25 November, 2024
Checkpoint 1
From the Headteacher
Assessment in Wales is changing! Often, when we think of assessment, we think of high-stakes testing, monitoring and tracking. Our mission requires us to take a more complete view of assessment in terms of how individuals make progress, improving their learning over time.
For parents and carers, this means soaking in a range of information over time. Each provides a 'puzzle piece' to learning and progress in the curriculum. Gone are the days when a simple grade or level might be provided in an unhelpful, summative fashion.
The checkpoint is always the first 'puzzle piece' of the year. Your child will bring home this report to you in hard copy. Simply, the checkpoint is a review of your child’s behaviour, effort, agency, teamwork and progress. It is an overview which tells you a little bit about your child’s attitude to learning. The scoring is simple: A (Excellent), B (Good), C (Satisfactory and is a focus for improvement) and D (Unsatisfactory).
The purpose of the checkpoint is to open up a conversation with your child and to encourage the type of learning behaviours that improve outcomes.
You can find an explanation of the grades A, B, C and D in more detail below.
A: The learner shows excellent behaviour skills respecting people, property and learning, using kind language, listening to others and following instructions immediately and with good grace. The learner takes responsibility for themselves, taking pride in what they do.
B: The learner demonstrates good behaviour skills whilst respecting people property and learning, often using kind language, listening to others and following instructions. The learner can take responsibility for themselves and knows that putting in effort will lead to improvement.
C: The learner demonstrates satisfactory behaviour skills. They understand expectations of behaviour to respect people, property and learning but find it difficult to follow instructions. The learner’s behaviour can be easily influenced by things that happen around them.
D: The learner struggles with the school expectations for behaviour, respecting people property and learning, often falling short of expectations to use kind language, listen to others and following instructions. The learner finds it difficult to take responsibility for themselves.
A: The learner applies themselves fully and always works hard to produce high quality work. The learner is highly motivated and engages fully in the learning process as well as demonstrating resilience when tackling difficult problems.
B: The learner often works well in class, producing work of high quality. This learner is enthusiastic to apply themselves in the learning process; they can be resilient when tackling difficult problems.
C: Effort and application in lessons is an area for development. Too often, they do not apply themselves and as a result can find it difficult to engage in the learning process.
D: They struggle to apply themselves during lessons, often becoming withdrawn from the learning process and can fail to complete the tasks set.
A: In lessons, the learner has excellent communication skills to express their thoughts, feelings and views. They are able to express their views, taking ownership of their learning.
B: The learner is able to communicate their thoughts and feelings. However, they often lack the confidence and ability to express their views or participate actively in the classroom.
C: Agency is a key area for development in learning. The learner volunteers very little to express their own thoughts and ideas, lacking the confidence to take ownership of their own learning
D: The learner can struggle to communicate ideas and express themselves. The learner is more confident following instructions and guidance from the teacher with little if any input from the learner.
A: The learner has excellent collaborative skills, working well to achieve a common goal or to complete a task in an effective and efficient way. The learner takes responsibility for themselves.
B: The learner usually works well with others to achieve a common goal or to complete a task. They can create solutions that are practical and useful, taking time to consider others’ ideas.
C: Teamwork and taking the time to listen to others is an area for development. Too often, they prefer to work independently and find it difficult to communicate with others.
D: The learner struggles to communicate with others in the class and can be easily distracted when in a group or team situation. They can become a distraction to others and can fail to complete the tasks set.
A: In lessons, the learner has demonstrated excellent progress and improvement in subject knowledge and cross-curricular skills. The learner has developed their subject knowledge as well as practised skills to bring about fluency in the subject and are able to apply them with confidence.
B: The learner has demonstrated good progress and improvement in their subject knowledge and cross-curricular skills. The learner has developed their subject knowledge and is able to apply it with some confidence.
C: The learner has demonstrated satisfactory progress with some improvement in their subject knowledge and cross-curricular skills.
D: The learner has struggled to make sufficient progress and improve their subject knowledge including cross-curricular skills, therefore remaining dependant on support from the teacher.
