As you will be aware from Parent Consultations last year, a new National Curriculum came into effect from September 2014.  The Government asked all schools to devise a way of assessing pupil’s progress; knowing where pupils are and what their next steps in learning are.

As a group of Pentagon Schools (Fairhaven, Blanford Mere, Dawley Brook,  Glynne and Belle Vue), the deputies have been working on an assessment system; we have been trialling this throughout the year. The five schools have agreed to use the system outlined here.  The assessment is closely linked to the National Curriculum.  The Government expects schools to report to parents annually explaining where children are in relation to age related expectations.

Children will be working in bands, which are progressive and link to year groups:

Developing - below age related expectations

Inline – at age related expectations

Mastering – above age related expectations

The national expectation is that each child should be in line with age related expectations at the end of the year.

The table indicates the age band at which an average child should be working at by the end of the academic year. Some children will be working above these bands, some below, what matters is that they are consistently making progress and always trying their best.  Expectations have been raised considerably in the new Curriculum so, now at the end of the first year of implementation, it is likely that more children will be working below age-related expectations than we will expect in the future because of the extra curriculum content that needs to be taught – especially in years 4 and 5 – that was previously taught in later year groups.

At Fairhaven we feel that it is important for children to be involved in assessment.  Every child has assessment bookmarks for Reading, Writing and Maths.  The bookmark each child has will depend on where they are on their learning journey, so may be different to the child they sit next to.  The reason we share our assessment system with our children in the form of bookmarks is so that they can be aware of where they are in their learning, what they can do well, but also what they need to do next - their next steps.  The bookmarks show progression and illustrate the small steps needed to make progress.  Please click on the links below to download the full set of assessment bookmarks for Reading, Writing and Maths.

PLEASE BE AWARE that, in line with the new Curriculum, we aim for a depth of learning and understanding and not just coverage of objectives.  Therefore it is important that children are given time to master concepts and apply them in a range of different situations, not simply moving straight on to the next year's set of bookmarks and objectives.

Please see Key Information tab, Policies, Subject Policies for further information.