Assessment of the Curriculum

KS2 and KS3 Numeracy and Literacy Core Assessment

Hugh Sexey Church of England Middle School tracks and monitors all our pupils’ progress and attainment throughout their educational journey with us.

On entry, pupils will sit a Star baseline assessment. The outcomes from that assessment outlines your child’s current numeracy and literacy skills and provides our teachers with a start point to work from, along with the information from their year 4 transition data. The baseline results are reported home in Term 1. Year 5 pupils will remain on the Star programme(s) throughout year 5 and teachers will monitor progress and present further challenge and/or initiate additional support/ provision where necessary. This may take the form of in-class adaptive teaching, FLEX2 and/or adult focused support.

If, at the end of year 5, a pupil has met and has continued to demonstrate that they are working ‘At’ or ‘Above’ Benchmark in numeracy and/or literacy they will be removed from the appropriate Star Programme and year 6 teachers will monitor progress and attainment through formative and summative in-class assessment. If, however, a pupil has not met benchmark, they will remain on the programme until the benchmark has been met – this may mean a pupil is monitored until they exit in year 8.

Statutory KS2 Assessments – Preparation and Communication

Throughout year 6, our curriculum appropriately prepares pupils for Statutory KS2 Testing known as SATs whilst not taking from other foundation subject time. The Summative assessments include; Reading, SPaG, Arithmetic and two Mathematical Reasoning tests. There is also a Writing assessment which pupils work towards throughout the year. The writing assessment will be internally assessed, moderated across the WLT and possibly externally moderated by Somerset Local Authority in June of the academic year.

As parents/carers, you will want to know how your child is moving forwards in their KS2 studies. Hugh Sexey Church of England Middle School will send home the following interim reports for KS2 pupils:

• two interim reports home that itemises how your child is developing in Reading, Writing and Maths
• a final full Summer report which is a report from all academic subjects studied

Parents/carers will also have opportunities to meet your child’s tutor in three calendared parent/carer evenings throughout the academic year.

KS3 Assessment and Progress Ladders

Throughout KS3, pupils are assessed against KS3 Progress Ladders. The ladders are agreed and aligned by subject specialists across the WLT and have been broken down into core strands unique to that subject. The progress ladders are available in the subject areas on the website and our pupils are familiar with their use in school. Pupils will know which strand(s) they are stronger in and which they should focus on. If your child is in year 7 or 8 the attainment is broken down as follows:

• 7.1-7.3 / 8.1-8.3 Developing – Working towards expected standard
• 7.4-7.6 / 8.4-8.6 Secure – Working at expected standard
• 7.7-7.9 / 8.7-8.9 Mastering – Working above the expected standard

The first number (7 or 8) relates to the academic year your child is in, the second number (1 to 9) relates to the level your child is working at. The levels have been banded as Developing, Secure or Mastering.

As parents/carers, you will want to know how your child is moving forwards in their KS3 studies. Hugh Sexey Church of England Middle School will send home the following communication for KS3 pupils:

• three full subject reports (Autumn, Spring and Summer)

Parents/carers will also have the opportunity to meet your child’s tutor at the start of the academic year and subject teachers later in the academic year.

KS3 Summative Assessment

Similar to the end of year tests in Year 6, our KS3 pupils will experience end of year assessments. Tests are taken in the hall in exam conditions and align with other schools across the WLT. The outcomes from the tests will be shared with pupils and Kings of Wessex on transition to Year 9.

Formative Assessment

Formative assessment is a knowledge and skills checking tool used in our educational setting from Year 5 to Year 8. It permits teachers to check pupil’s knowledge and skills during a lesson and redirect a child’s learning to address gaps, misconceptions and/or redirect a pupil’s application skills. At Hugh Sexey Church of England Middle School, formative assessment is key to effective teaching and learning. We will always check what is known, identify what needs to be readdressed and confirm our pupils have the skills required to move forwards in their subjects.

Additional Assessment

If a pupil is struggling we can carry out additional learning assessments at school to try to identify learning needs. We can also, through home-school dialogue, redirect you to external bodies who may be able to carry out further tests. If you feel your child is struggling t school, please contact the school in the first instance so we can discuss this further with you.