1. Assessment and Moderation
at Dundonald Primary School and Early Years Centre

2. Assessment
Assessment helps teachers, pupils, parents and others to understand the depth and breadth of learning undertaken so that progress and next steps can be discussed and planned in partnership.
The term ‘assessment’ covers:
the way teachers support and monitor progress, as well as identify next steps in learning.
reporting to parents/carers, in writing and in discussions, to help them understand their child's progress and what they can do to help their child's learning.
formal recognition of a child’s achievements through certificates or qualifications.

3. Moderation
Moderation involves teachers coming together to look at evidence and judgements about pupils’ achievement. The process of moderation supports the consistency of teachers’ professional judgements about pupils’ learning, both locally and nationally.
Moderation involves considering the following:
planning for learning, teaching and assessment.
quality assuring planned learning experiences.
ensuring assessment activities provide learners with fair and valid opportunities to meet the standards and expectations before assessments are used.
sampling evidence from pupils’ work and reviewing teachers’ judgements.
agreeing strengths in pupils’ performances and next steps in learning.

4. Purpose
This means:
We know how our pupils are doing in all curricular areas, with a focus on Literacy, Numeracy and Health and Wellbeing.
We understand our pupil’s progress and their next steps in learning in the Curriculum for Excellence levels – Early, First and Second (and beyond as appropriate).
We use moderation to ensure our judgements are robust.
We are confident that action will be taken to plan for, and to provide, extra support for pupils, if it is needed.
School achievements in improving learning for all are recognised and shared.
We know that our Parent Council has clear information about learning so that informed discussions can take place with Head Teacher about our school improvement plans.

5. Evidence of Assessment
Evidence of pupils’ progress and achievements will come from the things they may say, write, make or do. For example:
a presentation, discussion, performance or practical investigation
a drawing, jotter work or piece of art work that they have produced
a photograph, video or audio clip as part of a particular learning experience
formal tests informed by the teacher/school/cluster/authority/government
Evidence of progress and achievement can be gathered by:
pupils through self-assessment
fellow pupils (peers) through peer assessment
teachers, parents and others who can help identify and support their next steps in learning

6. Types of Assessment Type Timing Examples Ongoing Day-to-day
Jotter activities, self and peer assessment
Periodic
From time to time
Specific writing tasks, Maths tests
Transitional
Times of movement, e.g. stage to stage, P7 to S1
Mixture of the above used
Scottish National Standardised Assessments (SNSAs)
P1, P4, P7 and S3
Specific Literacy, Reading and Writing diagnostic online tests dictated by Scottish Government
Holistic
Day-to-day and from time-to-time
Various – verbal and written evidence

7. Process of Assessment Steps Explanation Example
Experiences and Outcomes
Clear, concise statements about learning.
Provided by Education Scotland.
I explore sounds, letters and words, discovering how they work together, and I can use what I learn to help me as I read and write. ENG 0-12a/LIT 0-13a/LIT 0-21a
Benchmarks
Statements showing what successful learning will look like.
Hears and says patterns in words.
Hears and says the different single sounds made by letters.
Hears and says blends/sounds made by a combination of letters.
Knows the difference between a letter, word and numeral.
Reads from left to right and top to bottom.
Uses knowledge of sounds, letters and patterns to read words.
Uses knowledge of sight vocabulary/tricky words to read familiar words in context.
Reads aloud familiar texts with attention to simple punctuation.
Uses context clues to support understanding of different texts.
Learning Intention
Child friendly statement about the learning.
Co-constructed by the teacher with the pupils.
To explore and use sounds and letters to create words.
Success Criteria
Guiding steps to show pupils how to achieve the Learning Intention.
I can identify the letters of the alphabet.
I can make all the sounds of the alphabet.
I can put letters and sounds together to make simple words.
Learning Experiences
Planned activities to support pupils in achieving the Success Criteria.
Planned by the teacher with the pupils.
Alphablocks videos
Whiteboard practise
Active games – indoors and outdoors
Evidence
Information gathered to show a pupil’s achievement.
Produced by the pupil and collated by the teacher.
Verbal teacher alphabet checklist
Upper and lower case matching jotter activity
CVC word holistic assessment piece
Moderation
The process of quality assuring the standard of all of the above elements of assessment and teacher judgements about achievement.
Completed in a group of two or more teachers.
n/a

8. The Four Capacities
The purpose of the curriculum is to make sure that pupils acquire the four capacities of Curriculum for Excellence in order to be Successful Learners, Confident Individuals, Effective Contributors and Responsible Citizens. They will demonstrate this by becoming more independent and successful in their learning, by having a greater knowledge and a more secure understanding of the skills they are taught, and by being able to use and the knowledge that they have more effectively. Pupils will be able to process new information more easily and apply knowledge in different contexts from those in which the knowledge was acquired. They will be able to learn more independently. Pupils will be more confident in tackling new and more challenging tasks and dealing with new situations, and will have a better understanding of their responsibilities within society, particularly in contributing to the economy, but also in their awareness of wider issues that affect them. They will be more able to control their own lives and to be active in society.

9. The Seven Principles
The curriculum should be designed on the basis of the following principles:
Principle
Explanation
Challenge and Enjoyment
Encouraging high aspirations and ambitions for all whilst allowing pupils to develop and demonstrate their creativity.
Breadth
Allowing for learning and development through a variety of contexts within both the classroom and other aspects of school life.
Progression
Building upon earlier knowledge and achievements.
Depth
Providing opportunities for pupils to develop different types of thinking, exploring and achieving more advanced levels of understanding.
Personalisation and Choice
Planning learning for pupils that responds to their individual needs, providing opportunities for exercising responsible personal choice.
Coherence
Linking aspects of learning clearly.
Relevance
Ensuring purposeful and valuable learning and related activities, in which pupils can see the relevance to their lives, present and future.

10. Breadth, Challenge and Application
All planned assessment should allow pupils to demonstrate breadth, challenge and application of learning as follows:
Breadth – learning comes from a range of Experiences and Outcomes.
Challenge – learning requires pupils to use a range of higher order thinking skills such as analysis, creation, evaluation, problem solving, tackling multi step tasks, and interpreting tasks.
Application – learning expects the use of skills in new and unfamiliar situations.

11. The Four Contexts for Learning
The Curriculum for Excellence recognises four different contexts for learning and assessment through:
the ethos and life of the school as a community
curriculum areas and subjects
interdisciplinary learning
opportunities for personal achievement.
Therefore, evidence for assessment should come from a range of these areas. The Curriculum for Excellence also stresses the need to make connections between these areas.