At Hampton Vale Primary Academy, we aim to maximise the effectiveness of our use of assessment in practice in order to directly address areas within learning to improve and support rapid progress. We have a clearly-defined approach to assessment, which itself sits within a well-led and clearly-defined vision of teaching and learning in a school. Our assessment strategy forms the foundations of our everyday practice and is focused on improving children's progress.

The guiding principles of our assessment strategy are as follows:  

• Our assessment strategy is focused on supporting children’s progress towards the learning of knowledge, concepts and skills;
• Our Assessment Policy promotes efficient use of effective assessment;
• Our assessment provides teachers with meaningful, useful insight (assessment forformative purposes) in the form of information about a child’s learning and ability to apply their learning to a broad range of contexts;
• Our assessment enables dependable claims to be made about pupils’ learning (particularly when communicating with stakeholders).

The purpose of our assessment strategy: 

• Formative - providing information for the teacher to plan sequences of lessons which address the next steps of learning.
• Diagnostic - providing more detailed individualised information about pupils’ areas of strength and next steps.
• Summative - providing a snapshot of each pupils’ achievement.
• Evaluative - providing information in order to evaluate teaching.
• Informative - to develop pupils’ understanding of their own learning journey, in order to increase intrinsic motivation and independence.

Please feel free to explore the additional information in our Assessment Policy or the guidance slide show for further information around our assessment strategy and the implementation across school.