Assessment, Feedback and Pupil Progress

At St Philip’s, assessment is an integral part of teaching and learning. It is not simply about tests or scores. Assessment helps us to understand what children know, what they remember, what they can apply and what they need to learn next.

We use a Point in Time assessment and tracking model, alongside a wide range of ongoing assessment approaches. Teachers continually assess children through their everyday learning and use this information to adapt teaching, revisit learning where necessary, provide additional support or introduce further challenge.

Assessment happens every day

Our teachers use a wide range of approaches to find out what children know and understand. These may include:

• careful questioning and classroom discussion to explore children's understanding and uncover misconceptions;
• live marking and feedback, allowing teachers to respond to children during the learning itself;
• verbal feedback, providing immediate guidance, encouragement and opportunities for children to improve their work;
• marking and written feedback, where this will have a purposeful impact on future learning;
• retrieval practice, giving children regular opportunities to recall and use previously taught knowledge;
• our “Digging for Treasure” approach, where children are encouraged to search back through what they have previously learnt, retrieve important knowledge and make connections with new learning;
• regular opportunities to revisit and remember prior learning, helping important knowledge become secure over time;
• ongoing quizzes and low-stakes checks to help both teachers and children identify what has been remembered and what may need revisiting;
• spelling tests and regular practice, supporting children to develop accuracy, fluency and confidence;
• practical activities, conversations, observations, independent work and other varied assessment opportunities, recognising that children can demonstrate their knowledge and understanding in different ways.
• oracy and structured talk, including the use of stem sentences and sentence structures, giving children a framework on which to ‘hang’ prior learning, organise their thinking, make connections and demonstrate their knowledge and understanding through increasingly confident spoken responses;

This means that assessment is part of the learning process rather than something that happens only at the end of it. Teachers can respond to what they see and hear, address misconceptions and ensure that subsequent teaching builds appropriately on children's existing knowledge.

Formal Assessment

Alongside ongoing teacher assessment, children complete more formal assessments three times during the year. From Years 3 to 5, we use NFER assessment materials, while children in Year 6 use past SATs materials alongside teachers' ongoing assessment.

We recognise that no single test tells us everything about a child. Formal assessment therefore forms one part of a much wider picture built from children's day-to-day learning, their work, teachers' professional knowledge, questioning, retrieval, observation and discussion.

Pupil Progress

Class teachers meet with Mrs Edward each term for Pupil Progress Meetings. These meetings provide an opportunity to look carefully at children's learning and progress and to consider appropriate next steps, support and challenge.

There are also regular opportunities throughout the teaching week for staff to work together, discuss children's learning and share their professional understanding. This supports a whole-team approach to every child's learning journey.

Working with Parents

Information about children's attainment and progress is shared with parents following our assessment points, and our Meet the Teacher presentation provides further information about our assessment and tracking procedures.

Most importantly, assessment at St Philip's is about helping children to learn, remember more, make connections and experience success. We want children to understand that assessment and feedback are positive parts of learning which help them recognise what they have achieved and what they are ready to learn next.

If you have any questions about assessment, feedback or your child's progress, please speak to your child's class teacher or Mrs Edward. We are always happy to talk through our approach and help you understand your child's learning journey.

Assessment and Progress for Children with SEND

For children with SEND, assessment is personalised, purposeful and focused on progress from their individual starting points. We recognise that meaningful progress is not always measured through a test or a year-group assessment and that, for some children, success is achieved through small, carefully planned steps. Teachers work closely with families, our SEND team and, where appropriate, other professionals to identify individual priorities and agree achievable targets and next steps. These are reviewed regularly, rather than waiting for formal assessment points, so that provision can be adapted as children's needs develop. We use ongoing observation, questioning, children's work, discussion and assessment alongside individual plans and targets to build a rounded picture of progress. Every small step matters, and we celebrate progress in learning alongside developments in communication, independence, confidence, wellbeing and children's ability to engage successfully in school life.

Assessment approaches for some pupils with SEND 

B squared and the AET Framework enable us to track smaller steps of progress across all curriculum areas.  We celebrate all achievements in relation to starting points.  These assessment tools also enables us to fine tune our target setting to meet individual needs and can be useful to share with wider professional agencies to access appropriate support.

Access arrangements and appropriate approaches to testing form part of the holistic approach we take to support individual children's needs. 

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Assessment of wider needs.

We use a range of approaches including

Boxall Profile
The Boxall Profile is used to assess pupils’ social, emotional and developmental needs. Outcomes inform targeted pastoral support and classroom strategies, and are reviewed regularly to measure progress over time and adjust provision where needed.

Coventry Grid
The Coventry Grid is used alongside professional judgement to help identify pupils whose presenting behaviours may be linked to trauma, attachment or neurodiversity. It supports appropriate referral pathways, ensures external advice is sought where required, and helps staff tailor inclusive and consistent responses.