All pupils attending Mapledown have an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP). The EHCP incorporates long-term individualised outcomes (2 or 3 years dependent on Key Stage) and related short-term outcomes (1 year - Key Personal Learning Targets - KPLTs) based on prior attainment.  At transition or Annual reviews of the EHCP, outcomes are reviewed to provide a focus for adaptation within classroom teaching and learning. The EHCP also includes aspects related to each pupil's social, emotional, mental health, behavioural, health or mobility needs, to ensure that all activities in the school may be safely accessed.

Upon arrival at Mapledown, pupils are baselined using a range of assessments. Leaders, teachers and parents meet in the pupils' first half term at school to discuss and finalise the outcomes within the EHCPs and ensure that they are developmentally appropriate. They are fed into the pupil's KPLT. 

Pupils are also assessed against our curriculum steps, which informs planning and teaching focus. Teachers review progress towards outcomes and curriculum on a termly basis, using a range of assessment tools to ensure they can provide ongoing and challenging learning opportunities for our pupils.

 

THE PURPOSE OF ASSESSMENT

Assessment, record keeping, and demonstrating progress must be an integral part of teaching and learning for all students. It is used to monitor student progress and to inform planning and target setting.  It is not an end in itself but should be used to help focus on the planning of appropriate learning intentions for individual pupils and groups.

PRINCIPLES OF ASSESSMENT

• Assessment takes account of every aspect of the child’s development: social, emotional, physical, personal and academic, and the influence these areas have on each other.
• Assessment can be diagnostic, formative and summative and, as such, is an essential aid to the teacher to enhance the process of learning.
• Assessment opportunities need to be built in at every stage of planning the curriculum because assessment is an integral part of the Teaching and Learning process.
• Assessment, recording and reporting needs to be on the whole curriculum and the opportunities for extra-curricular learning provided at Mapledown.
• Assessment, recording and reporting throughout school needs to be accurate, fair and consistent with practice. Moderation is part of the assessment cycle, team planning and development across the key stages.
• Parents/carers and all agencies involved with pupils have a role in these assessment procedures, e.g. parental comments through home/school books, annual reviews of Education, Health and Care Plans, etc.
• Assessment will enable progression and continuity and will record situations when this is not possible.
• Students and parents/carers will have access to assessments when appropriate (e.g. Evidence for Learning, Annual reviews of Education, Health and Care Plans)
• Assessment should be positive, meaningful and motivating, celebrating all pupils’ achievements.
• Where possible, all pupils should be involved in their own assessment.
• All members of the class team contribute to the assessment process. 

When Students begin their Mapledown journey, we undertake baseline assessments during the students’ first half term at school, and set Key Personal Learning Targets (KPLTs).

KPLTs are set in:

Communication & Interaction

Cognition & Learning

Social, Emotional & Mental Health

Physical Development & Sensory Needs 

Being in the Community, Independence & preparing for Adulthood

These areas reflect the students’ Education, Care and Health Plans', and KPLTs are derived from the students’ long-term outcomes set in their EHCPs.

 

AQA Unit Awards

At Mapledown, we take pride in the progress our pupils make in the curriculum area of PSHE. To validate their achievements, they are working towards accreditation through the nationally recognised AQA Unit Awards Scheme. This ensures that every pupil acquires skills that will benefit them in their subsequent educational placements and throughout their lives. Our aim is to empower them to achieve the highest level of independence possible.

Pupils will engage with modules tailored to their individual needs, focusing on the following areas:

•  Our Community

•  Travel Training

•  Health, Fitness, and Healthy Living

•  Leisure and Recreation

•  Personal Care Skills and Safety

•  Daily Living Skills

•  Creative Experiences

•  Enterprise

•  Work-Related Learning

 

Evidence for Learning 

We use Evidence for Learning - an online system in order to document and analyse progress in the moment, over time.

We carry out two main types of assessment:

Summative Assessment ‑ those assessments concerned with establishing the overall attainment of pupils over time, for example; 

• Baselines & Target Setting 
• Key Personal Learning Targets & evaluations
• Annual Reports
• Annual Reviews
• Reports from other professionals
• Lunchtime Programmes
• Data collection and analysis
• AQA Units
• Termly pupil progress meetings with SLT to make and moderate judgements for each student. 

In addition to being assessed against their EHCP outcomes via KPLTs (Key Personal Learning Targets), we also assess our students' progress within our curriculum. Curriculum progress is assessed through "I can" statements. These statements are linked to skills needed to prepare for adulthood. 

At the beginning of each academic year, pupils are baselined and then reassessed at the end of the Spring and Summer terms against the curriculum steps. 

Formative Assessment ‑

This happens on a daily basis. Formative assessment examines what a pupil can do and assesses effectiveness of curriculum impact in order to inform future planning.

• Types of formative assessment can include: 
• Classroom observations/interactions that indicate pupil attainment
• Scrutiny of work (which also includes photographic and video evidence)
• Lesson Plan evaluations
• Students’ assessment of their own work
• Pupil Profiles ‑ gathering, sharing and recording evidence of pupil attainment

The information and insights gained from these procedures help us to determine individual learning objectives, plan for their implementation and consider whether these objectives are being met. This is the cornerstone of good teaching and effective learning.

 

Please see below the link to Performance Data Performance tables:

https://www.find-school-performance-data.service.gov.uk/school/101397/mapledown-school/secondary