Assessment

Pupil Progress is assessed in a myriad of ways, alongside both parents and professionals, to ensure that a rounded, consistent, holistic and honest picture of every child’s progress is accurately recorded and tracked.

Earwig

Earwig is a software package that enables teachers and class staff to gather evidence, make assessments, track progress and produce reports, all in one place. At Portesbery, we use Earwig to gather photographic & anecdotal evidence towards our assessment package; Skills for Life, and also for gathering evidence towards My Outcomes targets (EHCPs). We started using Earwig this academic year; 2021 – 2022. We use Earwig whenever we see good evidence of pupil achievement and progress!

Skills for Life Assessment

This is our predominant assessment tool for all pupils across the school, and is continuous from 2-19 years of age. It was created by the staff at Portesbery to cater perfectly for the learning needs of our pupils. It covers skills that will help pupils become as independent as possible during their time at Portesbery, and preparation for life beyond.

The assessment covers:

SLD Learners	Complex Needs Learners
Communication	Communication
Self-Awareness and Health	Self-Awareness and Health
TEACCH	Routes for Learning
Literacy	Routes to Literacy
Numeracy	Routes to Numeracy
ICT skills	ICT skills
So Safe	Switch Skills
Transitioning	Transitioning
Dressing	Dressing
Shopping and Community	Shopping and Community
Play Skills	Play Skills
Attention Autism	Attention Autism
Physical Gross Skills	Physical Gross Skills
Physical Fine Skills	Physical Fine Skills
Cooking	Objects of Reference
Social Skills	Social Skills
Toileting and personal hygiene	Toileting and personal hygiene
Road Skills and Travelling	Road Skills and Travelling
Preparation to Learn	Preparation to Learn

As you can see, the majority of areas covered are the same, with just a few differences that are more tailored to individual groups of pupils.

Each child is baselined within 6 weeks of starting at Portesbery, regardless of their age or the time of year that they entered the school. The Skills for Life Assessment is then reviewed and updated at least termly (October, February and May) throughout their whole school career.

EHCP Meetings, My Outcomes and Parental Involvement

Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) meetings are held annually (bi-annually for Nursery and Year R pupils). Parents attend alongside other relevant professionals that work with your child. This is a chance to discuss the progress and achievements of your child, amongst other things.

My Outcomes are targets that are set at the EHCP meeting alongside parents and professionals. The My Outcomes targets are taken from the long-term targets within the EHCP document, linked to the four areas of; Communication and Interaction, Cognition and Learning, Sensory and Physical, and Personal, Social and Emotional Development. Shorter term targets are then set to enable pupils to work towards the annual, and eventually, long term targets. My Outcomes targets are reviewed at least half-termly, often more frequently.

Once the EHCP targets are agreed, they are the main focus of the pupils’ learning over the year, and progress will formally be reported back at the next EHCP meeting the following year. However, there are many opportunities throughout the year for parents to be involved in discussions about their child’s progress, including via home / school diaries, meet the teacher coffee mornings, phone calls, emails, two parents evening and one celebration evening per year. In addition, parents can seek to meet with their child’s teacher at anytime during the year whenever parents or school feel it may be necessary.

We fully acknowledge that parents know their children better than anyone else, which is why we want parents to be involved in pupil assessment as much as possible along the way. We also understand that children can be very different between home and school, so good communication between parents and school is essential. We invite parents to share all of their child’s achievements, and also any areas in which they may struggle, so that we can work together on the pupils’ skills for life to help them reach their full potential.

In addition to the teacher report shared for the EHCP review, each pupil also receives a photo report at the end of the Summer term to share their progress across the curriculum.

Pupil Progress Meetings

These meetings take place termly (October, February and May) between the class teacher and Assistant Head Teacher with responsibility for that particular department. Individual pupil progress is discussed in all areas including, but not limited to, Skills for Life Assessment, My Outcomes, behaviour, health and any other relevant factors, and any areas of concern are identified.

Pupils in receipt of Pupil Premium are discussed to ensure that we are meeting any additional needs, including any funding that may be needed to support this and that they are progressing as expected.

If there are any concerns that your child is not making expected progress, we will place them in a focus group and create a targeted intervention plan in order to try and remedy this. Parents will be informed of and involved in this process.

Pupil Progress meetings enable the Assistant Head teachers and the senior leadership team to maintain an overview of individual pupil progress, and provide robust professional dialogue and challenge where needed. Pupil Progress is reported back to and discussed with governors, although no individual pupils are identified.

Progress Files

Teachers collect evidence and samples of work across a range of different areas termly. These demonstrate the progress that each child is making within these areas. Progress Files are sent home for families to enjoy at the end of each stage of the school; Early Years, Primary, Secondary and Post-16.

The Curriculum

Our curriculum has recently been reviewed, and we have developed a new curriculum that focusses on Skills for Life and ensures breadth and depth of experience and opportunity, with progression throughout the school built in. The first stage of this began being implemented in Autumn 2020.

Teachers use the curriculum and My Outcomes targets to plan lessons that meet the needs of the pupils within their class. Within each lesson they are assessing and evaluating the learning and use this to determine the next steps for pupil learning.

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

Pupil progress is tracked through written observations, photos, videos and recorded using Earwig software. Earwig is currently utilised to collect photo and video evidence linked to the EYFS outcomes. Ongoing classroom assessment takes place, with the addition of observation sheets. We also track progress through ‘My Outcomes’ targets. EHCP meetings take place every six months which are attended by parents or carers, the class teacher, a member of SLT and other professionals. We communicate regularly with parents and carers through face to face conversations, home school communication book, phone calls and emails to share ‘wows’ and ensure that we are consistent and collaborative in our approach.

In Early Years we track progress in the seven areas of learning and start to use the Skills for Life Assessment, which will enable us to track their progress through their time at school.

The seven areas of learning are:

Communication and language development. ...
Physical development. ...
Personal, social, and emotional development. ...
Literacy development. ...
Mathematics. ...
Understanding the world. ...
Expressive arts and design.

There is a private Facebook page for both parents and school staff to share achievements. If a pupil joins us without an EHCP, the EYs team are heavily involved into feeding into the initial assessment, writing reports and supporting parents through the process.

Post 16

The Post 16 curriculum continues the focus on skills for life and developing, using and generalising the skills that pupils have gained throughout their time at Portesbery, readying them to transfer these skills into other settings. They gain a qualification through our chosen awarding body ASDAN; either a Certificate in Personal Progress, or a Certificate in Personal and Social Development. Evidence is gathered throughout a pupil’s time in Post 16, and during Year 14, a portfolio is submitted at the end of the Spring Term for external moderation.

In Post 16 we also work with parents and other professionals such as the SEND team and social care transition team to plan for the next steps in each young person’s life, such as college, social care settings, supported living and volunteering or employment. As part of this we have developed links with some Post 19 providers including local colleges and social care day settings so that young people can experience some of these settings to see what they might like doing, as part of the decision making process.