Assessments

We conduct regular assessments of pupil progress throughout their time at Rosemary Works. Our assessment system is light-touch and un-pressured for the pupils, but provides comprehensive information to enable us to identify support each child’s areas for development.

In the Early Years, we use Tapestry as a means of assessing children. We record each child’s development as they progress through the Early Learning Goals and that helps the teachers to provide opportunities for the child in the areas that have been identified for development. Parents have access to Tapestry online, and can see those development goals as they are achieved, and use the information to inform their conversations with the Nursery Class and Reception Class teachers.

In Year 1, children start formal assessments and, at a time in the year when we feel it appropriate, we assess their reading age, writing and maths.

From Years 2 to 6, children are assessed every September using the CAT4 assessments. This gives us all a standardised score of their ability in Verbal Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning, Maths and English. This information helps us to steer their learning for the year according to their strengths and areas for development and it tells us their learning potential.

The children are assessed on a termly basis by means of online and paper-based tests. The testing system identifies strengths and weaknesses on a granular, technical level, and provides recommendations to enable the child further to advance.

To ensure that all of the children are provided with opportunities to develop in the areas that have been identified, many of our staff are trained with initiatives including Catch-Up, 5 Minute Box, Read Write Inc, and with in-house professional development. The teachers will determine what support may be required, which could take place in class or in the intervention room, and could be by means of individual sessions or with a small group.