Assessment enables children and teachers to clarify exactly what children know, understand and can do. It informs the next steps in the children’s learning and it monitors their progress.

At Hillside Infant School we believe that every child matters and is entitled to have their progress tracked. They are also entitled to have work matched to their level of attainment so that they might progress to the best of their ability.

We believe that we should meet all children’s individual needs. 

The progress of each child is tracked electronically on the school’s network.

It will include the following information:

• Baseline assessments made as the children begin in Nursery
• Baseline assessments made as new children to Hillside begin in Reception
• Statutory baseline assessments for Reception
• Termly Teacher Assessments for all year groups
• End of Reception Early Learning Goal Assessment (ELG)
• End of Year 1 Phonics check (and a resit in Year 2 for anybody who doesn't pass in Year 1)
• End of Key Stage 1 (Year 2) Teacher Assessments in Maths and English

How do we assess at Hillside Infant School?

At Hillside Infant, systematic attainment and progress data is inputted, analysed and evaluated termly in all subjects, using a system called Arbor.   Each child is assessed according to the subject knowledge and skills that they have been taught that term.  A judgement is made about whether a child is 'working at' an age expected level.  Interventions, scaffolding and support are put in place for any child who is not.  A chance to work at a deeper level is provided for any children who are 'working above' this expectation.  We set aspirational end of year targets for each pupil from Nursery to Year 2. Children’s attainment and progress is tracked against these targets.  We track progress and attainment of all our children and compare this information with previous cohorts as well as national and local data trends.

We collect progress and attainment data termly from Nursery to Year 2 using a range of strategies, these include evidence of written work, classroom observations, group work and class discussions.  Pupil progress meetings are held each term with class teachers and senior leaders. The meetings help identify strengths in pupil’s progress as well as where further support is required.

Reporting to parents

Parents are updated regularly about their children's learning and next steps.

This happens at:

• Pupil progress meetings with written target sheets for Parents/Carers in October and March
• End of Year Annual Reports in July

Example of a Reception and Year 2 target sheet