. This is an ongoing process and the Cambridge Curriculum supports this approach as topics are continuously re-visited. Gone are the days where “fractions” were taught only once and you had to pass a fractions test to move on. Cambridge has a more fluid approach to teaching and learning. In order for us to ensure that this happens, your child will be assessed regularly in all areas of the curriculum, and targets for learning will be set. Our focus here is not just on attainment but also on progress. We understand that not all pupils will excel academically; however, we will ensure that all children make the appropriate level of progress. We recognise that some pupils may have additional learning needs and we aim to provide support for them so that they can access the curriculum. We take a holistic view to attainment and we will reward success in all areas of the curriculum.
Progress in the Primary phase will measured using the PIRA (progress in reading) and PUMA (progress in math) assessments and “BIG Write”. These are internal assessments and we will not share actual results with you, but rather tell you about where your child is doing well and where there may be gaps in their learning. We set individual targets from this and these are shared with you. Pupils take the Cambridge Checkpoint Examination at the end of Year 6 (external) this is marked in the UK. Your child’s progress and attainment will be shared with you termly. There are two formal reports a year, one in first term and one in third term. If you leave TPS during the course of the year, we will prepare a report for you and any other documents needed for this transition.
You will know how to help your child to make progress, because we will set targets for them and these will be shared with you on Target Setting Evening. These meetings are for parents, pupils and teachers and all parties will be aware of the targets set. Older children monitor their own progress by ticking off their targets as they achieve them and the teachers will do this for younger ones, through their marking. New targets are always available and given to children when they are ready.
Spellings are given weekly and should be practiced through the “look, cover, write, say” method. These are shared as they are part of a child’s daily homework. Weekly spelling will follow a phonic pattern to make it easier for children to learn them, for example: say, hay, stay, way -Timetables and mental math assessments are done weekly too and these are shared with you. Mental math is done as part of “morning work” in class and is used as a teaching tool. We are a mixed ability school, so you may find that your child has different spellings and timetables homework to their friends. There are many apps that will help children to learn their timetables in a fun way. We use: https://www.duckduckmoose.com/educational-iphone-itouch-apps-for-kids/pet-bingo/
In conclusion, assessment is used as an informative tool to enhance and monitor the quality of teaching and learning at TPS. Assessments are done as a part of the school day and we put little emphasis on them, so as to cause our pupils as little stress as possible. We assess our pupils in non-formal ways too and rewards are given in the form of stickers, class dojo prizes and points, and weekly TPS Ambassador Awards (given out in assembly) At the end of the year we award prizes for progress and attainment in each subject area and these are based in the data collected from our termly assessments.