Assessment for Learning in Primary Science Potter’s Bar Project Planning Day 2 Jane Turner, Heather Gilbertson Tuesday 9 th February

What’s the Potter’s Bar Project about? Improving teaching and learning in primary science through assessment for learning Working alongside colleagues from other schools Reflecting on changes and the impact on children’s learning

What’s OccurringPlace & Date First day’s INSET - Why AfL, Ideas to use in classroom (content), How to make it work AG & JT Wroxham PS Full day 28 th Sep 2010 Half day planning activity with colleagues & JTBayfordbury Half day 13 th Oct 2010 Teach activity with colleague interviewing children for evidence of learning Own schools (or visiting a school) Second day’s INSET – Reflection & feedback, Developing Skills AG, HG & MJ Wroxham PS Full day 26 th Jan 2011 Half day planning activity with colleagues & JTBayfordbury Half day 9 th Feb 2011 Teach activity with colleague interviewing children for evidence of learning Own schools (or visiting a school) Third day – Full feedback, identifying progression in learning, creating further resources based on positive outcomes, applying to other subjects - All Wroxham PS Full day 3 rd May 2011 Final half day – Presenting project outcomes for others, spreading the word, celebration Bayfordbury SLC 18 th May 2011

Both sets of teachers used AfL techniques e.g. hands down, increasing wait time, sharing criteria with learners, peer & self- assessment Spirit of AfL Pupils decide what quality work might look like Pupils’ statements are probed and challenged Pupils are involved in higher order thinking Autonomous learners Collective wisdom Letter of AfL Focus on technical errors Closed questions Teacher adjudicates on pupils’ statements Focus on right/wrong Guess what the teacher is thinking ‘How teachers engage with Assessment for Learning: lessons from the classroom’ Bethan Marshall and Mary Jane Drummond

Focus on scientific skills Asking questions and having ideas Deciding which method/strategy to use Carrying out a fair test, including deciding on the range and values of variables Choosing equipment and measuring Ensuring reliable readings Communicating findings (graphs) Identifying patterns and drawing conclusions Offering explanations

What to do On Planning half day Come with title of next investigation/enquiry Decide which science skills to highlight, how to teach children about them & get them to recognise success criteria In class Before doing enquiry Teach children about skill – T & P Look at good/bad examples of skill together – P (& T) Work together to pick out what’s good and decide criteria – P (& T) Do next enquiry – P Compare performance on skill to criteria – P Decide how far my/our performance matched criteria - P

Different ways of finding out Carrying out a fair test, where we change one factor, measure or observe the effect it has on something else whilst keeping all other factors the same e.g. which type of paper absorbs most water Carrying out a survey and looking for trends in populations e.g. do taller people jump higher Observing or measuring something over time e.g. how does a growing plant change; what happens to the temperature of hot water when we leave it in the classroom Classifying things according to characteristics (materials/mini-beasts) or according to behaviour (materials which do/do not allow light to pass through) (Also Exploring and Problem Solving e.g. focussed play/can I find a way to ….separate salt and sand, make a bulb light)

Using AfL with science skills Children need to be equipped with an understanding of skills in order to be able to set criteria/peer assess/debate and discuss about getting and interpreting evidence Development of skills is not always achieved just by doing more practical work Need to teach about skills explicitly before asking them to use AfL techniques