Autumn Assessments

[Guest]

Hi Everyone,

Just wondering what sort of assessments/activities people carry out at the begining of Autumn Term to establish children's starting points/ baseline.

 

How do you 'carry' them out? one-to one? tick lists of recognition etc.? Group observations?

 

Is there any particular method or performa that comes recommended?

 

Have read link on PIPs, but have not seen what they consist of (and by your responses not advised?) Is there a web site I can check out? Heard it was Durham?

 

All responses gratefully recieved! (don't know what I'd do without you guys there! )

 

Skylight

[Susan]

If your school doesnt have anything in place I would suggest that you use the profile to record starting points. (use another colour!)

Baseline assessment as such was replaced by the profile, and it largely covered CLL, MD and PSE so look to those areas first.

The NFER baseline that I have used was very precise in the responses that were required to score but I have attached the skills characteristics. These are the sorts of things that are useful to know about your children to enable you to know where to start and to assess progress.

 

Cant attach in current format so will seek advice and attach later hopefully!

[Marion]

Pips was devised by Durham university (I think) dont know of anyone who uses it and likes it but cant comment personally

http://www.cemcentre.org/renderpage.asp?LinkID=22210000

[Guest]

Thanks,

Feel I could do with a little structure to focus me and act as an overview to pitch children somewhere (until I gain more experiance & preferance in teaching practise - if you know what I mean?)

Like the idea of using the profile as that makes things consistant. Why do you say use a different colour? am I missing something obvious?!

[Susan]

If you are using the booklets, there are 3 colours suggested for marking the points as attained in each term--autumn, spring and summer. If you are going to mark the on entry attainment you need to be able to distinguish it from that attained later on or you will not be able to use the data.

[Guest]

I'm really sorry - but I still don't understand!

I know there are 3 bands of colour to the ELG - but why would that stop me from using data upon entry - at a later date?

.. Think coin has just dropped! You mean marking it with either red, blue or green? not the colours yellow, blue, green & grey for stepping stones!

This is slightly off the mark ... but whilst placing objectives together for Autumn I find myself looking in the foundation file ... children I have met meet the yellow to blue stepping stones. I've been advised to state this in planning (ie: blue to green pg. etc)

Helps landmark etc. but in the past I've always used the foundation profile and scales for Reception (but have never experiance a new in take)

Looking at both documents it's confusing as they don't conform to each other and yet as a 'delivery' and an'end product' they do!

Any gems of wisdom out there?

How do you identify your learning objectives/ intentions in planning?

[Guest]

In the FSP the terms are colour-coded: autumn is orange, spring is blue and summer is green so you tick/circle the coloured dot to show in which term a child has achieved a particular ELG. By using a different colour e.g. pink you could show if a child had achieved an ELG before entering your setting - this would be a form of on-entry assessment although it wouldn't give you a below/average/above picture of achievment.

 

There have been other discussions about on-entry assessments. Although there is NOT a statutory requirement to carry out baseline (on-entry) assessments anymore it seems to be something that Ofsted/the DfES are after now so that the 'value' we add to children can be measured (cue much grinding of teeth, banging of heads and uttering of rude words). The problem is that there isn't a proforma for carrying this out. Something that some people are doing (apologies - I can't remember who) is marking children off against the stepping stones and forming a judgement from this. Basically, a child who enters working on mainly yellow stepping stones could be broadly described as having a below average level of attainment, mainly blue would be average and mainly green would be above average. This then gives you information against which you can measure end of year profile scores. Ofsted seem to like this and there is reference now made on the Standards Site about on-entry assessments and tracking performance.

 

As for using Stepping Stones in planning - I don't personally. Although it's vague the Curriculum Guidance seems to suggest that the Stepping Stones are examples of the stages that children might work through on their way to achieving the ELGs rather than being actual learning intentions in their own right. Again though, this is a contentious issue. Personally I'm waiting for some bloke to come down a mountain with it all carved on tablets of stone...

Edited July 10, 2006 by Guest

[Guest]

Moose can i just say what a fab reply - you certainly know your stuff! As for waiting for a man to do something we could be in for a long wait!! (Sorry men - joke!) x

[Susan]

Sorry starlight, if I didnt explain that as well as I should!

Thanks Moose.

 

The profile was introduced as an assessment tool at the end of the key stage, compared baseline which was an on entry to school tool. Children started school at different points in the school year and there was more than one baseline assessment scheme--Pips from Durham being one and NFER, which my LEA promoted being another. The advantage of the Pips scheme was that schools that used it could access it, in a different form throughout primary years to track the children---my own sons promary school did this. The Baseline data was used to produce statistics about the cohort in much the same way as the eprofile can, I think although I have no experience of eprofile.

 

The stepping stones as Moose rightly says were never intended to be a planning tool but more an indication of the characteristics of learning and attainment that might be noted as children progressed towards Goal attainment. You should plan against the curriculum guidance and not Profile. although at the later part of the school year you may be looking at the profile to plan assessment to fill gaps! Like Moose, I used the Goals in my reception planning but looked to the SS to differentiate appropriately.

 

Attached I hope is the Baseline skills sheet from NFER.

List_of_scales_and_items.pdf

[Guest]

Oh wise people .... thankyou for your help! I'm just hoping this all becomes a little clearer and easier as time goes by?!

 

All you have said makes sense and I sort of understand (a little like grasping at straws, one minute I think I've got it and the next a little unsure). Think this is just due to the amount of info. I'm taking in.

 

The way in which planning is done here is different to the past experiences (which have been limited to the PGCE). Can't really express an opinion on whether it is better or worse etc. at the moment. Makes sense (and now I know what the colours represent.. helps a lot/ my mentor said they were age related which also sort of makes sense in the whole picture).

 

Gut instinct on what little I know of my children - tells me they range from the yellow - blue and some in the green (I think). Some of the guidelines are odd though (only a few) as they don't always make a natural progression? For example, 'Enjoy listening to and using spoken language and readily turn it into their play' 'grey step sounds a lot more accessible than the earlier 'green' step 'Initiate a concersation, negoiate positions, pay attention to and take account of other peple's views'? (sounds as if your about to teach a bunch of darlects!)

 

Just to clear up a query then ... on some planning I know that people have placed their objective/ learning intention .. followed by a series of reference numbers. I presume these are refering to the profile scales/points? (they are NOT the nat. literacy strategy etc)

 

Although a bit long winded, I've been asked to place the objectives for the term next to a success criteria.... with a reference eg. To feel safe and secure (PSHE/ Relationships/ yellow – pg36)Demonstrate a sense of trust/ Seek out others to share experiences/ Relate and make attachments to members of the group.

 

One thing I am finding is how do you limit the amount of objectives? especially as they are so embedded in each other?

 

Can anyone share as a round figure how many they would be refering to in a weeks planning, (if you were to be using it in this manner, as Susan I know you said you used it more as a reference for assessment)? or is that like asking ... how long is a piece of string??!

 

Been at this all day and my eyes are just about seeing double! (at least next year there will be some sort of starting point to work from ..... )

 

All the best & cheers

Skylight

[Susan]

When Ive used numbers in my planning, it has been the number of the goal as it appears within the guidance document.

 

So CLL 19--handwriting--holds a pencil and uses it effectively (or whatever the exact wording is!!)

 

I would have a master list of numbered goals alongside mydisplayed plans (on wall) and within my file.

[Guest]

Hi Skylight - I've posted this before - don't know if it's at all useful but I have the ELGs typed out and numbered. ELGs_term_by_term.doc When I'm doing my planning I put the ELG in brackets, followed by my learning intention e.g. (CLL 7) To re-enact a known story . I then record my assessment criteria: what I'm looking for the child to be able to do. In the example above it would be something like 'Look for ability to be 'in role' and use language from the story'.

 

I think it's difficult to give even a ball park figure of how many learning intentions/ELGs to cover in a week. Some themes that you do might lend themselves to a particular area or even a particular goal and you might be able to provide the children with lots of different experiences/learning that are basically drawn from the same ELG - still valuable though. I use my attachment above as my long term plan, blocking in some things as 'ongoing' - meaning that I don't plan for them specifically as they are covered by general classroom guidelines/organisation or by modelled standards of behaviour etc. Other things I tick off as I deliver them. As long as everything is ticked by the end of the year then I know that I've delivered the statutory curriculum.

[Guest]

Thanks Mouse,

I like the way you work (makes sense to me)

I think my problems stem from the fact that I am being advised to use the steps as learning intentions/ objectives and they are to be pitched in the 'blue' band. As a consequence, although I am working towards the final step (and often address this), makes life unnecessarily confusing! (Especially as children will fall either side in ability & experience)

Feel tired and beginning to talk riddles.

Will place together what I have been asked and discuss some of the ideas put forward.

Thankyou