Assessment at White Ash School

On entering school, each child is assessed with reference to the Outcomes within their Education, Health & Care Plan (EHCP) to ensure they receive an individual and prioritised education.

Key areas for assessment are:

·       Speaking and listening (including early communication);

·       Literacy skills (including reading, writing and phonics);

·       Mathematics (including early cognition);

·       Physical skills;

·       Personal and Social Development;

·       Computing skills.

Assessments are regularly carried out to maximise pupil potential and each child’s progress is monitored through the White Ash Progression document and their termly ILPs. Parents are consulted with the pupils to shape to the development of these plans.

Schemes of work and teacher planning are based upon the individual child’s capabilities and closely linked to ILPs. This ensures maximum progress is made in all curriculum areas. Each term, teachers review and revise pupils’ individual learning plans which are the core focus delivered throughout the school day.

Engagement Model

The Engagement Model is the assessment tool used for all learners working below pre-key stage standards (at White Ash, this is the pupils on working on our Informal and Pre Semi Formal pathway). The model is in response to the recognition that progress may not always be linear or quantifiable for learners working at this level. Teachers and those working with pupils on our Informal and Pre Semi Formal pathway should use the Engagement Model ‘areas’ (outlined below) to reflect upon their teaching in order to support pupils in meeting their targets. It encourages a personalised teaching approach which builds on individual abilities and responses. 

The model uses 5 areas of engagement; these are:

• exploration – whether a pupil can build on their initial response to a new stimulus or activity
• realisation – how the pupil interacts with a new stimulus or activity or discovers a new aspect of a familiar stimulus or activity
• anticipation – how much the pupil predicts, expects or associates a stimulus or activity with an event.
• persistence – whether the pupil can sustain their attention in a stimulus or activity for long enough that they can actively try to find out more and interact with it.
• initiation – how much, and the different ways, a pupil investigates a stimulus or activity in order to bring about a desired outcome.
• For more information, see:
• https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-engagement-model
• https://www.sendgateway.org.uk/blog/tsc-engagement-model

Evidence for Learning

At White Ash we use an electronic pupil progress tool called Evidence for Learning (EFL). We use this to gather photo and video evidence, linked to your child’s Individual Learning Plan targets (ILP) and Outcomes taken directly from the Education Health & Care (EHC) Plan.

The evidence collected creates an individual holistic learning journey for your child in all areas of learning including core subjects, physical aspects such as PE, swimming/ hydrotherapy, MOVE, Rebound Therapy, Life Skills and Behaviour for Learning.

Teachers’ can review, amend and add to these targets over time in order to respond to your child’s ongoing needs and development.

We use EFL to generate some of the evidence for EHCP reviews, demonstrating the progress your child is making towards their ILPs and EHCP outcomes. 

The assessment judgement will be:

Further information can be found in our assessment policy.