At Dinnington First School, we pride ourselves on delivering an excellent standard of education to all of our pupils. Staff in school work very hard to use both formative and summative assessment information to inform their planning and teaching, in order to ensure that our pupils achieve the very best that they can.

Staff are committed to providing timely feedback, both verbal and written, in alignment with the school’s Marking and Feedback Policy. High-quality feedback plays a crucial role in addressing misconceptions and transforming them into meaningful learning opportunities.

A number of strategies are used to help assess pupil knowledge and understanding. These include:

Retrieval : Usually at the start of a lesson or Block of learning to check on prior knowledge, skills and topic links.

Questioning: Strategic questioning is employed to assess prior knowledge, monitor current understanding, and promote higher-order thinking.

Check-Outs: Usually at the end of lessons to check what pupils can remember or have understood. These may include simple sorting activities, ranking activities, summarising or discussions.

Peer and self-assessment: Pupils are encouraged to engage in reflective practices by evaluating their own work and that of their peers. This process supports the recognition of individual strengths while identifying specific areas for further development.

Written Tests and Quizzes: Usually at the end of each Block of work or end of each Term in English and Maths pupils will complete a timed written test to see what information has been retained in long-term memory and can be applied in different contexts.