Background
At one of the first meetings of the EDP Working Party, the group devised a planning sheet (PDF Document 7Kb) that could be used alongside QCA medium term plans. It was hoped that the layout would:
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Reduce the amount of writing teachers would have to do when preparing their plans by giving the QCA learning objectives a 'letter' and the suggested activities a 'number'. This would mean that when preparing plans teachers need only to record the learning objective by writing the relevant letter/s and suggested activities by recording the appropriate number
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Encourage staff to make a brief assessment after each lesson, the intention being that these assessments would inform future planning.
Implementing the formative planning sheet
After discussion with the Headteacher, it was decided we would trial the new planning sheet for the last half term of summer 2001.
At our next staff meeting we:
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Demonstrated how to complete one of the planning sheets and discussed the potential advantages
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The steps of the demonstration were as follows:
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The QCA unit of work was read through
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Learning objectives were allocated a letter
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Suggested activities were numbered
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QCA prior learning (on the front of the QCA Unit) was considered
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It was agreed that the first assessment box may be left blank or may contain a brief summary of prior learning, with reference to what individuals/groups of children have shown they can / can't do
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It was agreed that:
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we identify QCA learning objectives by letter only in the Learning Objectives box
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if the suggested QCA activity is to be used, simply record the number and then outline differentiation (otherwise a brief outline only)
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It was agreed that during / after the lesson teachers should assess groups or individuals, making brief notes to indicate what they need next to provide challenge, or what skills/ideas need revisiting. This information should then be recorded in the box before the next lesson's objectives to show how it has informed planning.
By the end of the meeting it was agreed that the planning sheet could:
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Replace our present 'day-to-day' assessment sheets
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Encourage 'on the spot' formative assessments to be made and recorded
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Help prevent our planning from being 'activity based'
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Reduce the time teachers spent writing plans
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Allow more time considering where the children are at and what they need to know/do next
The next steps were:
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To discuss how things were going
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To decide whether to continue with the new planning sheet or revert back to the previous one
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To devise / implement a record sheet for end of unit assessment
The outcomes were
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The general feeling of the staff was that this planning sheet did as we intended and everyone wanted to continue using the new sheet
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An 'end of unit' assessment would take place on completion of each unit of work. Assessments would be based on the three QCA statements of expectation i.e. 'most children will' 'some will not ...' 'some will have progressed further'
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A record sheet for recording the end of unit assessment was devised (see the school's New Foundation Record Sheet (PDF Document 13Kb) ). A list of the children in the class was attached to the record. Only the names of children who attained below or above the expected level are now recorded. The names of the children achieving the 'expected' level would not be recorded. A column for relevant comments was included.
Where we are now
We are almost coming to the end of the first academic year during which the planning sheet has been used. A final review of the sheet will be made at the end of summer term 2002, at which stage we will make any necessary modifications. We are considering using the end of unit assessments to help us track pupil progress and set targets in science and ICT. We aim to do that by using the method outlined in:
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