Performance Data

During their time at Horley Infant School, children undertake a number of both formal and informal assessments to help us understand the effectiveness of the quality of education they are receiving as well as the progress they are making. Below is some useful information which may help you gain an overview of what happens. Over the course of your child’s time at school, you will be invited to parent workshops which will explain more about each of these areas. 

KS1 Assessments

When children are in Year 2, they are required to take standardised tests called Key Stage 1 Assessments (formerly known as SATs). Although the teacher’s normal classroom activities and assessments which are carried out as part of everyday teaching and learning are the best sources of evidence, the Key Stage 1 Assessments are designed to standardise the children’s attainment in order to provide a standardised score and allow for a national comparison of school and pupil performance. The tests check children’s knowledge and understanding of the Key Stage 1 programmes of study in English and Mathematics and provide a snapshot of children’s attainment which is used to inform teacher’s assessments at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 1 and 2).

The statutory tests must be administered to all children in Reading (Paper 1 and Paper 2) and Mathematics (Paper 1: Arithmetic and Paper 2: Reasoning). The scores within these tests do not need to be reported to parents. Instead, they are used to help teachers make an end of year judgement of attainment within Reading & Mathematics. For Writing and Science, there are no statutory tests but attainment must still be reported.

The Phonics Screening Check

The Phonics Screening Check is taken by all children in Year 1 during a specific week in June and children in Year 2 who did not pass the Phonics Screening Check the year before. The check is designed to confirm whether children have learnt phonic decoding to an appropriate standard. It will identify the children who need extra help to improve their decoding skills. The phonics screening check comprises a list of forty words that a child reads aloud to their teacher on a one-to-one basis. The list includes twenty real and twenty pseudo-words.

Pseudo-words allow the assessment to focus purely on decoding using phonics. The pseudo-words are displayed alongside pictures of imaginary creatures and are sometime referred to as “alien words”. This allows teachers to explain to the child that the pseudo-word is the name of a type of creature they have not seen before and this helps children to understand why they should not try to match the pseudo-word to their vocabulary.

The pass mark is set each year and released after the tests have been completed.

Early Years Foundation Stage (Good Level of Development)

Children in Reception are assessed against 17 Early Learning Goals (ELGs) at the end of their Reception Year. Each ELG can be awarded at the following standards:

• Expected: your child is working at the level expected for his age
• Emerging: your child is working below the expected level
• Exceeding: your child is working above the expected level

Twelve of the Early Learning Goals, in the prime areas, personal, social and emotional development, communication and language and physical development, and the specific areas of literacy and maths are considered together to make up a ‘good level of development’, or GLD. Achieving a good level of development will help a child to make a good start in Year 1.