At Combs Infant School, we are expected to administer and report on the following statutory assessments;
The Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA) focuses on:
-Language, Communication and Literacy
-Mathematics
The RBA is a short task-based assessment. Pupils use practical resources to complete tasks and teachers record the results on a laptop, computer or tablet. It is not used to label or track individual pupils. Schools are required to carry out the assessment within the first 6 weeks of pupils starting reception. No numerical score is shared and data is only used at the end of year 6 to form a school-level progress measure. However, teachers receive a series of short, narrative statements that tell them how their pupils performed in the assessment. These are then used to inform teaching within the first term.
The statutory EYFS framework requires the EYFS profile assessment to be carried out in the final term of the year in which a child reaches age 5.
The EYFS profile is made up of an assessment of the child’s outcomes in relation to the 17 early learning goal (ELG) descriptors. Practitioners are expected to use their professional judgement to make these assessments, based on their knowledge and understanding of what the child knows, understands, and can do.
The main purpose of the profile assessment, at the end of the EYFS, is to support a successful transition to Key Stage 1 (KS1), by informing the professional dialogue between EYFS and year 1 teachers.
The EYFS profile is also used to inform parents about their child’s development. Children are defined as having reached a Good Level of Development (GLD) at the end of the EYFS if they have achieved at least the expected level for the ELGs in the prime areas of learning and the specific areas of mathematics and literacy.
In addition, the EYFS profile provides a national child learning and development data set at the end of the EYFS.
Alongside teacher assessments, children in Year 1 have a formal assessment that indicates how well the children are learning in phonics. The phonic screen gives each child a score for their ability to decode real and non-real words and to blend and segment sounds in words. The Government decides which score indicates that a child has achieved the standard required. The current score is 32/40. The results are reported to parents with their annual report at the end of the year. If a child does not yet achieve this score then they have another assessment at the end of Year 2. Phonics teaching continues through the whole of KS1.
As of the 2023-2024 academic year, there was no mandatory requirement for schools to administer end-of-KS1 tests in English reading, English writing, mathematics, or science.
Teachers use teacher assessment frameworks to make judgments about a child's progress in different subject areas, considering their overall performance throughout the year.
Assessments are also used to track progress and support early identification of any particular areas where more focus, practice and support may be required. This evidence can include classwork, observations, projects, presentations, quizzes, and any optional tests taken.
It is also used to inform KS2 teachers of the next steps in a child’s learning and enables them to plan individualised work at an appropriate level.
Assessments and ongoing marking and discussion with children, families and between staff, inform tracking of pupil achievement and progress.
Teacher assessment is an ongoing and important part of the teaching process at Combs Infant School.
At the end of KS1, progress is deemed to be at one of three stages: