Assessment
Every computing lesson includes formative assessment opportunities. These opportunities are included to ensure that misconceptions are recognised and addressed if they occur. They vary from teacher observation or questioning, to marked activities. These assessments are vital to ensure that we are adapting our teaching to suit the needs of the children, and we may change parts of the lesson, such as how much time we spend on a specific activity, in response to these assessments.
At the end of every lesson, children are invited to assess how well they feel they have met the learning objective using thumbs up, thumbs sideways, or thumbs down. This gives the children a reminder of what we have covered, as well as a chance to reflect. It is also a chance for us to see how confident the class is feeling, so that we can make changes to subsequent lessons accordingly.
We ensure that we are assessing a child's understanding of computing concepts and skills, as opposed to their reading and writing skills. Therefore, we encourage observational assessment while our children are still developing their literacy skills. We believe that this is the most reliable way to capture an accurate picture of learning.