1. Primary Science CPD June 2018
Assessment in Primary Science
with
Laurel Armstrong

2. Objectives Government requirements for assessment
Ways to formatively assess learning
Planning to incorporate assessment
Tracking Assessment
Assessment ideas
Resources

3. First challenge Changing state cards – make a loop.
How can this be used as an assessment tool?

4. Government Requirements for Assessment
2012. Wynne Harlen - “The situations in which children learn science provide the best opportunities for assessment of their learning.”
June 2013 – Assessment levels abolished
“Removal of levels allows teachers greater flexibility in the way they plan and assess children’s learning.”

5. Government Requirements
Assessment framework to show the expected standards required for end of Key Stages 1&2 (year ending 2018).
A list of “Pupil can” statements related to NC requirements. E.g. “The pupil can identify, with reasons, whether changes in materials are reversible or not.”
Websites include assessment frameworks for end of key stage 2018/2019 academic year too!

6. Government Requirements
End of Key Stage reporting required only for met/has not met; are children working at the expected standard or not? Nothing else is required.
From 2018/2019 academic year, when assessing science, there is no requirement to have evidence from the classroom that pupils have met statements relating to science content taught before the final year of the key stage.
Where possible, teachers should draw on assessments that have been made earlier in the key stage to make their judgement against this framework.

7. X Ways to assess learning End of topic tests?
Government science sampling tests – only 23% of children achieved national expectations in Teacher assessment data not taken into account!

8. Ways to assess learning
Formative assessment
The methods that teachers use to conduct in-process evaluations of student comprehension, learning needs, and academic progress during a lesson or whole topic.
“The situations in which children learn science provide the best opportunities for assessment of their learning.”
The outcomes of formative assessment tasks can then contribute towards end of term/year summative assessments of pupil progress (see TAPS later).

9. Ways to assess learning
Self-assessment
Peer-assessment
Investigating misconceptions
Talk and discussion
Rich questioning
Practical activities
Feedback – including feedback from pupil to teacher as well as feedback from teacher to pupil and from pupil to pupil.

10. Planning to incorporate assessment
Assessment needs to come within your planning – how do you plan lessons to ensure that you can say “yes they have got this”?

11. Planning to incorporate assessment
ASE – join them!!
PLAN matrices – a list of what to look for when assessing whether a child is secure, for EVERY TOPIC, EVERY YEAR GROUP. Includes egs of work.

12. Planning to incorporate assessment

13. CIEC Promoting Science
Don’t forget to refer to the CIEC posters to aid with assessment and recording of Working Scientifically! Show the link to the free download pdf.
CIEC Promoting Science
© Centre for Industry Education Collaboration

14. Tracking Assessment
Credit: Nicky Waller

15. Credit: Nicky Waller name Year 1 Science Assessment Record
To judge that a pupil is working at the expected standard in science, teachers need to have evidence which demonstrates that the pupil meets all of the 'working scientifically' statements and all of the 'science content' taught in the final year of the key stage. Where possible, teachers should draw on assessments that have been made earlier in the key stage to make their judgement against this framework.
name
Working Scientifically: working at the expected standard (KS1 NC requirements)
asking simple questions and recognising that they can be answered in different ways
observing closely, using simple equipment
performing simple tests
identifying and classifying
using their observations and ideas to suggest answers to questions
gathering and recording data to help in answering questions
Science Content: working at the expected standard (Y1 NC requirements)
identify and name a variety of common wild and garden plants, including deciduous and evergreen trees (Y1 Plants)
identify and describe the basic structure of a variety of common flowering plants, including trees (Y1 Plants)
identify and name a variety of common animals including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals (Y1 Animals)
identify and name a variety of common animals that are carnivores, herbivores and omnivores (Y1 Animals)
describe and compare the structure of a variety of common animals (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, including pets) (Y1 Animals)
identify, name, draw and label the basic parts of the human body and say which part of the body is associated with each sense (Y1 Animals)
distinguish between an object and the material from which it is made (Y1 Materials)
identify and name a variety of everyday materials, including wood, plastic, glass, metal, water, and rock (Y1 Materials)
describe the simple physical properties of a variety of everyday materials (Y1 Materials)
compare and group together a variety of everyday materials on the basis of their simple physical properties (Y1 Materials)
observe changes across the four seasons (Y1 Seasonal Changes)
observe and describe weather associated with the seasons and how day length varies (Y1 Seasonal Changes)
% target met 0%
% working towards
% target not met
Credit: Nicky Waller

16. Group assessment activities
1. Card sort. Living/was once alive/non living

17. Group assessment activities
2. Putting things into groups

18. Group assessment activities
3. Create a branching diagram of your groups
Is it a jelly sweet?
yes no
Does it have a wrapper?
Is it hard or soft?
hard
soft no

19. Group assessment activities
4. Discussions
Which curtain keeps out the light best?
What do you know about light?
“I didn’t know light was made up of 7 colours!”
I think the felt will work best because it’s like the blind in my bedroom

20. Group assessment activities
5. Making Models
Which object represents which planet?
How are my teeth arranged in my mouth?

21. Individual assessment activities
1. KWL grids (older children).

22. Individual assessment activities
2. Mind maps

23. Individual assessment activities
3. Matching Exercises

24. Individual assessment activities
4. Scientific Drawings

25. Individual assessment activities
5. Voting Systems

26. Individual assessment activities

27. Individual assessment activities
Plickers – gauge opinion:
My favourite science topic in Year 5 was:
The human body
Forces
Earth and Space
Materials

28. How do YOU assess learning
Any ideas to share?

29. Assessment resources
Teacher Assesment in Primary Science (TAPS) pyramid model (Bath Spa & PSTT)
A framework to support science leaders in identifying strengths and areas for development in school assessment systems

30. Assessment resources https://www.ase.org.uk/resources/primary/plan/
Annotated collections of children’s work - examples of what working at the expected standard for primary science looks like

31. Assessment resources
Exemplification materials to show the expected standards required for end of Key Stages 1&2 (year ending 2018).

32. Assessment resources

33. Assessment resources

34. Snap Science Written by Jane Turner, Nicola Beverly, Naomi Hiscock.
A complete package of lesson plans and activities which allows you to:
Review
Track
Record...
every child’s progress, with complete coverage of all concepts and skills from the teacher assessment framework.
£120 per year group!

35. Activities to consider next time…
Working Scientifically and Science Enquiry
Running a whole school science project
Starting a science club
Science fairs
Family learning projects
Cross curricular science
Dissections in the classroom
Any other suggestions?

36. Evaluations…