Assessment and Record Keeping We know that implementing straightforward and accurate assessment is a key part of your teaching so we are working hard to bring you the Assessment elements of Busy Ant Maths and Snap Science. The government published its response to the Primary assessment and accountability consultation on 27 th March 2014 and since then our authors and consultants have been working to create a coherent assessment framework to underpin all our new curriculum publishing. This relatively late response to the original consultation has impacted on our schedule we could not finalise resources until we had confirmation that they would support the plans the government was putting in place. To date we are still awaiting performance descriptors and draft end-of-key stage tests from the government, but we will add additional guidance and support to our assessment materials as necessary to ensure you have the most up-to-date resources at your fingertips. There are other assessment resources on the market, but if they were available before or immediately after the programmes of study were finalised in September 2013, they may not fully match the new curriculum. What is available and when? Snap Science Assessment is embedded throughout all Snap Science lessons The removal of level descriptors means that the relationship between the science that children are taught and the science that is assessed will be much stronger. Confident teacher assessment is vital and the creators of Snap Science have ensured that effective formative assessment strategies are used in every lesson. Each lesson has a clear science Learning Intention which all children are expected to achieve or exceed, with Success Criteria to exemplify what success will look. Differentiation is by access, with each lesson beginning with an Explore activity to enable children and their teacher to assess prior understanding and identify which level of challenge to take. Teachers can annotate planning to reflect this.
The Enquire part of the lesson includes a choice of three challenges which will ensure that all children can work appropriately towards achieving the learning intention. Differentiation in the challenges is based on a model of progression in science learning which supports children to become more independent and autonomous, systematic, precise and evaluative, and to increasingly use their scientific knowledge in their explanations. This means that grouping in Snap Science lessons is flexible, dependent on the level of skill, knowledge and understanding that each child demonstrates in the Explore activity, and the level of support and challenge that is appropriate for them in each lesson. Children should be encouraged, with teacher support, to choose for themselves the right challenge to complete to achieve the learning intention. The final stage of each lesson is a Reflect and Review activity where children summarise what they have learnt and use the success criteria to assess their success and identify next steps. Assessment evidence from each lesson should be used formatively to determine appropriate next steps for individuals and groups of children. Snapshots On 31 October, we are adding Snapshot assessments. The lessons are full of support with formative assessment, but we are adding as extra support. The purpose of the Snapshots is to provide teachers with extra evidence to support their judgement Snapshots are short and sharp, for one teacher to use with one pupil. They will only be needed for some children, where a quick additional check is required. We will provide one Snapshot for every curriculum statement; for example, for the curriculum statement Describe how animals obtain their food from plants and other animals, using the idea of a simple food chain, and identify and name different sources of food, the Snapshot will be a picture card sort activity, with guidance for the teacher on what to look for to assess mastery. Class records On 31 October we are also adding a simple, easy-to-use record-keeping section for all teachers mastery judgements across the whole curriculum. Using all the assessment opportunities in the lesson, and Snapshots if they need them as well, they can enter each child as green (mastery achieved and exceeded), orange (mastery achieved) or red (mastery not achieved), for each curriculum statement. The Class record section will allow teachers to view and export the data easily in a variety of different ways; they can use it as an at-a-glance overview of the progress of their whole class, or print a report by pupil, by module or by curriculum statement, to take to parents evening or show Ofsted.
A view of pupil progress by module
An overview of the class results by module
Busy Ant Maths Short-term on-going assessment within the Teach content on Connect Progress Check Questions are an important feature of every Busy Ant Maths lesson and are linked to specific learning objectives. They are designed to provide immediate feedback to pupils and to gauge pupil progress in order to adapt teaching. Shared Success Criteria are also provided in each lesson to assist pupils in identifying the steps required to achieve the learning objective. Busy Ant Maths Assessment on Collins Connect The Assessment section within Collins Connect will contain the following components for each year group: 1. Assessment Tasks. There is one task for each National Curriculum Attainment Target (NC AT). These are adult-led activities which are designed to assist teachers in determining pupils readiness for a particular Busy Ant Maths unit of work. They are designed to yield information that will directly support individual pupils and whole-class teaching. 2. Assessment Exercises. There is one exercise for each NC AT. These can be used to review and record the progress of both individual pupils and the class as a whole, in relation to the National Curriculum attainment targets. 3. End-of-Unit Tests. These are used the end of a three-week Busy Ant Maths unit to assess understanding of the concepts taught in the unit. 4. Pupil Self-assessment booklets for each unit provide pupils with the opportunity to undertake some form of self-assessment as they progress through the programme. The Assessment content will publish on Collins Connect on the following dates: Year 3 Assessment 7th November 2014 Year 1 Assessment 9th December 2014 Year 2 Assessment 17th February 2015 Year 4 Assessment 26th March 2015 Year 5 Assessment 27th April 2015 Year 6 Assessment 17th June 2015 Record-keeping on Collins Connect On 31 October 2014, we are also adding a simple, easy-to-use record-keeping section. Teachers can begin to record their own judgements and assessments from this date, and can start to build up a record of pupils attainment within a year group, and progression across the year groups. As soon as the relevant Assessment Guide is published, it will be linked to the record keeping and teaching tools on the platform.
All data collected by teachers from 31 st October will be stored online and can be presented digitally, and printed off, for individual, class and whole school analysis. The various record-keeping formats are designed to show individual pupils level of mastery against national standards. They draw upon the data gathered throughout the year including results from Assessment Tasks, Exercises and Tests, performance in whole class discussions, participation in group work, written evidence and any other supplementary notes. It is these documents that form the basis for reporting to parents and informing the next year s teacher. Importantly they also help to identify whether pupils are on track to meet end of the key stage expectations. A view of the class records by domain:
A view of the pupil records by domain: A view of the pupil records by attainment target: