Assessing Work & Progress

Our main aim at Meridian is to ensure that all our children achieve their full potential. Learning for each child is a continual and personal process. We have high expectations and PROGRESS is key. Of course, all children come from different starting points and learn at different speeds, therefore each child's journey and destination will be different. However, as a guide, the chart below will give you an idea of where we expect an 'average' child to be AT THE END of each year group.

ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING:

Listening to children, talking to them, observing them at work and marking their work tells us a lot. Every lesson, teachers, support staff and the children themselves are making informal assessments and asking - "What do you know now that you didn't know before? What can you do now that you couldn't do before? What is stopping you moving forwards? What are your next learning steps?" Finding the answers to these questions means that teachers can match teaching to children's needs. Sharing this information with children during and after lessons gives them ownership of their own learning. Sharing this information with parents means that they can help at home. Learning targets (next steps) are reviewed termly to be shared at Parent's Evening and in children's end-of-year reports. Children's work is shared through displays, assemblies and parents' evenings.

TESTS:

Tests don't teach children but they do help to confirm teacher's own judgements and give a 'standardised level'. They help us to track progress and identify gaps in children's learning so that planning is pitched at the right level. They give the school a picture of all our children so that we can consider how we best meet their needs. So, once a term, children in Y1-Y6 are tested in Reading and Maths using PiRA and PUMA assessments, and Writing is assessed through teacher assessments. At the end of Year 2 and Year 6, children take part in statutory SATs. This isn't as daunting as it seems and we hold a meeting each year to explain the process. Our Foundation Stage page explains about The Foundation Stage Profile, completed at the end of Reception.