Formative Assessment is an integral part of daily teaching at East Sheen Primary School. It refers to the ongoing process where teachers assess each child’s progress and learning. This type of assessment is based on various sources of information, such as questioning, observations, marking of work, teacher-student dialogue, and peer and self-assessments.

Summative Assessment is also used, typically in the form of written tests, to evaluate and track pupil progress over time.

Assessment plays a crucial role in supporting student development. It serves as the foundation for lesson planning, ensuring that teaching is targeted to meet each student’s needs.

At East Sheen Primary School, we utilise Target Tracker, a tool that helps us monitor students’ progress and attainment throughout their time at school.

Students are assessed against the national curriculum objectives specific to each year group. Teachers make informed judgements about when a student demonstrates a secure understanding of these objectives, recording their progress using a colour-coding system.

Typically, students are expected to make five steps of progress each year, aiming to achieve a secure understanding of the year group’s objectives by the end of the school year. For example, a student starting the Year 3 curriculum would begin at 3b (beginning of Year 3), then progress to 3b+, 3w (working within Year 3), followed by 3w+, and ultimately reach 3s (secure in Year 3). If a child is working at a higher level, this is recorded as 3s+ (greater depth).

Teacher assessment is the primary method used to measure progress, except in Year 6, where statutory tests also track progress from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 2.

Some students may not be able to access the full-year group curriculum. For these students, appropriate progress targets are set based on their individual education plans. Additionally, some children may participate in interventions designed to accelerate their progress, enabling them to catch up and engage with the curriculum at their year group level.

At East Sheen Primary School, our goal is to ensure that all students make excellent progress from their starting points. We use Target Tracker to guide lesson planning, ensuring that the national curriculum objectives are comprehensively covered and that each student's understanding is carefully monitored.

Please see the guidance from the Department for Education (DfE) below on how progress is calculated in primary schools.