Here at HLC, your child’s progress through the curriculum is extremely important to us. We ensure that all children make progress within their year group in every area of the curriculum through several robust assessment systems. These systems are used to track your child’s progress against national expectations as well as supporting teachers in delivering lessons specifically targeted to areas which your child may find tricky. We communicate your child’s progress to them and with yourselves during parents’ meetings and reports and our door is always open to talk further. We have high expectations for all pupils, no matter what their starting point, and we ensure that we help every child succeed in every subject. No matter how small the step forward, we celebrate their successes and challenge them further.

When starting new topics, pre-learning tasks are used to gage pupils understanding; this allows our teachers to shape and challenge the learning for your child uniquely and direct support appropriately. ‘Think Pinks’ are regularly used at the end of lessons to clarify, revisit and challenge the pupils’ thinking through additional challenges and questions. This information is used to inform teachers planning and gives the pupils opportunities to remember learning from previous lessons, in order to build successfully upon it.

On entry to Reception pupils will now take part in a Baseline Assessment to assess skills in all areas.  Foundation Stage 1 and 2 (Nursery and Reception) staff record children's progress using the Foundation Stage Profile. Teachers and Learning Support Assistants observe and assess children whilst they are engaging in a variety of activities. The assessments cover all the areas taught in the Foundation Stage including the child’s emotional and social adjustment to school. The staff use the information they gather to plan appropriate work for all the children in their care. A copy is given to the parents at the end of the school year, and termly updates are sent out.

We believe in continually assessing for learning and teachers use the information that they informally gather to ensure that the work they deliver is pitched appropriately for your child. Every term, we have a formal assessment week where NFER tests are used in Years 2 – 6 to assess children’s attainment through Reading, Maths and Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar tests. These tests support teachers to make final judgements about your child’s abilities at the end of every term and help shape the next terms curriculum. They are also used to support your child in the form of interventions and small group work. In Nursery, Reception and Year 1, there are no formal tests, however teachers use their class work to assess the pupils against national expectations. Year 1 pupils do sit a National Phonics Screening Check in the summer term, which assesses their phonic ability against national criteria. The results of the Phonics Screening Check are shared with parents at the end of the year.

In writing, the children’s work in Years 1 - 6 are assessed by teachers using the writing that they complete in their writing book. All pupils will be given lots of exciting opportunities to write through a wide range of genres. The teachers use Writing Assessment Grids which are located at the back of their book. These correlate directly to the National Curriculum programme of study for Writing and teachers will be happy to talk through their judgements with you. In order for pupils to fully understand their writing ability and to give themselves next steps, we give them opportunities to work and mark alongside the teacher through conference marking. They also have target grids at the front of their writing books, and the expectation for that year group is communicated with them throughout the year.

At three points in the year, you will receive a formal written report of your child’s academic attainment and their progress. We use the following acronyms when talking about your child’s attainment.

Teachers will work with you and your child in order to support their learning and help them to progress towards the Expected Standard.

In Year 2 and Year 6, children complete statutory assessment tests (SATs) which take place in all schools across the country in the month of May. Outcomes of these are reported to the government, parents and are also available on our website. To ensure that the children at HLC are well prepared for these tests, both year groups complete mock papers. These happen at several points throughout the year to ensure pupils are well prepared and are familiar with the procedures we have to adopt during test conditions. The results of the tests are shared with parents as soon as they are released to schools and teachers are always happy to discuss them with you.

If you would like to find out more about how your child is assessed at school please speak to your child’s class teacher or call 01952 387088 and speak to Mrs Griffin or Mrs Armstrong, both of whom would be happy to talk to you about any aspect of our assessment procedures.

In order to ensure that your child makes progress, we run a range of interventions that specifically cater for your pupils needs. They are small, targeted groups which aim to develop academic, emotional, physical and mental wellbeing. In Years 5 and 6, we utilise the amazing skills of the HLC Secondary staff to ensure that your child is challenged and fully prepared for the next steps they will take in their education. We work closely to ensure that transition into Secondary is seamless and pupils value the additional support given as they leave Year 6.

Interventions at HLC Primary include: Reading support groups, Maths groups, Spelling groups, Bedrock, SATS Bootcamp, Cool Kids, Nurture Club, Y6 SAT Boosters, 1:1 Personalised Reading, Phonemic Awareness, Social Games, Speech and Language Confidence Builders.