Assessment
How we assess at Derwent
At Derwent we assess the progress of our children using a scheme called stepping stones. This is because the national curriculum changed in 2014; now only the phonics screening test and Year 2 tests are set nationally for lower schools. Every school in the country has had to design or adopt its own system to ensure that children make good progress in their learning.
What are stepping stones?
The 2014 national curriculum sets out all the different elements of reading, writing and maths that a child should learn in primary school. It is the responsibility of all community or foundation schools like Derwent to teach all the different elements of this curriculum to the children.
The stepping stones system was developed by Cranfield Lower School. It takes all the different elements of reading, writing and maths from the 2014 National Curriculum for each year group and puts them into an individual pathway. To complete the pathway for a particular year, a child must complete a pre-set number of stepping stones in the booklet . Part of the reason the number of stepping stones that must be completed are not the same for all year groups or subjects is because the national curriculum has different requirements for what the children must learn depending on their age and the subject being studied.
We have more recently reviewed the stepping stones booklets being used in school and updated them.
How will I know if my child is making progress?
Your child’s pathway will be shared with you termly at parents evening in autumn and spring or in the written summer report. This is so that you can understand where your child is, what they can do and where we want them to be! The most important thing will be the stepping stones your son or daughter has completed for a pathway as this will show you what they can do as well as highlight what they still need to learn.
How can I find out more about particular 'stepping stones' pathways?
Each stepping stones booklet contains the expectations for what a child should learn in each year for reading, writing and maths. A link to each booklet is included below so that you can find out more about what your child is learning.
