The carefully considered use of assessment, balancing formative and summative techniques, allows teachers to meet the needs of pupils who are experiencing and have experienced disadvantage.
Effective assessment allows teachers to identify gaps and misconceptions and areas that need further securing in order for teaching to be responsive and adapted to ensure all pupils can progress through the curriculum. Careful monitoring and reflection on termly and yearly data can allow periodic opportunities to identify issues within attainment and review systems to ensure that we achieve consistency and equity in how we assess and measure our pupils.
Day-to-day classroom practice and whole-school formative assessment approaches can develop learners’ agency and independence in addition to providing that information central to making teaching responsive. Evidence suggests that metacognition and the development of self-regulation, and crucially, self-efficacy, can have a huge impact on learners who experience disadvantage.
Support for the assessment of disadvantaged pupils
Our HFL Assessment team has curated training in all of these areas, which can be found on the HFL Hub.
Alongside this, we offer bespoke school-based training and consultancy to develop practice in all areas of assessment. We work with leaders and classroom teachers to tailor an approach that meets the needs of each school. Support can be flexible to the precise priorities identified, but could include (as examples):
- Staff training – standalone or as a sequence to allow follow-up – on topics such as: formative or summative assessment principles and techniques, responsive teaching, metacognition, resilience and learning mindset.
- Supporting classroom practice with lesson visits, planning support, and coaching of teachers.
- Moderation of assessments to support consistency and equity
- Supporting leaders to review and develop whole-school approaches and policy.
To discuss how we can support you email us at: hfl.assessment@hfleducation.org
Observations have shown that teachers are confidently deploying strategies shared and there is more focus on the intrinsic value of AfL throughout lessons. We have witnessed staff adapting their lessons to suit the outcome of their questioning. There is also a clear emphasis now on retrieval and recall and teachers have been seen to focus on the most important and relevant elements of ‘sticky knowledge’ to retrieve
Headteacher, Mill Mead Primary School
Changes throughout daily practice, the variety of AFL techniques shown and modelled in the initial staff INSET and following team teaching sessions are very useful. Especially during whole class teaching when ensuring that all children are engaging with and understanding the session.
Headteacher, Kenilworth Primary School
